Media&News
Cutifani positive about South Africa
African Mining
12 October 2020
In his keynote address at the Joburg Indaba held virtually this year, Mark Cutifani, CEO of Anglo American, was optimistic about the future of mining in South Africa. This is his speech:
The past few months have been undoubtedly trying for all of us. No one could have imagined just how severe the effect of Covid-19 would be on almost every aspect of our lives and on economies.
The mining industry stands out in its continued response to the pandemic. We can all be proud of the enormous effort we’ve made as an industry to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of our people, and nowhere more so than in South Africa.
But we’re not out of the woods yet. We know that the pandemic and its effects are going to be with us for a long time. In South Africa’s case, the country has had to battle the longstanding challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment, which have all been further exacerbated by the pandemic. Read full article here.
ANGLO AMERICAN SET TO EXPAND OPERATIONS IN SA
EWN
10 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG - With unemployment a major problem in South Africa, Anglo American on Thursday said it wanted to explore for base metals in the country - expanding its operations.
But it said before this happened, the country needed regulatory changes to make it more competitive with other mining jurisdictions.
The company attended the 2020 Joburg Mining Indaba Conference. Read full article here.
Barrick CEO warns of reserve crisis
Mining Weekly
8 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG/TORONTO – Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow on Wednesday said the gold industry in Africa should consolidate further, as he warned of a "serious reserve crisis" looming for the sector.
A dearth of exploration has seen average mine life across the gold mining sector fall from 20 years to closer to 10 years, he added, speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference. "The prospect of a serious reserve crisis is looming," said Bristow. Gold production across the industry has only increased by 1.6% every year for the past two decades, he said. Read full article here.
Mining majors must convince investors of need to replace value – Sir Mick Davis
Mining Weekly
8 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Major mining companies need to convince investors of the crucial need to replace the value that they are taking out of the ground, mining luminary Sir Mick Davis said on Thursday.
“Every single day that they take something out of the ground, that value disappears forever, and unless you do something to replace that value, you are going to end up withering and dying,” he reminded on day-two of the Joburg Indaba, chaired by Bernard Swanepoel. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Read full article here.
Exploration strategy in three months, hydrogen under scrutiny – DMRE
Creamer Media
8 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A comprehensive exploration strategy will be developed in the next three months and engagement on the potential of the platinum group metals- (PGMs-) linked hydrogen economy is taking place, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) director-general Advocate Thabo Mokoena said on Thursday.
In a keynote address on day-two of the virtual Joburg Indaba event, Mokoena said South Africa needed to increase its share of global exploration expenditure to at least 3% and at question time, he confirmed that the opportunities presented by the hydrogen economy are under scrutiny. Read full article here.
Joburg Indaba – a virtual success
Miningnews
12 October 2020
The mining fraternity gathered for two days to discuss all things mining at the 2020 Joburg Indaba. Due to Covid-19, this year’s event took place as an online discussion which was nothing short of a virtual success.
Bernard Swanepoel, Joburg Indaba chairman started off proceedings by welcoming attendees to the event and thanked sponsors and organisers for supporting the online event. “This event has truly over the years gone from strength to strength.” He also mentioned that the new reality was one that everyone, including the mining industry, had to deal with.
“Due to Covid-19 social distancing rules, this Joburg Indaba, which I think is South Africa’s mining premier event, has had to go online. It’s a new reality and one which creates the perfect context for the critically important sector of the South African economy to pause and to reflect.” He also talked about one of the unique factors of the event – the blunt and honest conversations about the challenges and opportunities in the mining industry. Read full article here.
Joburg Mining Indaba chairman Bernard Swanepoel: Investors eye iron ore, manganese
Biz News
10 October 2020
Bernard Swanepoel is the chairman of the Joburg Mining Indaba. The once a year event, when we get the world of mining into Johannesburg – usually. Excepting this year, Bernard. It’s all been virtual. How has the difference been, having to squeeze the flesh, as it were, in the past, and now talking on Zoom screens?
Very different. Initially, when the lockdown happened, we thought we would have no Joburg indaba. We went back to our partners, sponsors and the mining companies. They all said, ‘let’s do it and let’s find a virtual platform.’ I must say with the MyPlanner platform, it has worked extremely well. Read full article here.
Anglo investing in South Africa’s hydrogen economy – Cutifani
Mining Weekly
7 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – As the world’s largest marketer of platinum group metals (PGMs), Anglo American is investing in South Africa’s hydrogen economy, including through a joint venture with the State-owned Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Anglo CEO Mark Cutifani said on Wednesday.
In a keynote address on day one of the Joburg Indaba, Cutifani described South Africa’s PGMs endowment as being of unique advantage over many other mining jurisdictions. Read full article here.
Flow-through must form part of overall exploration strategy – Minerals Council
Mining Weekly
7 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The introduction of a flow-through share scheme must form part of a full suite and package of measures tailored for a comprehensive exploration strategy for South Africa, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter said on Wednesday.
Speaking during question time on day one of the Joburg Indaba, Baxter was responding to a question put by Mining Weekly on whether a flow-through share scheme should be introduced in South Africa to incentivise much-needed exploration. Read full article here.
Coal miners should take lead in being ethical suppliers to Eskom
Modern Mining
12 October 2020
Speaking during a panel discussion with other coal industry stakeholders, as part of the virtual Joburg Indaba, on 8 October 2020, Mpumelelo Mkhabela, chairperson of mining investment firm Menar, called on coal producers to do their part in improving transparency and accountability in their relationship with Eskom.
Mkhabela said a code of ethics should regulate contractual arrangements that ensure commercial viability to both the supplier and purchaser of coal – not one at the expense of the other, resulting in public harm.
Implementation of an ethical code would bring many benefits for Eskom, including increased levels of transparency and accountability.
“The coal sector has been under attack. Coal has earned a bad reputation in South Africa largely because it has become associated with load shedding. As an industry we need to assist Eskom by providing it with coal at fair prices in a reliable manner in the interest of the economy. This will also improve the sector’s reputation.” Read full article here.
De Ruyter: Benefits of Eskom maintenance to be felt by April 2021, but power cuts won't be over
Polity
9 October 2020
The effects of Eskom's maintenance programme - which is expected to ease the risk of load-shedding would be felt by April next year as the power utility works to ensure the long-term sustainability of its infrastructure, its CEO Andre de Ruyter said on Thursday.
"We anticipate that by April next year we will see the first benefits of enhanced maintenance," said De Ruyter, adding that by September 2021, the power utility would have significantly reduced the risk of load-shedding.
"By September of next year, we will have significantly reduced, but not eliminated, the risk of load-shedding," he added.
De Ruyter, who took over as Eskom CEO in January, was speaking at the Joburg Indaba, a gathering of mining industry business leaders and investors. He acknowledged that power cuts had been a drag on SA's economic recovery and that a stable electricity supply was critical to investor confidence. Read full article here.
EXCLUSIVE: Ferroalloy industry stares into the abyss
Business Day
11 October 2020
SA’s ferroalloy industry, once the leading source of steelmaking ingredients, is on its knees and could be destroyed in the next four years due to state-imposed electricity tariffs.
SA was the leading source of ferrochrome a decade ago, but now it is in second place behind China, which relies heavily on chrome ore from SA. The same applies to ferromanganese, with China and other regions relying heavily on ore from SA rather than a steel mill-ready product. Read full article here.
No, you don’t pay too much for electricity – Eskom CEO
My Broadband
8 October 2020
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has cleared up misconceptions around the price of electricity in South Africa.
Speaking during his keynote address at the Joburg Indaba, De Ruyter addressed a popular narrative regarding the electricity price in South Africa.
Many South Africans complain that they pay too much for electricity, but it is more likely that the opposite is true, according to a number of studies cited by the state power utility’s CEO.
“In terms of electricity pricing, South Africa’s commercial and industrial electricity tariffs are competitive by international standards,” De Ruyter said. Read full article here.
Eskom’s maintenance efforts
Full View
9 October 2020
Eskom’s maintenance efforts, which will help reduce load shedding, are likely to bear fruit next year, says Eskom Chief Executive Offier André de Ruyter.
