South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has set aside R1.5 billion to fund early-stage mining projects in parts of Africa.
The PIC which is wholly owned by the South African Government said these are projects that are well advanced, at post-scoping up to bankable feasibility study (BFS) stage.
The entity said this strategic allocation enables it to support the growth of South Africa’s mining sector through indirect investments, primarily by deploying capital through private equity, venture capital and specialist mining funds; and joint ventures and partnerships.
“PIC has set aside R1.35 billion to be invested across diversified commodities, geographies, and development stages. This approach aims to mitigate the high-risk nature of early-stage mining investments while delivering attractive returns for PIC clients.
“The PIC’s geographic focus remains South Africa, with additional diversification targeting the rest of Africa. The African region offers opportunities in critical commodities, including copper and cobalt in Zambia and the DRC, rare earth elements in Malawi, and graphite in Tanzania and Madagascar.”
The investment strategy supports a wide range of strategic minerals critical for South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET), such as copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium, graphite, REEs, tin, tungsten, tantalum, bauxite, antimony, fluorspar, manganese, and other related minerals aligned to JET objectives.
