There are 113 Australian Securities Exchange-listed mining companies that own or operate properties across Africa, encompassing almost 270 properties.
Over the past three years, there have been more than 120 metals and mining initial public offerings (IPOs) on the ASX, raising in aggregate more than US$1.1 billion ($1.68 billion) in capital. The resources sector has continued to be highly active and in the 24 months to September 2024, with some 65% of ASX listings and 60% of follow-on offerings.
Capital also seems to be again flowing into the African continent again. Some Africa-focused miners to recently raise capital to fund growth have included Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) and West African Resources (ASX:WAF).
In the 11th edition of the Mining in Africa Country Investment Guide (MACIG), Sarvesh Suri, Africa Industry Director Infrastructure & Natural Resources at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) notes that in FY2024 alone, IFC mobilised nearly US$14.5 billion ($22.34 billion) for the continent.
He says at the interesting juncture with only five years left until 2030, IFC is uniquely placed to accelerate the progress towards achieving universal access to critical infrastructure services in Africa.
“With the entire world taking note of Africa, IFC’s continued focus on the region, with an impressive track record of successful projects, highlights the incremental financial and socio-economic return these projects offer,” Suri continues.
“We invite others to join us. As one of the largest investors in Africa, with presence in 40 countries on the continent, and investments in 44 countries in recent financial years, IFC is the ideal partner for those looking to expand and invest in Africa.”
Africa Down Under
In its 23rd edition, the Africa Down Under conference is this week back in Perth, Western Australia from 3-5 September. Africa Down Under is touted as the leading forum for Australian-African business and government relations and was first launched to raise awareness of Australia’s interests in African mining and energy.
The three-day meeting has evolved to become the largest African-focused mining event held outside the continent itself, which is reflected by the number of high-profile participants who attend each year.
Many Peaks (ASX:MPK) Managing Director Travis Schwertfeger says Africa Down Under is an integral platform for connecting ASX mining companies such as his West Africa-focused explorer, with their prospective investors in the continent.
With Africa being such a large and diverse continent, Schwertfeger says it is rare to have cross-over with colleagues, government representatives, and service providers across the sector.
As part one of this Africa outlook series explains, the continent possesses about 30% of the world’s known mineral resources.
Between 2024 and 2050, cumulative revenue from just four critical minerals – cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel – are expected to exceed those from fossil fuels by more than three times. However, just 10-15% of the value generated into its economy from mineral resources is retained there, underscoring an inherent need for domestic downstream processing and manufacturing.
In the same edition of MACIG, Head of Business Development – Global Mining at Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange Dean McPherson highlights how Africa is one of the most resource rich yet underexplored mining jurisdictions.
“Despite the traditional challenges in many countries in Africa, investors are increasingly realising there are significant opportunities, which may outweigh jurisdictional risks, which may be managed or mitigated in many cases”
“Despite the traditional challenges in many countries in Africa, investors are increasingly realising there are significant opportunities, which may outweigh jurisdictional risks, which may be managed or mitigated in many cases,” McPherson says.
“The Chinese have certainly exemplified this approach in many cases around the world in the past 20 years. Perhaps the best example in Africa is the success of Ivanhoe Mines in partnership with Zijin Mining Group on the Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).
“As investors and indeed many Western governments play catch-up to the Chinese, I believe we will continue seeing increased interest and investments in the continent.”
Charles Altshuler, CEO of Africa-focused Globe Metals & Mining (ASX:GBE), identifies to Mining.com.au some emerging trends to keep an eye out for towards the end of this decade including increasing alignment with global ESG standards, traceability systems, and regional collaboration across Southern Africa.
By 2030, Globe Metals anticipates more vertically integrated projects, local refining capacity, and strong partnerships between governments and private investors to capture more of the mineral value chain domestically, Altshuler adds.
Connected Minerals (ASX:CML) believes uranium is now emerging in Africa and something to monitor heading towards the end of this decade and into the next.
“As widely publicised, many older uranium mines are shutting down over the coming years – combine this with the supply deficit in the long-term uranium market which will be prevalent by 2030 as more nuclear reactors come online, there is going to be significant demand for uranium,” Managing Director Warrick Clent tells Mining.com.au.