Speaking at the two-day Joburg Indaba that concluded on Thursday, de Ruyter said plans are in place to enable Eskom to achieve operational stability and, subsequently, significantly reduce the risk of load shedding.
"These stem from our Maintenance Recovery Project, which aims to spur midlife refurbishment and conduct reliability maintenance to improve the energy availability factor (EAF). By April of next year, we shall see the first benefits of the enhanced maintenance, and by September of next year, we will have significantly reduced, but not eliminated, the risk of load shedding,” he said.
However, these efforts – to refurbish and maintain the plant and improve the level of performance and reliability – on the part of Eskom by itself are not enough to end load shedding.
“As a start, a stable supply system on its own brings confidence for business to start investing in new opportunities and the expansion of existing ones, which increases demand and further puts pressure on the infrastructure.” Read full article here.
Eskom warns power system is under severe pressure
News 24
9 October 2020
Eskom issued a warning early on Thursday afternoon to say the power system is under severe pressure.
"Please switch off all unnecessary lights, your geyser, pool pump and non-essential appliances," the power utility requested in a Tweet.
There was no mention of load shedding or the likelihood of power cuts. Read full article here.
Eskom: Load shedding to reduce significantly in 2021
Solidarity
15 October 2020
The CEO of Eskom, André de Ruyter, mentioned in September during the Joburg Resources Indaba that South Africa will experience significantly less load shedding by September 2021. During his speech he revealed new information about the progress being made at Eskom, and also explained their plans for the future.
According to De Ruyter, Eskom is making progress with their maintenance schedule as well as repair work to several facilities they are working with, and this state-owned enterprise’s work will bear fruit within the next few months.
However, De Ruyter warned that the current maintenance work entailing to get power plants up to standard and in a working condition, is not enough to end load shedding.
According to De Ruyter, South Africa will also need additional generating capacity to be able to meet the current demand as well as the future demand for electricity.
With the national power grid constantly under pressure, Eskom has implemented a new strategy that implements so-called load reduction in areas where many illegal connections are found which cause the system to overload which in turn leads to unnecessary power outages. Read full article here.
Load shedding will be ‘significantly reduced’ by this time next year: Eskom CEO
BusinessTech
8 October 2020
Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter says that South Africa will see “significantly reduced” load shedding by September 2021.
De Ruyter was speaking at the Joburg resources Indaba on Thursday (8 September), where he provided an update on the progress being made at the utility, and what plans lie ahead.
Load shedding in 2020 has been the highest on record, with the only reprieve from the rolling blackouts felt during the higher levels of the coronavirus lockdown, where entire industries were closed. Read full article here.
Municipalities must pay up or Eskom sinks, warns De Ruyter
The Citizen
8 October 2020
Power utility has had to resort to aggressive measures such as attachment of the bank accounts and seizure of assets.
Mounting debt owed to Eskom by municipalities is an undisputed threat to Eskom’s financial sustainability, said Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter.
Speaking at The Joburg Indaba on Thursday, De Ruyter said the utility had no choice but to take action to recover the arrear debt by municipalities, which was at R31.4 billion at the end of August.
Eskom has had to resort to aggressive measures such as the attachment of the bank accounts and seizure of assets belonging to defaulting municipalities as part of our intensified efforts to collect this unpaid debt. “In such a situation, there are no winners,” he said. Read full article here.
Eskom’s plant maintenance efforts to bear fruit in 2021
South African Government News Agency
9 October 2020
Eskom’s maintenance efforts, which will help reduce load shedding, are likely to bear fruit next year, says Eskom Chief Executive Offier André de Ruyter.
Speaking at the two-day Joburg Indaba that concluded on Thursday, de Ruyter said plans are in place to enable Eskom to achieve operational stability and, subsequently, significantly reduce the risk of load shedding.
"These stem from our Maintenance Recovery Project, which aims to spur midlife refurbishment and conduct reliability maintenance to improve the energy availability factor (EAF). By April of next year, we shall see the first benefits of the enhanced maintenance, and by September of next year, we will have significantly reduced, but not eliminated, the risk of load shedding,” he said.
However, these efforts – to refurbish and maintain the plant and improve the level of performance and reliability – on the part of Eskom by itself are not enough to end load shedding.
“As a start, a stable supply system on its own brings confidence for business to start investing in new opportunities and the expansion of existing ones, which increases demand and further puts pressure on the infrastructure.” Read full article here.
Eskom acknowledges load shedding’s damage to the economy, promises improvement
Energize
9 October 2020
Eskom’s CEO, Andre de Ruyter, says the power utility understands that it has a critical role to play in enabling South Africa’s economic recovery efforts, for, without reliable electricity, there can be no sustainable economic recovery.
Speaking at the recent Joburg Indaba, de Ruyter said that Eskom is focussing on achieving operational stability and significantly reducing the risk of load shedding. This will be achieved by spurring midlife refurbishment and conducting reliability maintenance to improve the energy availability factor (EAF). By April of next year, de Ruyter said, the first benefits of this enhanced maintenance will be evident, and by September of next year, the risk load shedding will have been significantly reduced. Read full article here.
Eskom hopes to announce green financing for coal transition at COP26
Reuters
8 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 8 (Reuters) - South African power utility Eskom is still seeking funding for its shift from coal to greener fuels, but hopes to announce a deal at next year’s COP26 climate conference after talks with lenders including the World Bank, its chief executive said on Thursday.
Eskom, which generates 90% of South Africa’s power, has a 488 billion rand ($29.3 billion) debt burden and has imposed intermittent blackouts, denting economic growth and hurting investment.
The utility is in talks over funding with local and international developmental finance institutions, including the World Bank, and has received letters of support in principle, Andre de Ruyter told Reuters on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba mining conference. Read full article here.
Eskom’s De Ruyter hoping for system improvement in a year’s time
The Star
9 October 2020
Cape Town - Eskom hopes to see significant system improvement by September 2021, after resuming its long-term maintenance programme in July, CEO Andre de Ruyter said on Thursday.
"I am pleased to inform you that our long-term reliability maintenance activities have been in full effect from 1 July 2020 and we are confident that we can expect to see significant improvement in the system by September 2021," De Ruyter said in a keynote address to the Joburg Indaba. Read full article here.
Eskom implementing five-step turnaround plan, says De Ruyter
Mining Weekly
8 October 2020
As part of State-owned utility Eskom’s turnaround strategy, it is implementing five urgent and interdependent priorities, Eskom Group CE André de Ruyter told delegates on the second day of the virtual Joburg Indaba on October 8.
Firstly, the utility is aiming for operational stability, which would considerably reduce the risk of load-shedding, he stated.
He said that, by April 2021, Eskom was expecting to see the benefits of enhanced maintenance and, by September 2021, would have considerably reduced the risk of load-shedding.
He emphasised that the risk would not be eliminated entirely, but would be reduced.
Full article here.
Energy expert calls for RMIPPPP overhaul to facilitate cheaper, cleaner emergency power
Mining Weekly
8 October 2020
Energy expert Clyde Mallinson is calling on government to urgently overhaul its Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), which he says not only fails to address the country’s immediate electricity needs, but will also lock in dirty and expensive energy for the next 20 years.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy formally initiated the procurement process for 2 000 MW of so-called emergency power under the RMIPPPP on August 23 when the request for proposals (RFP) bid documentation was made available online for a nonrefundable fee of R25 000.
Full article here.
Barrick CEO warns of reserve crisis
Mining Weekly
8 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG/TORONTO – Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow on Wednesday said the gold industry in Africa should consolidate further, as he warned of a "serious reserve crisis" looming for the sector.
A dearth of exploration has seen average mine life across the gold mining sector fall from 20 years to closer to 10 years, he added, speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference. "The prospect of a serious reserve crisis is looming," said Bristow. Gold production across the industry has only increased by 1.6% every year for the past two decades, he said.
Bristow said this week's deal between Northern Star Resources and Saracen Mineral Holdings was a "great example" of industry consolidation that should be celebrated.
Full article here.
Mining majors must convince investors of need to replace value – Sir Mick Davis
Mining Weekly
8 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Major mining companies need to convince investors of the crucial need to replace the value that they are taking out of the ground, mining luminary Sir Mick Davis said on Thursday.
