A delegation from southern Africa visited the Institute of Mining and Specialised Mining at TU Bergakademie Freiberg this week. The guests from South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya went down into the "Reiche Zeche" teaching and research mine during their visit, which was initiated by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Above ground, they then visited the "Virtual Mining Laboratory" and the "Mining Water Laboratory". The delegation and hosts had an intensive exchange on the state of the art and knowledge in raw material extraction and met with students from southern Africa.
The guests were very interested in modern technologies and strategies for greater energy and material efficiency, lower environmental impact and addressing social concerns in the mining regions.
The global transformation in the energy sector, particularly in industrialised countries, requires considerable resources of metals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earths. The African continent is already the most important supplier of cobalt and has other strategic raw materials.
The African countries want to benefit from the extraction of these raw materials and, in addition to economic effects, develop high environmental and social standards as well as good governance and promote the establishment of value chains. This will have a positive impact on the development of the economy and society. This calls for a rethink in international cooperation and the development of new forms of raw materials partnerships.