NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Like India’s steel giants, China is also showing interest in investing in South Africa’s mining sector.

According to the minister of mines in South Africa, China had shown strong interest in investing in the African nation’s mining sector.

China, Africa’s biggest emerging market partner, has been investing in the continent’s mining and energy sectors.

China is interested in manganese, platinum and uranium. But S Africa is also cautious to see if their investment is going to benefit South Africa. It is critical for the country to ensure its own interest.

The Chinese were keen to invest in processing of minerals in the country, a key priority of South Africa’s government, which hopes to extract as much value from its mines as possible and boost job creation.

Investor appetite for South Africa’s mining sector, one of the country’s major employers, was high, and the country was keen to attract just as many investors as in mining peers Australia and Canada.

Nationalisation of mines in South Africa, the world’s biggest producer of platinum and a major gold producer, was not government policy and would not happen, but rather it was a debate being pushed by a minority.

Rather than grabbing mines, the country would run a state-owned firm focused on strategic minerals such as coal and uranium, which were required for power generation. The minister said by mid-April the ministry would complete the consolidation of the assets under one company.

A key concern for investors was the issuing of mining rights by the State. The minister said mining rights would now be issued in six months compared to more than two or three years in the past. Prospecting rights would be issued in three months, she added.

South Africa had sufficient power this year, including during the soccer World Cup, and the blackouts that crippled the mining industry in early 2008 would not be repeated this year.

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