“Every single day that they take something out of the ground, that value disappears forever, and unless you do something to replace that value, you are going to end up withering and dying,” he reminded on day-two of the Joburg Indaba, chaired by Bernard Swanepoel. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
In conversation with Rothschild & Co senior adviser mining Fiona Perrott-Humphrey, the former Eskom, Gencor, Billiton, Xstrata and X2 Resources mining doyen credited mining majors with fundamentally addressing the cost base but said their challenge was to convince their investors of the crucial need to reinvest in their asset base to ensure that share prices did not ultimately decline.
Full article here.
Exploration strategy in three months, hydrogen under scrutiny – DMRE
Mining Weekly
8 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A comprehensive exploration strategy will be developed in the next three months and engagement on the potential of the platinum group metals- (PGMs-) linked hydrogen economy is taking place, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) director-general Advocate Thabo Mokoena said on Thursday.
In a keynote address on day-two of the virtual Joburg Indaba event, Mokoena said South Africa needed to increase its share of global exploration expenditure to at least 3% and at question time, he confirmed that the opportunities presented by the hydrogen economy are under scrutiny. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
Full article here.
Eskom must get its ducks in a row or else ‘organisational culture’ will sink the business, De Ruyter tells conference
Daily Maverick
8 October 2020
André de Ruyter has been shaking up the lethargic culture at the state-owned power utility, and for good reason: if the status quo is maintained, we all might as well stock up on candles and braai wood now.
Eskom’s group chief executive officer, André de Ruyter, told the Joburg Indaba mining conference that the utility’s “organisational culture” would sink the business if things did not change. This includes the fight against corruption, and Eskom remains in pursuit of those who enriched themselves while running the SOE into the ground. Oh, and its debt needs to be cut by more than half to R200-billion.
De Ruyter has been shaking up the lethargic culture at the state-owned power utility, and for good reason: if the status quo is maintained, we all might as well stock up on candles and braai wood now.
In a keynote address on Thursday to the online Joburg Indaba, organised by Resources 4 Africa, the CEO made it clear that a metamorphosis in culture was well underway at Megawatt Park.
Full article here.
Inside Investing – Swanepoel highlights fresh SA mining opportunites; OrbVest; Sasol; Tongaat-Hulett. Ep 4
Biz News
8 October 2020
In Episode Four of Inside Investing, we talk to Bernard Swanepoel, chairman of the Joburg Mining Indaba about the major theme emerging from two days of high level engagement; hear from top asset managers about the appeal (or lack of) in Sasol shares; get insights on the turnaround opportunity called Tongaat Hulett; and hear from Martin Freeman, CEO of US medical property specialist OrbVest. – Alec Hogg
Welcome to episode four of the BizNews podcast which exposes new investment opportunities and offers fresh ideas on investing and moneycraft.
In this episode we hear from the CEO of the JSE’s most obvious turnaround play, fallen angel Tongaat Hulett; then get insight from David Shapiro and Chris Logan on whether – or not – to buy Sasol shares after the 50% sale of its Lake Charles chemicals plant sale; catch up on the Joburg Mining Indaba with its chairman Bernard Swanepoel who talks to an appealing new trend resources investors would do well to consider; and we close this episode with the New York-based CEO of OrbVest Martin Freeman ahead of the unveiling of the US medical property investment company’s latest project.
Full article here.
Anglo investing in South Africa’s hydrogen economy – Cutifani
Mining Weekly
7 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – As the world’s largest marketer of platinum group metals (PGMs), Anglo American is investing in South Africa’s hydrogen
economy, including through a joint venture with the State-owned Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Anglo CEO Mark Cutifani said on Wednesday.
In a keynote address on day one of the Joburg Indaba, Cutifani described South Africa’s PGMs endowment as being of unique advantage over many other mining jurisdictions. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
The investment with the PIC would, he said, develop the market for PGMs by providing start up capital to businesses that use PGM-based technologies in their products and processes.
“This substantial investment is geared to stimulate and sustain the demand for South Africa’s PGMs in the long term, while preserving the mineral wealth of all South Africans, and how we do this together is both an imperative for the industry, for all South Africans, for the government, and together we’ve got to partner and do things differently,” he told more than 300 attendees of the virtual event chaired by mining personality Bernard Swanepoel.
Full article here.
Flow-through must form part of overall exploration strategy – Minerals Council
Mining Weekly
7 October 2020
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The introduction of a flow-through share scheme must form part of a full suite and package of measures tailored for a comprehensive exploration strategy for South Africa, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter said on Wednesday.
Speaking during question time on day one of the Joburg Indaba, Baxter was responding to a question put by Mining Weekly on whether a flow-through share scheme should be introduced in South Africa to incentivise much-needed exploration.
“Are we talking flow-through share scheme with the government right now?”, the moderator of the virtual event, Bernard Swanepoel, added.
“Absolutely. The issue is that if you are only attracting 1% of global exploration spend, which is $10-billion on an annual basis, and we’re spending only $100-million in South Africa, to get to a target of $300-million to $500-million, or 3% to 5% of global share, you’re going to have to do something extraordinary to get the foreigners and domestic companies much more excited about funding and investing in exploration.
Full article here.
Investors need security, says Anglo CEO
The BEE Chamber
South African mining executives, investors and officials gather in the nation’s economic hub for the Joburg Indaba conference to discuss the industry’s investment prospects after years of regulatory uncertainty.
Overall, it’s been a good year for South African miners as the rally in iron ore, gold and platinum-group metal prices boosted earnings and put dividends back on the agenda. Still, looming labour disputes, a reliance on a weak currency and the slow demise of gold mining leave the industry with plenty of challenges.
Anglo American Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani said there is no shortage of geological opportunities in South Africa, but to attract mining investment requires political stability and regulatory clarity. While encouraged by positive improvements in the political arena, the “parlous state” of public finances remains a challenge, according to Cutifani. The CEO said companies must work with the government to tackle “unresolved issues” in the nation’s Mining Charter, which seeks to address inequalities resulting from apartheid. Read full article here.
Issues impacting investment in the mining sector
Mining Review Africa, Chantelle Kotze
Asset managers globally have become the lightning rod for rapidly shifting populist views in Western countries, where the investment conversation is now dominated by environment, social and governance (ESG) factors.
These are being used to measure the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a company, based on its sustainability and ethical practices, attendees at the Joburg Indaba heard in September. The rapid evolution towards a global respect for ESG factors by investors and investment companies alike as well as the effect that this is having on different commodities, was explored by a panel which focused on the shifting investor perceptions of the mining industry chaired by Rothschild senior mining team adviser Fiona Perrott-Humphrey.
The panel also included Blackrock’s global head of thematic and sector investing Evy Hambro, Investec Asset Management portfolio manager George Cheveley, Allan Gray portfolio manager Sandy McGregor and Metal Industries Benefit Funds Administrators portfolio manager Myuran Rajaratnam. Read full article here.
Leadership: Vision, then courage to act
The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, M.I. Mthenjane President, SAIMM
In this second instalment of the leadership series that I initiated in my previous article, I’m discussing the leadership trait of courage/boldness (for the purpose of this letter, I’ll stick with the word courage). In the first article, I used the March 2019 Presidential SONA as a base to discuss the importance of visionary leadership for the social and economic development of South Africa. However, vision alone is insufficient. A vision or ‘a dream (goal) without a plan is just a wish’, said Antoine de Saint Exupery. I ended the previous article with the next big question – ‘Do we have the leaders with the courage to take on the required bold actions to make this dream a plan and reality for South Africans? Yes, we do!’
It was a bold assertion on my part to conclude that we do have such leaders. I followed up by posing the question by way of what I’ll confess was a limited survey amongst some of my WhatsApp groups. The emergent reality is rather disappointing. Three key observations struck me from the feedback that I received. Read full article here.
SAMESG Guideline is the recipient of the 2019 ISAR Honours Award
The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Media release on behalf of the South African Guideline for the reporting of environmental, social and governance parameters within the mining and oil and gas industries (SAMESG)
The SAMESG Committee is excited to announce that the SAMESG Guideline is the recipient of the 2019 United Nations Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR) Honours Award.
