VBKOM’s Executive Team attended the much anticipated Investing in African Mining Indaba 2025 (MI25) in Cape Town. Most of our team arrived on Sunday, 2 February, and joined the “Mining4Beer” event to start off proceedings.

Image: VBKOM's Executive Team at MI25, George Olivier, Manie Kriel, Strauss Oosthuizen and Lalieu Marais

Manie Kriel (CEO), George Olivier (Business Development Executive), Strauss Oosthuizen (Technical Delivery Executive) and Lalieu Marais (Corporate Services Executive) were joined by our Jani van Rensburg (Business Development Manager) and Pieter Olivier (Principal Study Manager).

Executive Board Chairman of MI25, Frans Baleni, delivered the Welcome Address before the National Address by Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, honourable Gwede Mantashe. Emphasis on development of local infrastructure, global partnerships and investment frameworks were some of the themes from the Day 1 discussions.

The focus of Day 2 shifted to discussions around critical minerals, and prioritising domestic energy projects to drive sustainability. The discussions centred around African countries’ beneficiation capacity, while taking a look at the outlook of energy transition metals. The key messages focused on African governments adopting alternative technologies to ensure more efficient and sustainable mining permitting processes and policies are put in place.

On the third day, the panel discussions investigated downstream battery manufacturing opportunities for lithium and graphite projects, in conjunction with responsible mining practices

On Day 4 of MI25, George shared, “We’ve been very privileged to have a strong representation here from VBKOM, facilitating different types of discussions, networking, and in general, doing our part in taking the mining industry in Africa forward.” He further indicated that there is an excitement around all of the decisions, discussions and dialogue into the development of the mining industry in the African Continent

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We look forward in attending the next Investing in Mining Indaba event.