Integrity at every stage closing the gaps in the mining value chain

Realising value through a unified pit to port approach

As Mining Indaba 2026 convenes, African mining is undergoing a significant structural shift. The mining value chain is no longer linear. It has evolved into an interconnected ecosystem in which integrity at every stage directly influences commercial outcomes, investor confidence, and long-term resilience.

For operations seeking sustained investment and operational stability, fragmented approaches to sampling, inspection, and analysis are increasingly a liability. Disconnected data, duplicated processes, and unclear accountability introduce avoidable risk, steadily eroding value as materials move from pit to port and into global markets.

A unified pit to port strategy offers a clear solution. By supporting transparency and protecting margins across the value chain, an integrated testing, inspection, and certification approach allows mining companies to focus on their core strength of extraction. Accurately verifying the value of resources as they move through the value chain remains a high stakes exercise that demands independent expertise and consistent oversight.

Jonas Kamonere, Regional Business Development Manager at Alfred H Knight Africa and Middle East, highlights the importance of working with a single, accountable TIC partner.

“Historically, sampling, inspection, and analysis have often been managed by multiple contractors,” Kamonere explains. “This fragmentation creates data gaps and blurs accountability. Over time, it increases exposure to commercial loss and can impact investor confidence.”

Alfred H Knight advocates a strategic pit to port approach, working collaboratively with mining companies and governments to support the movement of commodities while navigating regional, regulatory, and operational complexities.

“Each country presents unique regulatory and logistical challenges,” Kamonere notes. “Maintaining integrity across the value chain requires an experienced, independent partner with a unified, regionally informed approach.”

A comprehensive pit to port strategy begins with on-site expertise, including sampling, independent analysis, and geochemical assessment to determine the presence, quantity, and quality of mineral deposits. This ensures that data accurately reflects true resource value from the earliest stages of mining.

It extends into mine production and grade control, where defining ore and waste boundaries provides critical data for effective mine planning and plant feed optimisation. On site production control laboratories support timely and accurate grade control assays, enabling more informed operational decisions.

During processing and beneficiation, integrated TIC oversight supports the monitoring of recovery processes to ensure the production of saleable material. This includes bench scale testing and rapid analysis of process streams to maintain efficiency and protect value.

Integrity must also be preserved throughout the logistics chain. Independent inspections conducted at mine sites, ports, and during vessel loading help verify that the product leaving the mine is consistent with what ultimately reaches export markets.

At destination, on the ground expertise plays a critical role in validating the supply chain, providing confidence to investors, trading partners, and end users that material integrity has been maintained throughout the journey.

“The pit to port journey is too critical to be managed through fragmented processes,” Kamonere concludes. “It benefits from a partner that treats the value chain as a unified exercise, helping to safeguard and optimise the value mining operations create.”

As African mining continues to integrate more deeply into global markets, integrity across the value chain is no longer a back-office function. It is a strategic imperative. Those who close the gaps between pit and port stand to unlock greater resilience, stronger partnerships, and sustainable long-term value.