ISAR was established in 1982 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council. “ISAR reviews developments in the field of international reporting and promotes best practices for corporate governance. Within the context of Agenda 2030, ISAR contributes to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals through enhanced transparency and sustainability standards for companies. The ISAR Honours initiative recognizes policy, institutional and capacity-building efforts of different stakeholders that encourage and assist enterprises to publish data on their contribution to the implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and facilitate dissemination of good practices in this area” ( http://www.isar.unctad.org ). Read full article here.
Advanced shaft-sinking technology thrusts mining into new era
Business Day, Allan Seccombe
A deep roar, like that coming from a jet airliner’s engines on take-off, and the rattle of broken rock sucked into a large steel drum mark the test site of what could be a quick and safe way to sink a mine shaft.
Mining companies around the world are searching for fresh ways to extract minerals, ranging from changes in water use, hauling rock and finding safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly ways of mining. Read full article here.
SA mining urged to reform, embrace technology to overcome current challenges
Mining Weekly
As mining is an important part of South Africa's struggling economy, government and the industry must collaborate on policy and work together to overcome a myriad of challenges to stimulate this key sector and drive long-term investment. At the Joburg Indaba 2019, held in Johannesburg earlier this month, the challenges facing the industry were listed as reinvigorating the industry, encouraging growth and employment, regaining investor trust and boosting foreign direct investment, among others.
Global diversified miner Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said during the conference that South Africa’s current economic trajectory remained unsustain-able. He thus urged the industry to urgently implement reforms to “create a better life for all”. A starting point could be the imple- mentation of modern mining by introducing new technologies and navigating a transition that was sensitive to the country’s financial and social complexities, he said. Read full article here.
Mining looks to technology - focused suppliers
African Mining Market
Mining looks to technology-focused suppliers Laurence M. Stevens October 22, 20190 0 Less than a minute Technology’s contribution to a more sustainable mining sector was one of the central messages from mining CEOs at the recent Joburg Indaba; suppliers are hearing the call, according to South Africa-based explosives leader BME. Nadia Statham – BME’s General Manager Commercial “Speakers at the Joburg Indaba reminded us that South Africa’s mining sector can take great strides in efficiency by deploying technology and embracing the era of modern mining,” said Nadia Statham, BME’s general manager: commercial. “The good news is that many mining suppliers have been innovating and applying solutions to assist mines embrace technology and become more efficient.” Statham noted that the overall sentiment at the conference was positive – an encouraging indication that the industry was ready to face and overcome its many challenges. Advertisement “Our ever-changing landscape constantly demands better responses to issues ranging from foreign investment and mine safety, to environmental impacts and community engagement,” she said. Read full article here.
Minerals Council pursues the goal of Zero Harm
Modern Mining
The Minerals Council South Africa has formally launched the Khumbul’ekhaya initiative, a CEO-led strategy on health and safety, developed and led by the Minerals Council CEO Zero Harm Forum. The aim of the initiative is to drive and sustain the mining industry’s pursuit of Zero Harm, with a particular emphasis on eliminating fatalities.
Significant strides in improving industry safety and health performance in recent years have been possible through the collaborative efforts of employees and unions, the support of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), and mining companies.
Collaborative initiatives – such as the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) 2014 Occupational Health and Safety Summit Milestones and the Centre of Excellence, the establishment of the MOSH Learning Hub, the work being undertaken by the Mandela Mining Precinct, and the CEO Zero Harm Forum – have made important contributions. All these efforts have helped to contribute to an 88 % decrease in the number of fatalities since 1993 as well as reductions in occupational health-related deaths. However, the industry takes the view that no fatality is acceptable, and their incidence needs to be eliminated. Read full article here.
Technology equals efficiency in mining
Bizcommunity
South Africa's mining sector can take great strides in efficiency by deploying technology and embracing the era of modern mining. The ever-changing landscape constantly demands better responses to issues ranging from foreign investment and mine safety, to environmental impacts and community engagement. “The good news is that many mining suppliers have been innovating and applying solutions to assist mines embrace technology and become more efficient," said Nadia Statham, BME’s general manager: commercial. Read full article here.
Merafe identifies community unrest as factor in 29% slide in third quarter chrome output
MiningMx, by David McKay
MERAFE Resources, the ferrochrome producer in joint venture with Glencore, identified community unrest as one of the reasons behind the decline in third quarter production.
Commenting briefly in a production update today to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the company said output had fallen 29% compared to the third quarter last year.
“This decrease was as a result of increased planned maintenance, increased community unrest as well as production cutbacks in response to market conditions during the third quarter ended 30 September 2019,” the company said. Read full article here.
Canadians Pay Royal Bafokeng R2bn In Cash For Its Future Gold Output
African Mining Brief, by Jimmy Swira
Royal Bafokeng Platinum will deliver 70% of its gold output to Triple Flag until 261,000 ounces are delivered, and then 42% of output thereafter.
A Canadian company will pay Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) R2.1bn in cash for the future delivery of gold output.
On Wednesday, Royal Bafokeng Platinum announced the deal with Triple Flag Mining Finance Bermuda, a mining financier which has its headquarters in Canada. Triple Flag will pay more than R2bn ($145m) in cash upfront for the future delivery of gold from RBPlat mining operations
RBPlat will deliver 70% of its gold output to Triple Flag until 261,000 ounces are delivered, and then 42% of output thereafter. For every ounce, Triple Flag will pay 5% of the spot gold price to RBPlat. Read full article here.
Government must ensure municipalities pay Eskom: Num
SABC News
Experts speaking at the Joburg Indaba agree that a sustainable energy supply is critical for the growth of the mining industry. Deputy Secretary General of the National Union of Mineworkers, William Mabapa says government must make sure that municipalities pay what they owe Eskom to help save the power utility.
He says Eskom needs to deal with its bloated board and management structure to start fixing its financial and operational woes. Mabapa was participating in panel discussion at the Joburg Indaba in Sandton, north of Johannesburg.
“The problem of Eskom firstly is the problem of government; they owe Eskom indirectly because municipalities owe Eskom. When they give Eskom money they say we bail you out, in essence they don’t bail Eskom out, they owe Eskom, so they must pay Eskom what they owe. If they can firstly pay Eskom what they owe, Eskom won’t be in trouble.” Read full article here.
SA platinum miners consider paying dividends
Still, looming labour disputes, a reliance on a weak currency and the slow demise of gold mining leave the industry with plenty of challenges. South African mining executives, investors and officials have gathered in the nation’s economic hub for the second day of the Joburg Indaba conference to discuss the industry’s investment prospects after years of regulatory uncertainty. Here are the latest developments. Platinum miners consider dividends . Impala Platinum is considering paying either dividends or share buybacks, though the company would like to resume payments on a sustainable basis, said Chief Financial Officer Meroonisha Kerber. Read full article here.
Fully committed to undertakings on climate – Minerals Minister
Mining Weekly
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who is expected to submit the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) next week, told the Joburg Indaba on Thursday that he hoped to gazette the IRP to give South Africans another chance to comment on the document. With pressure building up globally for climate action, Mantashe said that coal producers would be required to invest in clean coal technology, singled out the Koeberg nuclear power station as South Africa’s most cost-effective electricity supplier, spoke of gas discoveries being poised to bring gas into the picture in a game-changing manner and said provision had been made for renewables. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Read full article here.
#JoburgIndaba: Reinvigorating mining will bring growth
Bizcommunity
Leaders in the South African mining industry came together at the Joburg Indaba to discuss key issues around the current economic and regulatory environment. This included what must be done to invigorate the industry, encourage growth and employment by winning back investor trust and boosting foreign direct investment. “SA’s economic trajectory remains unsustainable: We need to implement reforms urgently to create a better life for all and there’s no better place to start that than with the mining industry by creating a new paradigm that shifts us from merely sharing value to helping create enduring value for all," said Mark Cutifani, Anglo American chief executive, who was inducted into the SA Mining Hall of Fame this week. Read full article here.
Minister Mantashe says mining sector needs lower power prices
Business Maverick, by Ed Stoddard
The mining industry and its minister Gwede Mantahshe agree on one key thing: the need for lower power prices. Getting there, given the woeful state of Eskom's finances will not be easy.
