South Africa has large reserves of coal, gold, manganese and platinum.
It also has “critical” minerals and metals. Though there is no consensus on which minerals are critical, they are often referred to as those natural resources that are essential for the energy transition. The transition refers to the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources to reduce greenhouse gases. The technologies needed to make this shift require certain mineral and metal inputs.
South Africa’s critical minerals and metals list includes cobalt, nickel, copper, lithium and rare earth minerals. It has one of the largest reserves of graphite on the continent. In 2020, the World Bank predicted that demand for cobalt, lithium and graphite would have grown by about 500% between 2018 and 2050.
