What this means
Tau calls for SA-US partnership to drive critical minerals beneficiation New York, USA — South Africa is proposing a dedicated Critical Minerals Investment Platform and a South Africa-USA Critical Minerals Working Group to turn growing interest in the sector into concrete investment, processing and manufacturing projects. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said the mechanisms would help match South African critical minerals projects with US industrial demand, financing, technology and long-term offtake agreements. Tau was addressing a high-level Critical Minerals Roundtable hosted by Brand South Africa, in partnership with Standard Bank, on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday. He said South Africa wants to move beyond discussions about its mineral wealth, and towards partnerships that would build resilient supply chains, deepen industrial cooperation and create greater value from the country's resources. “We value this opportunity because the conversation we need to have today is not simply about minerals. It is about how South Africa and the United States can build more resilient supply chains, deepen industrial cooperation, mobilise investment and create greater value from the resources that South Africa possesses.” Moving from extraction to value addition Tau said South Africa does not want its relationship with the US to be defined simply by the extraction and export of raw materials. “Our objective is to use this resource base to build durable industrial partnerships. We do not want to define the relationship simply as one in which South Africa extracts and exports raw materials. We want to build value chains that include mining, refining, processing, advanced materials, component manufacturing and, where commercially viable, downstream production,” he said. South Africa's Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy, approved by Cabinet in 2025, places local processing and beneficiation, infrastructure, research and development and strategic partnerships at the centre of efforts to maximise the value of the country's mineral endowment. Tau said the country has a strong proposition, including significant reserves and production capabilities in platinum group metals, manganese, chromium and vanadium, alongside opportunities in rare earth elements, titanium and zirconium. Building a mutually beneficial partnership The Minister said the US is seeking secure and diversified sources of critical minerals, while South Africa needs investment, technology, skills, long-term offtake commitments and market access. “This creates the basis for a partnership in which both countries address a strategic economic need. South Africa can contribute mineral resources, processing capability, industrial infrastructure and access to regional value chains, while US companies can bring capital, technology, markets, industrial expertise and long-term demand,” the Minister said. He said the proposed partnership should, therefore, be based on co-investment rather than a traditional supplier relationship. Tau identified potential areas for value addition, including battery materials; vanadium products and electrolytes for grid-scale energy storage; platinum group metal-based products for the hydrogen economy; green iron and steel; ferroalloys; specialised metals; grid and transmission infrastructure, as well as emerging rare earth, titanium and zirconium value chains. The emphasis, the Minister said, must be on projects that are commercially viable and capable of being financed, built and integrated into global markets. Investment platform to take projects to implementation Tau proposed the establishment of a Critical Minerals Investment Platform through which priority projects could be assessed for development support, co-funding and investment. The platform could bring together South African institutions, including the Industrial Development Corporation and other development finance institutions, with US institutions such as the Development Finance Corporation, EXIM Bank, private funds and strategic corporations. “The objective should be to move projects through the investment pipeline - from project preparation and technical assessment, through financing and construction, to production and export,” Tau said. He said long-term offtake agreements could also help strengthen the bankability of projects by providing secure demand for minerals or processed products. Proposed SA-USA working group Tau also proposed a dedicated South Africa-USA Critical Minerals Working Group to take the discussions forward. “I would also like to propose that we establish a South Africa-USA Critical Minerals Working Group as a practical mechanism for taking this conversation forward.” The proposed working group would identify priority minerals and products, match South African projects with US industrial demand, identify financing and technology requirements, address market-access issues and monitor p