South Africa’s mines and energy minister Gwede Mantashe and the industry have found common ground on the issue of power prices. Addressing the mining sector’s Joburg Indaba on Thursday, 3 October, Mantashe was emphatic about the need for lower power prices because South Africa was “exporting jobs to China” along with its manganese. The context to those remarks is that setting up energy-intensive smelters here to refine minerals such as manganese is not a viable option in the face of power prices, which have been soaring over the past decade even as the financial fortunes of mismanaged and looted state-run power utility Eskom’s have declined. According to the Minerals Council South Africa, the main industry group, “nearly 50% of intermediary input costs are influenced by administered prices and provided by state-owned enterprises”. Read full article here.
Miners urge President Ramaphosa to ditch verbiage in favour of ruthless decision-making
Mining Mx
SOUTH Africa’s “national culture” of talking but not acting came under the spotlight in a pointed debate chaired by former AngloGold Ashanti CEO, Bobby Godsell, at the Joburg Indaba mining investment conference in Johannesburg. Taking part in the debate Dawie Roodt, chief economist for the Efficient Group, criticised president Cyril Ramaphosa as a leader who consulted too much and who needed to be more “ruthless” in taking action. Another panel member, Frans Baleni – former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) but now director of F11 Consulting – called for the implementation of the report to restructure Eskom as a priority. Read full article here.
Miners need to be agile, innovative, says Andrew Lane
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – In the current socioeconomic environment, mining companies need innovative business models, as well as new strategies to adapt to the changing landscape, Deloitte Africa energy and resources leader Andrew Lane believes.
However, he warned on Thursday that mining companies would first need to ensure their competitiveness in terms of unit costs.
Costs, he explained to Mining Weekly Online on the sidelines of this year’s Joburg Indaba, in Sandton, needed to be considered as part of measures to improve the mining industry’s attractiveness to investors.
“[The mining industry] needs to learn to be agile and innovative . . . [and] there are going to be some major shifts in terms of which commodities are relevant, and how we compete and what the basis of competition is,” he elaborated. South African miners, in particular, need to become better adept at “reading the future” and understanding the potential scenarios that may arise, and then make the decisions that will provide the company with agility and flexibility. Read full article here.
Mining has opportunity to engage, reset and invest
South African mining executives, investors and officials gathered at the second day of the Joburg Indaba conference today where the discussion was kicked off by Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe.
Mantashe said he has been called a coal fundamentalist, but is a realist: “We will have coal for the rest of our lives, but coal must invest in clean technologies. I’m fundamental about the security of energy supply in SA while we meet our commitments on climate change. Clean coal is the way to go.” While load shedding and the impact of coal prices on Eskom remain challenges, Mantashe said the industry has a responsibility to ensure mining is consistent in its performance and maintains its production levels and sustainability for the sake of the broader economy. Read full article here.
Saving Eskom: Govt talks to coal and renewables about lowering prices
Bizcommunity
South Africa's limping economy is likely to be further crippled unless the price of electricity is brought down. Eskom', which provides about 95% of South Africa's power, saw energy costs increase by 17% in its most recent financial year, due to higher coal charges and increased production from independent power producers. Therefore, various government departments are in talks with both coal and renewable energy producers to ask for lower-cost supplies as the government tries desperately to resuscitate the country’s ailing power utility. Read full article here.
Challenges undeniable but opportunity exists in SA mining sector
Mining Review Africa
Despite there being a myriad of challenges which the South African mining industry needs to successfully navigate, there is hope for a prosperous future if stakeholder collaboration and the effective use of digital technologies take centre stage. Delivering the keynote address on the second day of Joburg Indaba was Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe.
The minister said he has been called a coal fundamentalist, but is a realist: “We will have coal for the rest of our lives, but coal must invest in clean technologies. I’m fundamental about the security of energy supply in SA while we meet our commitments on climate change. Clean coal is the way to go,” Mantashe said. While load shedding and the impact of coal prices on Eskom remain challenges, Mantashe said the industry has a responsibility to ensure mining is consistent in its performance and maintains its production levels and sustainability for the sake of the broader economy. Read full article here.
South African mining market still a lucrative investment - Mantashe
With all that’s been happening at Sibanye Stillwater, the mining sector has found itself between a rock and hard place as of late, but according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, the sector still remains a viable option to turn the economy around. Speaking at the 2019 Joburg Indaba in Sandton yesterday, Mantashe, reassured investors of the government’s commitment to the sector. “We assure you that as part of our commitment to being a responsive department, our doors are always open for constructive inputs that can take the industry, and indeed the economy, forward,” said Mantashe. Read full article here.
Deeper research required by those calling for coal’s demise – Menar chairperson
Mining Weekly, by Simone Liedtke
South Africa needs to consider its unique position and its level of industrialisation to determine what should be deemed a “just transition”, Menar chairperson Mpumelelo Mkhabela said during a panel discussion at this year’s Joburg Indaba, in Sandton, this week. Speaking during a panel focusing on the outlook for coal mining and South Africa’s coal sector, he explained that “what may be deemed just for Germany in terms of transitioning away from coal, may not be just for emerging countries, such as South Africa and India”. Read full article here.
Blackrock’s Hambro backs creation of SA national gold mining champion
Mining Mx, by David McKay
THE consolidation of South Africa’s gold mining production under the control of a single company would be “very interesting” and “something that we could invest in,” said Evy Hambro, head of the UK’s BlackRock World Mining investment trust. Asked at the Joburg Indaba whether South Africa would play a part in the anticipated consolidation of the world’s gold mining sector, Hambro said: “In regards to consolidation, some of the benefits of Nevada aren’t easily available. “But in South Africa, there could be a hope that a South African national champion could be created in the gold space. That would be very interesting, and it is something that would be interesting to invest in.” Read full article here.
Eskom’s Mabuza calls on SA’s coal producers to put national interest before profits
Cutting coal costs to Eskom not the first resort, says Deloitte’s Lane
WASTAGE in the value chain ought to be eliminated first before cutting coal prices supplied to Eskom, said Andrew Lane, energy, resources and industrials leader for Deloitte Africa, a consulting company. “Intelligent mining helps with identifying where waste is created in the business ranging from inherent variability in, for example, the orebody, design and structural waste to management-induced variability,” said Lane in a statement. “Digital solutions are designed to eliminate this waste by adopting best-of-breed technologies many of which have been proven in multiple industries.” Lane was commenting on following a presentation by mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, at the Joburg Indaba conference in Sandton this week in which he addressed meetings between his department, other government departments and coal producers last week intended to explore means of cutting coal costs to Eskom. Read full article here.
Government pushes for lower electricity costs to save SA economy – Minister
Business Report, by Dineo Faku
JOHANNESBURG – Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday that the government was pushing for the reduction of the cost of electricity to save the economy from a complete collapse. Mantashe told delegates at the Joburg Indaba economic growth in South Africa had been hampered by high electricity costs. He said if the cost of electricity could be brought down, the government would have won half the economic battle, “If we are going to win that, the price of electricity must be at the right level,” said Mantashe. Read full article here.
Mining Has Opportunity To Engage, Reset and Invest – Mantashe
African Mining Brief, by Jimmy Swira
South African mining executives, investors and officials gathered at the second day of the Joburg Indaba conference today where the discussion was kicked off by Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe. Mantashe said he has been called a coal fundamentalist, but is a realist: “We will have coal for the rest of our lives, but coal must invest in clean technologies. I’m fundamental about the security of energy supply in SA while we meet our commitments on climate change. Clean coal is the way to go.” While load shedding and the impact of coal prices on Eskom remain challenges, Mantashe said the industry has a responsibility to ensure mining is consistent in its performance and maintains its production levels and sustainability for the sake of the broader economy. Read full article here.
Watch this space: Minister to appoint Eskom’s new boss this month – acting CEO
Business Report, by Dineo Faku
JOHANNESBURG – Acting Eskom chief executive and chairperson Jabu Mabuza said on Thursday that the struggling power utility was confident that it would have a new chief executive by the end of the month. Mabuza, who was appointed to his position at the end of July after the resignation of Phakamani Hadebe, told the Joburg Indaba that Eskom was too big not to have a permanent chief executive. “On July 31, we committed to give the minister of public enterprises three names in descending order of preference. The minister will appoint the candidate,” said Mabuza. Read full article here.
