The Africa Iron Ore Conference - Cape Town June 2012
5-6 June 2012 – Westin Cape Town, South Afica
Informa International Mining & Metals IMM would like to thank all the speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, supporters and delegates who have helped to make the inaugural Africa Iron Ore Conference, held in Cape Town on June 7th and 8th 2011, such an interesting gathering for the region's growing iron ore and steel industry.The feedback on this first event has been very positive.
With over 100 delegates representing a wide range of iron ore producers and juniors, steel manufacturers, investors and industry suppliers, the conference kicked off with a keynote presentation by Ian Cope, global exploration manager for iron and coal at ArcelorMittal, the world's top steelmaker.
Mr Cope confirmed that production has started at the $1.5-billion iron-ore mine in Liberia and that exploration is still ongoing well at the $2.2-billion Faleme mine in Senegal as it moves into production.
Steel demand has recovered more than anticipated in 2010, with future growth expected to be powered by emerging markets to 2015 and beyond, putting the market for iron-ore the second biggest commodity trading market in the world, valued at some $150-billion, said Phillip Killicoat, iron-ore manager at Credit Suisse commodities. And also prompting mining companies to diversify and move into iron ore, as Ernst Venter from Exxaro Coal discussed at the conference.
The rest of the first day continued with a series of presentations outlining some of the major iron ore projects: the Zanaga Iron Ore Project in the Republic of Congo; the Mbalam project in Cameroon; Equatorial Resources and Legend Mining projects in West Africa; iron ore prospects in Mozambique and an overview of the iron ore exploration and development in South Africa.
There was plenty of time to network and discuss the day’s proceedings at the cocktail reception hosted by IMM Events.
Day two continued with an in-depth analysis of the Africa’s iron ore belt – its potential, Africa’s role in shaping the long term outlook for iron ore and African supply – presented by Per Storm from the Raw Materials Group; and an overview of Chian’s iron ore demand. "China is expected to increasingly turn to Africa to satisfy its iron ore needs ... (as) more Chinese companies look to invest or partner in mines," Yaoyun Xin, managing director at independent metals consultancy SMM Information and Technology.
Investments and infrastructure developments and expansions remain crucial to the success of new iron ore project developments in the Region and presentations by The Beijing Axis and Transnet gave a good overview of the role of the Chinese investments in Africa and the requirements for boosting iron ore export capacity.
We look forward to welcoming you to the 2nd Africa Iron Ore Conference in Cape Town in June 2012!
I gained new insights about iron ore in Africa.
- T. Bingudza, Anglo AmericanPapers were of a very high standard.
- H.C. Swart, Sandvik Materials HandlingA very good and informative conference.
- T. Mkatshana, ArcelorMittalI hope that this can become an annual event.
- G. Butler, African Rainbow MineralsGet involved:
- To register for The Africa Iron Ore Conference 2012, click here
- To receive the 2012 program when available, submit your request here
- For speaking enquiries, submit your request here
- For sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, submit your request here
