The courts will have to settle a dispute between the South African government and the mining industry over which method to use when calculating share ownership in black economic empowerment, BBC reports.

Mining companies doing business in South Africa had until 2014 to increase shareholdings of black investors to at least 26 percent, but just 20 percent are in compliance, the government said this week, according to a BBC report.

The mining industry disagrees, saying it has exceeded ownership requirements in accordance with Black Economic Empowerment rules.

The confusion is due to the different measurement systems being used, the Chamber of Mines told BBC.

Due to exceptions, it can be a complicated process calculating whether or not a mining company meets the black economic empowerment rules, BBC reports. Confusion arises over whether the method takes into account the size of the workforce, or whether exceptions apply when shares are initially ceded to black investors, then sold to other stakeholders.

Mining analysts say this is a good time for black investors to buy shares in mining companies, which took a hit as markets reacted to falling prices of commodities such as platinum and iron ore.

“Our view is that the industry is way beyond the ownership required by the charter,” said Roger Baxter, CEO of the Chamber of Mines, the body that represents most of the industry, BBC reports.

Mining companies that fail to meet targets of black ownership could lose their licences at a challenging time for the industry.

John Meyer, a mining analyst at SP Angel, told the BBC that cheaper share values may actually put off investors, making it harder for mining companies to sell stakes to black people.

“Because mining companies are making less money than they were, it may be that indigenous investors have been more cautious, which would make it more difficult for mining companies to pull in more investors,” Meyer said.

Investment in media and telecoms are looking more attractive than mines right now to fund managers around the world, Meyer said. “This is a very difficult time in the cycle for mining investment,” he said, pointing instead at growth in the mobile phone industry across the continent.

It’s true that technology, media and telecoms are topping the charts for investment in Africa, and the banking industry also has a healthy future, said Jalloul Ayed, a former finance minister in Tunisia, BBC reports.