Mark Cutifani’s vision to reboot SA mining
MoneyWeb, by Ciaran Ryan
New technologies will postpone its date with the undertaker. Ciaran Ryan / 4 October 2019 00:04 No comments so far ANGLO SOUTH32 Bucking the trend: Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani says the group has poured R300bn into local projects over the past decade. Image: Daniel Acker, Bloomberg News There was a sense at the Joburg Indaba on Thursday that mining’s long-predicted date with the undertaker may have been postponed. Share and commodity prices are up, profits are rolling in and there were smiles all round. Read: Mining output rises for first time in nine months Even firebrand trade union leader Joseph Mathunjwa of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) got a warm reception from the crowd, despite warning that unless inequality is addressed, residents of nearby Sandton could expect more visits from those of Alexandra, as nearly happened earlier this year when service delivery protests spilled over from the township to surrounding areas. Read: SA mine earnings at five-year high – PwC “We need to address the greed of bosses,” says Mathunjwa. “Minerals are there to serve the nation, not the boss or the investors. What happened in Alexandra is only the tip of the iceberg.” Mathunjwa’s appearance as a guest at the indaba is perhaps a sign of thawing relations with mine management. It was a good PR move by event organisers, putting a human face on a man who many imagined breathes fire and shatters crystal with his booming voice. Event moderator Bernard Swanepoel, former Harmony Gold CEO, introduced him as Reverend Mathunjwa, and it turns out he is indeed the son of a preacher, just as capable of quoting from the Gospel of St John as Karl Marx. Vision Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, Australian born but adopted son of SA, outlined a vision for rebooting the local mining sector. Read full article here.
Anglo’s CEO Throws his weight behind President Ramaphosa’s transformation of mines
Dumisani Hlatswayo ANGLO American CEO, Mark Cutifani, threw his weight behind the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to impose political stability. Cutifani told 400 delegates of the Joburg Indaba, a mining conference, Cutifani said: “Investors must believe that we have confidence in our industry, economy and institutions if they are going to invest. We cannot achieve this when we keep pulling from different ends”. Cutifani urged the mining sector to cooperate with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) with which it is currently locked in a court battle on aspects of the Mining Charter III. In his inaugural address to the nation, President Ramaphosa highlighted the drafting of Mining Charter III, a document that refines rules for transformation in South African mining, as one of his government’s early successes. This was despite the fact that the Minerals Council has taken the government to court on the issue of once-empowered, always-empowered – a principle that seeks to lock in credit for historic empowerment transactions, even though they may have lapsed. Mining executives have said since September 2018, when the charter was gazetted, that there were deeply problematic clauses, particularly those around the requirements to lift black ownership to 30% from 26% when mining leases were renewed and on the transfer of mineral rights. Said Cutifani: “There are several challenges – like the parlous state of the public fiscus – but overall, I think that government is on course towards the much-needed stability that international and domestic investors require. “We have a revised Mining Charter, and while we may have misgivings on some of the unresolved issues in the Charter, it is clear that these can only be resolved if we … work with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to find a solution”. Cutifani outlined a number of other themes that would create jobs and contribute to the economy in the long term. These included modernisation of the sector of which one aspect was for more surgical mining. “One can no longer assume bigger trucks, bigger mills, or bigger flotation cells to be productive. Read the full article here.
SA before profit, Jabu Mabuza tells Eskom coal suppliers
Business Day, by Lisa Steyn, Carol Paton and Londiwe Buthelezi
Eskom chair and acting CEO Jabu Mabuza has called on coal suppliers to put SA ahead of their own interests, saying the embattled power utility should not have to count high coal prices among its many problems. Ultimately, something has to be done to save Eskom. "We are all going to have to share the pain," he said at the 2019 Joburg Indaba on Thursday. "It is important we put the interests of our country first ahead of ... company profits." Mabuza’s comments come just days after mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and trade & industry minister Ebrahim Patel met suppliers and renewable-energy power producers to discuss with them how they could assist Eskom to lower its costs. The utility’s purchases of coal constitute its single largest expense, and rose 9.7% over the past financial year, according to Eskom’s annual report. R450bn Eskom’s debt, which the power utility is unable to service from its revenue The bigger problem though was the shift by previous Eskom management to short-term contracts, which involve trucking coal long distances rather than buying coal from the "tied mines" it helped develop, which sell to Eskom on a cost plus basis. Read the full article here.
Industry leaders debate challenges in South Africa
Mining Review Africa - 3 Oct 2019
The mining sector in South Africa finds itself at an inflection point. As a primary sector within an economy that is struggling to grow, coupled with transformative global trends that have a prolific local impact. This means that government and industry in South Africa must collaborate to align policies and overcome a myriad of challenges to stimulate the sector and drive long-term investment. The 2019 Joburg Indaba in South Africa seeks to create an influential platform to stimulate robust debate among all industry stakeholders. The Joburg Indaba is addressing key issues around the current economic and regulatory environment, including what must be done to invigorate the industry, encourage growth and employment by winning back investor trust and boosting foreign direct investment. Read the full article here
Minister wants to cut Eskom’s coal costs
South African mining executives, investors and officials gather in the nation’s economic hub for the second day of the Joburg Indaba conference to discuss the industry’s investment prospects after years of regulatory uncertainty. Overall, it’s been a good year for South African miners as the rally in iron ore, gold and platinum-group metal prices boosted earnings and put dividends back on the agenda. Still, looming labor disputes, a reliance on a weak currency and the slow demise of gold mining leave the industry with plenty of challenges. Read the full article here
SA cabinet to discuss IRP next week, says Mantashe who makes case again for coal in plan
By Charlotte Mathews -October 3, 2019
THE finalised draft of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), South Africa’s blueprint for its energy mix to 2050, will be discussed by cabinet next week and then opened for further public comment. “Please engage on it,” minerals and energy minister, Gwede Mantashe, urged delegates at the second day of the Joburg Indaba in Sandton on Thursday. The IRP, which has been discussed and revised extensively over the past two-and-a-half years, provides for both clean coal and nuclear energy in the mix, Mantashe said. “If mine owners invest in clean coal technologies, we will have coal for the rest of our lives. “We are not coal fundamentalists, but fundamentalists about reliability of energy supply,” he said. Read the full article here
South32 says community unrest, illegal mining damaging to SA’s competitive edge
Community unrest and illegal mining were singled out as two issues “which had to stop” if South Africa’s mining sector was to regain its competitive edge. That’s the view of South32, COO, Mike Fraser. Addressing the Joburg Indaba being held in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Fraser said mining communities were becoming increasingly dependent on the local operations around them because of South Africa’s economic malaise and rising unemployment. But he pointed out the past 12 months had seen an escalation in organised protests which were often in the interests of a small number of individuals. Fraser said these individuals had asked South32 to “… breach standard commercial processes for their own benefit”. He declared that “… we cannot continue to do business this way” Read the full article here
Anglo’s Cutifani urges SA mining sector to heal Government divide as key to new order
ANGLO American CEO, Mark Cutifani, threw his weight behind the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to impose political stability, saying the country was “on course towards much-needed stability”. But he also warned the mining sector ought to work more closely with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) with which it is currently locked in a court battle on aspects of the Mining Charter III.
