根据标准普尔指数，2017年矿山开采支出是近4年来首次扩大。由于商品价格随着经济从低迷中复苏而上涨，有投资者花费79亿美元投资新矿。加拿大投资份额居首位，其次是澳大利亚、美国和智利。这四个国家在全球勘矿的基金份额不断壮大，意味着投资者偏爱风险较低、矿业开采成熟的国家。

矿业高管、投资者和政府部长在遭受旱灾的开普敦参与非洲矿业会议，这里是非洲最大的矿业集散地。

最近几年，世界上最大的矿企投资许多金属，电动汽车的新需求意味着像锂和钴这样曾经被忽视的金属正成为焦点。但这不意味着这个行业一片大好，因为该行业面临着监管变化和包括刚果民主共和国和坦桑尼日亚在内的国家以及南非的不确定。

最新进展

英美资源集团南非分公司董事长Norman Mbazima说，非洲国会的执政领导层变动，使得矿业和政府更有可能就采矿政策达成协议。“我们已经有了一些开始的势头，希望这个势头能够保持下去”。

英美资源集团表示或将在南非购买资产，这是两年来矿业集中销售的最新迹象。Norman Mbazima“我们不再有任何待售标志，如果在南非投资，那我们就有希望了。”

注：本文由上海有色网（SMM）翻译。

原文：Anglo Sees Momentum on S. Africa Policy: Africa Mining Update

Spending on mine exploration expanded in 2017 for the first time in at least four years, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Investors spent $7.9 billion searching for new mineral deposits as commodity prices recovered from a downturn. Canada received the largest share of investment, followed by Australia, the U.S. and Chile. The four saw a growing share of exploration funds globally, suggesting investors’ preference for less risky, mature mining countries.

Mining executives, investors and government ministers are meeting in drought-hit Cape Town for the African Mining Indaba, the continent’s biggest gathering of one of its most vital industries.

Recent multiyear highs for many commodities have the world’s biggest miners swimming in cash and new demand from electric vehicles mean once-overlooked metals like lithium and

cobalt are grabbing the spotlight. But it’s not all blue skies, as the industry grapples with regulatory changes and uncertainty in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, as well as host South Africa.

Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day.

Leadership changes in the ruling African National Congress make it more likely that mining companies and the government can negotiate an agreement on mining policy, said Norman Mbazima, Anglo American Plc’s deputy chairman for South Africa. “We have got some momentum that has started happening, we are hoping that momentum will be maintained,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.

Anglo American Plc raised the possibility that it could start buying assets in South Africa, the latest sign of how much has changed in two years, when the miner was focused on selling.

“We no longer have any for sale sign,” Norman Mbazima, deputy chairman of Anglo American’s South African unit, said in an interview Monday. “It is possible to invest in South Africa. We have got hope right now.”