The Minerals Council South Africa has expressed regret over some parts of the Industrial Development Strategy 2026 released by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition this month. The council is especially perturbed by the strategy’s move to link beneficiation conditions to the issuance of mining rights. Mining and beneficiation, the council avers, are separate and distinct economic sectors in the mineral value chain. “Beneficiation cannot, and must not, be imposed on mining because beneficiation forms part of manufacturing and overall industrialisation,” CEO Mzila Mthenjane argues.