ANC endorses reform; Anglo urges mining truce; Samancor ‘heist’ allegations; Moyo wants R250m
3rd October 2019 by Linda van Tilburg
The ANC has approved a range of proposals to revive economic growth, but stopped short of endorsing Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s plan to sell state assets. ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule said there was broad consensus among its top decision making body about the challenges that the nation faces. Magashule said there was a clear determination to act decisively and resolutely. The Rand gained as much as 0.7% to end the day at R15.21 to the dollar after his statement. On the JSE, miners gained with Anglo Platinum rising 6.35%, while Sibanye Gold gained 3.3% and Implats 2.99%. Read the full article here
Modern, sustainable mining can build thriving communities – Anglo
Watch the full presentation here
Anglo American CEO Cutifani’s lessons for SA govt
Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, who has been inducted into the Joburg Indaba’s SA Mining Hall of Fame, in a frank discussion with CNBC Africa’s Karabo Letlhatlha discussed how South Africa can attract investment into its mining sector and plans for the mining giant to be here for 100 years. Watch the full interview here
South Africa should identify ‘low hanging fruits’ in tradable sectors – panel
2ND OCTOBER 2019 By: Simone Liedtke - Writer
South Africa should identify the “low hanging fruits” it has in growing the country’s mining, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism sectors, economist Thabi Leoka said on Wednesday, dubbing these as “tradable sectors” that can help the economy grow. However, she lamented that South Africa was “nearing that stage where [it] has to work a little bit harder to get to the fruits that were, historically, low hanging”. Speaking during a panel discussion at the Joburg Indaba, in Sandton, PwC chief economist Lullu Krugel added that, in terms of growth, South Africa’s mining industry had seen a net growth in production for the first time in nine months, although gold still remained under pressure. Read the full article here
Kaya FM Bizz Broadcast Date: 2 Oct 2019 17:07:23
Show Lineup- Kaya FM Bizz
Listen to the interview here
Kaya FM Bizz Broadcast Date: 2 Oct 2019 17:26:47
The Joburg Indaba Summit
Listen to the interview here
Coal suppliers resist state pressure to cut prices
Exxaro Resources executive head of coal operations says producers committed to listen more to the government and to engage further. Coal producers have refused to enter into an agreement to lower coal prices for Eskom, the state power utility’s largest supplier has said. Business Day previously reported that the government met with coal producers and other role players last week to explore how they could collectively make a contribution to revive the economy. Read the full article here
Investors Need Security, Says Anglo CEO
South African mining executives, investors and officials gather in the nation’s economic hub for the Joburg Indaba conference to discuss the industry’s investment prospects after years of regulatory uncertainty. Overall, it’s been a good year for South African miners as the rally in iron ore, gold and platinum-group metal prices boosted earnings and put dividends back on the agenda. Still, looming labour disputes, a reliance on a weak currency and the slow demise of gold mining leave the industry with plenty of challenges.Investors need stability Anglo American Chief Executive Officer, Mark Cutifani, said there is no shortage of geological opportunities in South Africa, but to attract mining investment requires political stability and regulatory clarity. Read the full article here
Joburg Indaba Media Release
Robust debate seeks to drive industry forward
(Johannesburg – October 2nd, 2019) The mining sector in South Africa finds itself at an inflection point. As a primary sector within an economy that is struggling to grow, coupled with transformative global trends that have a prolific local impact, government and industry must collaborate to align policies and overcome a myriad of challenges to stimulate the sector and drive long-term investment. The 2019 Joburg Indaba seeks to create an influential platform to stimulate robust debate among all industry stakeholders. Taking place today and tomorrow at the Inanda Club in Sandton, the Joburg Indaba is addressing key issues around the current economic and regulatory environment, including what must be done to invigorate the industry, encourage growth and employment by winning back
investor trust and boosting foreign direct investment. Read the full article here
New technologies can make mining safer, sunrise industry – Mgojo
The utilisation of new technologies could make mining a sunrise industry while simultaneously addressing safety and health issues, Minerals Council South Africa president Mxolisi Mgojo said on Wednesday. Responding to a question by Joburg Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel following his keynote address, Mgojo said adoption of the Khumbul'ekhaya safety and health campaign had provided guidance for the industry going into the future. (also watch attached Creamer Media video.) The Khumbul'ekhaya campaign launched on Tuesday aims at eliminating all workplace fatalities. An Nguni word for “remember home”, Khumbul’ekhaya recognises that fatalities have the greatest impacts on loved ones, at home. Read the full article here
South32's Fraser stresses importance of reliable, competitively priced electricity
An overarching challenge to businesses of all sizes in South Africa, is the lack of reliable and competitive power, says South32 COO Mike Fraser. The reliable and competitive supply of power, he adds, “is critical” to the country’s future industrial growth and the creation of jobs. Speaking at the 2019 edition of the Joburg Indaba, in Sandton, on Wednesday, Fraser stated that the financial challenges facing State-owned power utility Eskom were “a key risk facing the economy”. South32 believes drastic action needs to be taken to ensure the embattled entity’s future sustainability. Read the full article here
Long-term contracts are cure for Eskom’s coal cost woes, says South32
One of Eskom's biggest suppliers has called on the state-owned power utility to return to long-term supply contracts to bring its coal costs down. South32 COO Mike Fraser was speaking on Wednesday the 2019 Joburg Indaba about the government’s recent request for coal suppliers to consider cost reductions, to help out financially embattled utility and, in turn, the economy. The diversified miner owns SA Energy Coal, which supplies more than 12% of Eskom’s coal needs. The company is, however, in the process of disposing of the assets, having signed an exclusivity agreement with Seriti Resources. Read the full article here
Modern, sustainable mining can build thriving communities – Anglo
Modern, sustainable and innovative mining was capable of building thriving mining communities that would be healthier, better educated and employed in greater numbers, Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said on Wednesday when he delivered a keynote address at the Joburg Indaba. Cutifani said communities and governments wanted the company to partner with them to achieve self-sufficiency and genuine empowerment that would enable them to proper long after mining ceased, (Also watch attached Creamer Media video. Read the full article here
COUNTING THE ECONOMIC COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAVOC
SA Mining - 1 Sep 2019
The environment and its associated challenges continue to take front and centre stage on the global playing field this on the back of an increasing number of hurricanes, floods and wildfires taking place. The World Bank has flagged deteriorating water quality as a massive environmental concern, and reports that worsening water quality is reducing economic growth by a third in some countries. According to World Bank Group president David Malpass, deteriorating water quality is stalling economic growth, worsening health conditions, reducing food production and exacerbating poverty in many countries. Read the full article here
Mark Cutifani – Latest SA Mining Hall Of Fame Inductee
Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive, Anglo American, globally recognised as an extraordinary leader and trailblazer in industry innovation, was inducted into the Joburg Indaba’s SA Mining Hall of Fame in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 1 October 2019. The Joburg Indaba SA Mining Hall of Fame was launched in 2016 as a way of recognizing and honouring some of the legendary individuals who have significantly influenced the South African mining industry over many years. Many believe that Mark Cutifani’s greatest contribution to the global mining industry has been to restore the fortunes of Anglo American, but what he is even better known for, is his vigorous approach to open, honest communication. Read the full article here
Cutifani inducted into South African Mining Hall of Fame
Global diversified miner Anglo American CE Mark Cutifani has been inducted into the South African Mining Hall of Fame for his contribution to the industry over the last 12 years. Anglo American South Africa has about 50 000 employees, working at own- and subsidiary operations in the diamonds, platinum-group metals, iron-ore and coal sectors, across the country. The Joburg Indaba South African Mining Hall of Fame was launched in 2016 as a way of recognising and honouring some of the legendary individuals who have significantly influenced the South African mining industry over many years. Read the full article here
Anglo CEO says investors need security
South African mining executives, investors and officials gather in the nation’s economic hub for the Joburg Indaba conference to discuss the industry’s investment prospects after years of regulatory uncertainty. Overall, it’s been a good year for South African miners as the rally in iron ore, gold and platinum-group metal prices boosted earnings and put dividends back on the agenda. Still, looming labour disputes, a reliance on a weak currency and the slow demise of gold mining leave the industry with plenty of challenges. Read the full article here
Anglo American CEO Cutifani inducted into mining hall of fame
Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani has been inducted into Joburg Indaba’s South Africa mining hall of fame in recognition of his contribution to the industry. The award was launched in 2016 to recognise and honour individuals who have significantly influenced the South African mining industry over many years. "Many believe that Mark Cutifani’s greatest contribution to the global mining industry has been to restore the fortunes of Anglo American, but what he is even better known for, is his vigorous approach to open, honest communication," said the organisers of the Joburg Indaba, an annual gathering of captains of industry, government and investors which takes place in October to drive the way forward for the sector. "Cutifani has given a new, twenty-first century voice to mining. Few, if any, mining executives, have done more to re-position mining in society in such a way that it is relevant, modern and sympathetic," Joburg Indaba added in a statement. Read the full article here
