Guidance

Growth Gateway: Critical minerals in South Africa, Mining 101 series, commodity primers (summary)

Published 28 May 2026

These 3 primers were prepared by the Growth Gateway programme team in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group. They are commodity primers focused on bulk minerals and base metals, precious metals, and specialty metals. They aim to provide an overview of South Africa’s critical minerals landscape and the actions needed to unlock long‑term value, and help non‑specialists understand where South Africa can compete and where it should partner.

The analysis for each set of commodities starts with the global context. Demand for minerals that underpin steelmaking, infrastructure, electrification, batteries, renewable power and emerging clean technologies is expected to rise sharply over the next 2 decades.

Supply chains are becoming more scrutinised for resilience, sustainability and security of supply. Against this backdrop, South Africa’s mineral endowment and established mining base position it as an important contributor to global markets, if it can move beyond a predominantly upstream role.

Across bulk minerals and base metals, South Africa holds a dominant position in manganese and chromium, which are essential to steel, alloys and some battery applications. These minerals provide scale, cost competitiveness and long‑term demand visibility.

At the same time, iron ore, coal and fertiliser minerals remain important to domestic industry and exports, though logistics constraints and infrastructure bottlenecks limit performance. In base metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc, South Africa’s global reserve share is smaller, which constrains scale. But there are selective opportunities where existing smelting, refining and industrial capability can be leveraged.

The precious metals analysis shows that South Africa remains the global anchor for platinum group metals, with the majority of world reserves and a well‑developed refining industry. These metals are critical to automotive emissions control, jewellery and a growing set of applications linked to hydrogen and clean energy systems.

Gold continues to play a strategic role as a store of value and industrial input, although ageing mines and rising costs temper growth. Across precious metals, recycling is highlighted as an increasingly important source of supply and a way to extend the life and competitiveness of the sector.

The specialty minerals and trends paper expands the lens to minerals that are smaller in volume but strategically important to future technologies. High‑grade vanadium and rare earth elements offer South Africa potential roles in long‑duration energy storage, permanent magnets and advanced alloys. Titanium and early‑stage lithium prospects add optionality, although gaps in exploration intensity and midstream processing limit near‑term impact.

This paper also situates South Africa within wider global shifts, including the rapid growth of critical minerals demand, the rise of circular economy models, stricter environmental, social and governance expectations, the emergence of new processing hubs, and the push towards lower‑carbon mining.

Across all 3 documents, common barriers recur. Logistics and energy infrastructure constrain exports and processing economics. Policy and licensing processes can be slow or uncertain, raising project risk. Access to competitive finance is uneven, particularly for midstream and early‑stage processing projects. Skills shortages and limited technology transfer slow the move into higher‑value activities. Perception issues, including concerns about reliability and delivery, further affect investor appetite.

Enablers for the commodities include improving rail, ports and power supply is fundamental to unlocking both upstream and downstream value. Clear, stable and transparent regulation, alongside faster licensing for exploration and processing, would reduce uncertainty.

Targeted incentives, grants and concessional finance can crowd in private capital for processing and recycling. Stronger market access tools, including offtake support and international partnerships, can help projects reach scale. Investment in skills, research and development, and technology partnerships is needed to build processing capability, while a coordinated international narrative can reposition South Africa as a reliable supplier of responsibly produced critical minerals.

The 3 primers argue that South Africa’s future in critical minerals lies in using its upstream strength as a platform for deeper participation in global value chains. By aligning infrastructure, policy and investment behind bulk minerals, precious metals and selected specialty minerals, South Africa can support global decarbonisation and industrial growth while generating sustained domestic economic value and employment.