JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Plans to set up the first four-week Operation Phakisa ‘mining laboratory’ to identify and resolve the challenges plaguing South Africa’s mining sector have been given the Cabinet go-ahead.

The Operation Phakisa mining lab, which would get under way in October, would identify a “set of concrete problems” that were limiting the growth and developmental impact of the mining sector, as well as the potential solutions.

The mining portion of Operation Phakisa followed the deployment of initiatives in the oceans economy and health sectors.

The lab would address the same themes as other initiatives had, focusing on fast-paced results-driven growth, by gathering the public and private sectors, academia and civil society organisations to collaborate on the planning and execution of projects to tackle the challenges in the mining sector.

It aimed to unlock investment in exploration and mining activities and ensure the development of the economy, workforce and mining communities.