The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy on Thursday updated the application process for mining rights of various stripes in the current financial year. It seems a lot of progress has been made since Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said in response to parliamentary questions in December that zero applications had been finalised.

In a posting Thursday on X, the DMRE updated the state of play of the applications it has received for the 2023/24 financial year.

An overview of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy's mining licensing application processed in 2023/24. pic.twitter.com/LZSiPsMp2c-- Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (@DMRE_ZA) February 15, 2024

To wit, it shows that it has received 3,157 applications for mining rights, prospecting rights and mining permits.

Of these applications, 576 have been rejected. This presumably includes the rejection of the environmental application - needed for a mining right - for a $2-billion iron ore mine in KZN submitted by India's Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, according to a Bloomberg report earlier this week.

Curiously, it does not provide data on applications which have been approved.

It also gives a breakdown of the finalisation of mining rights and permit applications for previous years which presumably were finalised in this financial year.

Thirty-six mining rights applications from previous years have been approved so far this financial year, while 11 have been rejected. For prospecting rights from previous years, 283 were granted in 2023/24 and 453 were refused.

It's a welcome step for the DMRE on the...