Connected has the Etango North-East Project, located in the western part, covering 30km2 within close proximity to advanced uranium projects.
Below are further examples of some of the main mining regions in Africa presenting significant investment opportunities that were not covered in part one of this series.
Namibia
Namibia has about 60 mining exploration projects in the pipeline. The nation is a well established uranium mining jurisdiction and is the world’s third largest producer of uranium, responsible for 6% of global output and hosts 7% of the world’s uranium reserves.
Two of Namibia’s three uranium mines rank among the world’s top 10 producers. The Husab Mine and Rössing are significant contributors.
The Husab Mine is owned by Swakop Uranium, a privately held company backed by Chinese investment. Langer Heinrich, while majority-owned by Australian producer Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN), is also 25% owned by CNNC Overseas Uranium, a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (SSE:601985).
One junior progressing its assets in the region is the aforementioned Connected Minerals, which has begun a phase two reverse circulation drilling program at the Etango North-East Project in Namibia, focusing on the Ondapanda prospect. Results from phase two are expected later in September 2025.
Connected’s Managing Director Warrick Clent sees the investment by ASX mining companies into Africa increasing over the next few years as they discover that there are countries, such as Namibia, that are extremely welcoming to investment.
Clent highlights to Mining.com.au the stable nature of the Namibian government since independence in 1990 as providing investors confidence moving forward with their investment.
“Mining has been a large and established part of the Namibian economy since before independence and is keenly supported by the people of Namibia, as evidenced by the broad support we see in the communities of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, which supply the workforce for the mines in the Erongo region where our projects are based,” he says.
“Connected was very fortunate to be on the leading edge of new uranium exploration investment in Namibia, following a sustained period of underinvestment in the space since 2011.
“This provided us with the opportunity to buy into two substantial projects in the Erongo region, which had been overlooked for years by the more established players in the Namibian uranium space.”
Clent reiterates that the Namibian Government encourages growth in the uranium sector, leading to the expansion of existing operations and the discovery of new deposits. These factors contribute to the nation’s standing as one of the most attractive jurisdictions for mining investment in Africa.
This includes Namibia working at streamlining its licensing regime, including a digital portal, to help reduce the bureaucratic red tape, as well as providing potential investors with access to the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB). The board operates a one-stop centre that simplifies investor navigation through regulatory processes and ensures policy compliance.
Vatic Ventures (TSX-V:VCV) is a Canadian junior focused on uranium in Namibia. In April, the company entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire a privately held company which has the right to acquire up to 80% interest in a uranium property.
The assets are located in the prime Namibian uranium province of Erongo and within the known Alaskite Alley, stretching between the towns of Usakos and Swakopmund, and from south of the Brandberg to just south of Walvis Bay, the main port in Namibia.
Over the past 48 years the Erongo Region of Namibia has produced in excess of 350 million pounds of U3O8.
Vatic CEO Loren Currie says being situated in one of the top mining jurisdictions in Africa with a tremendous record of uranium production is a major victory.
The CEO notes the gap between uranium supply and demand has been persisting on the market and predicted to widen even more because of the degradation of the uranium supply industry over a decade of prolonged low prices and with many more governments turning to nuclear power for secure clean baseload power.
Currie foresees huge challenges to meet new demand in the medium to long term, “which will drive uranium prices up and render uranium resources such as those that we hope to discover on EPL 8289 and EPL 8735 significantly valuable”.
Cazaly Resources (ASX:CAZ) has the 95% owned Abenab North REE & Base Metals Project in Namibia. The project lies in the Otavi Mountain Land region, located 450km by road from the capital of Windhoek in an area supported by the towns of Tsumeb and Grootfontein.
The region is a significant well mineralised base metals province with historic production from several mines including Tsumeb, Kombat, Abenab, and the Berg Aukas mines. Tsumeb is a famous mine renowned for its wealth of rare and unusual minerals and was mined from 1897 to 1996.
Cazaly’s application status of the new exclusive prospecting licence, Abenab North, remains at notification of intention to grant. The grant is subject to an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism.
During the March 2025 quarter the ECC application along with an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and an Environmental Management Plan were submitted to the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT).
Cazaly has been notified that the ECC application is progressing through the review process.
