Future-proofing African Mining Communities | Mining Indaba Insights 2025

In this episode, TDi's CEO Assheton Stewart Carter talks to three representatives from different parts of the mining industry, who will all be speaking at the 2025 Mining Indaba in Cape Town, on future-proofing African mining communities.

The panelists are:
Marna Cloete, President and CEO of Ivanhoe Mines
Glen Mpufane, Mining Director at IndustriALL Global Union
David Sturmes, Co-founder and Director of Partnerships and Innovations at The Impact Facility

The speakers discuss how to ensure that economic benefits from the current African mining boom reach the communities that neighbour mining projects – and what happens to these communities once mines are closed – what is the long-term legacy of mining for these communities?

Chapters

• 3:09 Are jobs and economic factors enough to earn the support of local communities?
• 4:55 What's your view on how things are changing in relation to mining and mineral developments? (Question to David Sturmes)
• 7:52 What is your view on the promise that mining can bring to communities? (Question to Glen Mpufane)
• 10:25 Comment from Marna Cloete on this topic
• 12:52 Can you talk about The Impact Facility's model of investing in small or medium size enterprises?
• 15:54 How does having an intermediary such as The Impact Facility enable small or medium size enterprises to engage with large-scale mining?
• 17:10 Is there an opportunity to think about investment within the landscape more broadly?
• 22:17 Can the investment model used by The Impact Facility better secure the economic sustainability of mining communities beyond the lifetime of the mine?
• 26:00 Botswana is cited as a prime example of beneficiation done well. What are the key long-term benefits that have been realised by local communities in Botswana as a result of this?
• 29:11 Is the opportunity there for companies like Ivanhoe to have the processing of minerals closer to the mine?
• 31:08 Is artisanal mining an outlaw or an unloved in-law?
• 33:55 What is Ivanhoe's approach to artisanal mining?
• 35:24 Is there a role for organised labour in artisanal mining communities?
• 38:11 What are the education needs to ensure that the continent is future-proofed for mining?
• 40:24 What is the mood among under 25s in these communities regarding mining?
• 43:02 What would you love to see as the legacy of Ivanhoe's operation in the DRC? (Question to Marna)
• 44:10 Are you optimistic for the future of labour and for workers in mining communities? (Question to Glen)
• 45:38 What's your one key take away message from today's session? (Question to David)