Shabangu is also expected to touch on the preliminary findings of the rights audits and pronounce on the status of the moratorium.

The briefing will further set the tone of the department’s interaction at the 2011 Mining Indaba to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 7 to 10 February 2011.

Last year, the department placed a six-month moratorium on all new applications for prospecting mining licences to give the department time to review gaps and inefficiencies in the administrative process.

At the time, Shabangu said the process was bearing fruit, as they had managed to improve the workflow method. She said the moratorium would be lifted this year and the department would be able to accept new mining licence applications.