The application covers 790km2 and is considered highly prospective for rare earths and base metal mineralisation as evidenced from the results of previous but limited exploration.
South Africa
South Africa has about 53 exploration projects in the pipeline. The African nation dominates global reserves of platinum group metals (PGMs), which are essential for catalytic converters, fuel cells, and various industrial applications.
Statistics South Africa’s mining production and sales figures for June 2025 shows that following a 3.9% rise in May, production in June only reached a marginal 0.2% month-on-month increase.
“The tariffs imposed by the US on key South African trading partners … along with any retaliatory measures they may adopt, will largely influence the demand for South African mineral exports”
“The United States tariffs continue to be the elephant in the room, and it is increasingly used as a foreign policy instrument. Thus far, based on exemptions published by the White House in April, South African iron ore and diamond exports to the US will be directly affected by current tariffs,” the Minerals Council South Africa says in a statement.
“The tariffs imposed by the US on key South African trading partners – including China, the European Union, and India – along with any retaliatory measures they may adopt, will largely influence the demand for South African mineral exports.”
In H1 2025, year-to-date mining production declined by 3% compared to the same period in the previous year.
Zambia
Mining has long been a key driver of the Zambian economy. The nation is positioning itself as a major player in African mining with significant reserves of critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, and other precious metals such as gold.
Zambia is the second largest producer of copper in Africa and eighth globally and is highly dependent on its 12 large-scale copper mining and processing companies.
As such, mining is pivotal to the Zambian economy – it contributes 76% of national export revenue, 23% of national tax revenue, and 11% of GDP. US$3 billion is spent on local content from all large-scale mines annually.
The country still has potential for discovery of a diversity of mineral deposits.
The African market for copper is comparatively less concentrated, however it is nevertheless important. Countries such as the DRC and Zambia are strategic for copper production and exploration due to the sheer number of copper-producing mines.
Zambia is a leader for copper exports – a ductile metal essential for electrical wiring, electronics, plumbing, and renewable energy technologies like wind turbines and solar panels.
Madagascar, Mozambique, and more
Comparatively, the Democratic Republic of Congo is endowed with some important minerals and metals but is one of the more higher sovereign risk African nations. The DRC leads the world in cobalt production, supplying more than 70% of total demand. Cobalt is a transition metal and is crucial component in rechargeable batteries used in EVs and handheld electronics.
Rising global competition for critical minerals, especially between China and Western nations, has bolstered Africa’s strategic importance on the world stage. The shift towards green technologies and economies provides Africa with a burgeoning opportunity to leverage its abundance of resources for industrial growth and long-term sustainability.
Madagascar and Mozambique are among the top five producers of graphite globally, despite China’s overall dominance in production. Madagascar (8.1%), Mozambique (7.8%), and Tanzania (5.6%) combine for over one-fifth of global graphite reserves.
Guinea holds almost 25% of global bauxite reserves, accounting for over 50% of the world’s aluminium ore exports. Aluminium, which is derived from bauxite, is used in renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels, and is used in electric cables, transformers, and smartphones, among many other uses.
Rising to the global challenge
Many African countries face governance challenges, including limited transparency, and inequitable distribution of resource revenues. Yet the continent is uniquely positioned to contribute to a sustainable future and strategically benefit from the growing demand for and dependence on these resources.
As the world shifts towards a greener future, the demand for critical minerals is placing pressure on Africa to take a leading role in global efforts to develop green technologies. This transition further heightens the urgency for effective and ethical governance.
The mining executes polled by this news service agree that Africa must navigate geopolitical pressures, environmental risks, and community expectations. Mineral resources are vital to technological innovation, sustainability, and industrial growth, positioning the continent as an integral player in addressing such global challenges.
As part one of this series explains, Africa has a deep reserve of critical minerals. Demand for critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and graphite is expected to grow by up to 500% by 2050, driven by clean energy transitions and battery technologies.
Global consulting firm dss+ sees the current geopolitical environment not only as a test of resilience but as a catalyst for building stronger, more adaptive mining operations.
The 23rd edition of Africa Down Under will be held 3-5 September 2025 at the Pan Pacific, Perth, Western Australia.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au, Terra Metals, Unsplash & Rift Photography (Matthew Reilly)