Minerals Council South Africa President Addresses Joburg Indaba On Mining Industry's Journey To Zero Harm
In his keynote address to the 2019 Joburg Indaba, Minerals Council South Africa president Mxolisi Mgojo today reflected on the mining industry’s journey to Zero Harm, and outlined the steps the industry still needs to take towards eliminating fatal accidents and deaths due to occupational health issues in the industry. In reflecting on the industry’s historical health and safety record which has improved markedly over time, Mgojo acknowledged the thousands of mineworkers that had died at work over the past 100 years. Read the full article here
Minister Gwede Mantashe addresses 2019 Joburg Indaba, 3 Oct
The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Mr Gwede Mantashe will on Thursday, 3 October 2019, deliver a keynote address at the 2019 Joburg Indaba. The annual event brings together various stakeholders in the mining industry – business, government and investors – to robustly discuss challenges faced by the industry and propose solutions thereto. Find out more here
Mining industry sunrise at even odds – consultant
By: Mamaili Mamaila
Journalist
Recent debates regarding the South African mining industry have centred on whether it is a sunrise or sunset industry. Local mining engineering consultancy Ukwazi business development director Spencer Eckstein comments that, while the sun may rise on certain aspects of the sector, it may set on others. Although the fundamentals of costs, revenue and operational excellence – inherent features for the industry as a whole – remain the same, the industry has been on an innovation and cost optimisation path for the past few years, Eckstein states. “If the industry is managed in a way that shows good corporate governance, builds skills and encourages technical solutions specific to the local environment, we will attract the necessary capital investment to expand and extend the lives of our mines and find new ones to create employment, economic opportunities and advance the upskilling of our workforce,” he adds. Read the full article here
Mining event to address issues facing sector
The 2019 Joburg Indaba will take place on October 2 and 3, 2019, at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg. Now in its seventh year, the Joburg Indaba will take an honest, bold and “no-holds-barred” look at the issues facing the mining industry. Resources investment conference company and event organiser Resources 4 Africa promises that the event will once again meet industry’s high expectations, by hosting speakers, attendees and discussions of “exceptional” calibre. Together with its interactive, informal atmosphere, and the networking opportunity it affords important industry players, the 2019 Joburg Indaba will remain a stand-out event in this year’s mining calendar. The year 2019 is proving to be an eventful one, both in South Africa and globally and the Joburg Indaba will interrogate what the major political, economic and industry-related developments mean for the global mining sector, says Resources 4 Africa. The Joburg Indaba is a gathering that attracts attendees from mining companies, government, labour, investors, community organisations and other stakeholders, all of whom have found it an important platform to engage with one another on critical issues facing the industry. Read the full article here
Amplats continues to see positive demand for 3E PGMs
By: Mamaili Mamaila
Journalist
Platinum group metals (PGMs) mining and marketing company Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) continued to see positive demand for platinum, rhodium and palladium (3E) PGMs over the short and medium term, Amplats CEO Chris Griffith noted at the company’s interim results presentation, which was held in Johannesburg, in July. Griffith will speak at the 2019 Joburg Indaba, which will take place on October 2 and 3 at the Indaba Club, in Johannesburg. “Platinum has been boosted this year, with very strong investment demand of over 700 000 oz going into exchange-traded funds, as well as continued healthy demand from a number of industrial sectors. The dollar basket price performed well in the first half [of the year], rising by 16% year-on-year.” Read the full article here
Looming energy uncertainty in mining
By: Mamaili Mamaila
Journalist
The demand for electricity in South Africa continues to increase and there is no certainty that State-owned power utility Eskom will be able to meet that demand at a cost-effective price, says international business law firm Fasken partner and finance and projects head Ashen Jugoo. It is highly likely that there will be continued development in the battery-storage sector over the next few years. This trend, coupled with the reduced price of small-scale embedded generation, makes it attractive for mining companies to establish their own power generation plants, he adds. “This will allow for security of supply and reduce the costs of electricity.” Read the full article here
US-China trade war may cause gold project surge
By: Mamaili Mamaila
Journalist
Although many commodities have remained flat over the past year, the resurgent gold price – mainly driven by uncertainty, owing to the US-China trade war – may result in more gold projects, given the favourable price environment, says project and engineering solutions provider Wood business development manager Kudakwashe Maramba. He adds that South Africa has been insulated from this, owing to the high platinum group metals basket price, with most platinum producers declaring record profits and delivering higher-than-normal dividends. However, Maramba warns that with little to no money being invested in exploration, this may cause a downturn in the sector in 2020. “Demand in the global mining industry has remained stagnant and has dipped in some areas. Last year, analysts predicted that battery minerals would be key, but supply has exceeded demand in a lot of areas. This has resulted in the drop in price across the board for most battery metals.” Read the full article here
Ukufisa Phase 2 to start production in 2020
Based on the current project milestones, construction at coal exploration and mining company Canyon Coal’s Ukufisa Colliery Extension will start before the end of this year with first coal production expected by the first quarter of 2020. The Ukufisa Phase 2 project forms part of Canyon’s project pipeline.Ukufisa Phase 2 was granted an environmental authorisation by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on March 5, 2019. Canyon has subsequently issued the required financial guarantee to the DMRE to demonstrate commitment to the development of the project. Located on the Palmietkuilen farm in Springs, Gauteng – Ukufisa Phase 2 will ensure a significantly long life-of-mine (LoM) for Ukufisa, producing substantial run-of-mine (RoM) coal. Read the full article here
Joburg Indaba sponsor looks forward to industry engagements
By: Mamaili Mamaila
Journalist
Independent consulting practice SRK Consulting is a networking sponsor at the 2019 Joburg Indaba. Organised by resources investment conferences company Resources 4 Africa, SRK partner and principal mining engineer Marcin Wertz says the Joburg Indaba is a unique industry conference, with the direct interaction from key players in different facets of the sector. He tells Mining Weekly that this is a distinct quality, as many other conferences cater for and are more biased towards suppliers to the mining industry. “Industry decision-makers attend the Indaba and it is an excellent opportunity for networking. It serves as a great platform to catch up with the latest sector news, as the event places more focus on the local mining industry audience, which extends to the broader Southern Africa region.” Read the full article here
Joburg Indaba continues to create positive platform
By: Mamaili Mamaila
Journalist
The seventh yearly Joburg Indaba has firmly solidified its place as the local mining conference of choice among key mining industry players. The two-day conference will take place on October 2 and 3 at the Inanda Club in Sandton, Johannesburg. Organised by resources investment conferences company Resources 4 Africa, this intimate, yet constructive conference has established itself as one of those “must-attend” events and is poised to sell out before the conference’s first day, says Resources 4 Africa CEO Paula Munsie. She adds that, in keeping up with the niche event format, the company expects about 600 delegates to attend this year. Read the full article here
Mines need to step up on sustainability
The mining industry is feeling the heat from government, communities, investors, environmental organisations and even consumers to implement sustainable business practices and reduce the impact of mining on the environment throughout the entire lifecycle of the mine.In a discussion, under the auspices of The Joburg Indaba leading experts on best practices, what it takes to mine responsibly and what to consider when evaluating the sustainability of a mining project. In his keynote address, Marius Keet, chief director: water quality regulation, Department of Human Settlements, Water & Sanitation, provided a concise picture of the current state of water quality in SA. “Everyone knows water quality is a development issue affecting social, economic, industrial, agricultural, health and many other sectors and it is in a very poor state in SA with 44% of waste treatment plants in SA not critical but facing serious challenges and a conservative figure of R49bn is needed for mining rehabilitation alone. Read the full article here
SA government wants exploration
By Esmerelda Lombard, June 27th, 2019 Mining in Focus
Better late than never is how we should feel about the South African government’s new emphasis on exploration. Boasting that mining is a sunrise industry, while beating it into submission at the same time, has done the country a great disservice. Failing to recognise that exploration is the only way to revitalise an ailing sector in a constraint economy, has further added to its woes. It does seem, however, that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), under a competent Minister Gwede Mantashe, has turned the corner. At the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, held in Cape Town earlier this year, Mantashe hinted that exploration companies might be absolved from the 51% black ownership requirements that his predecessor, Mosebenzi Zwane, decreed without second thought. After Zwane published his disastrous 2017 Charter, exploration activities in South Africa dropped to levels not seen in more than 50 years. Read the full article here
Securing investment – advice for junior miners
Jul 26, 2019
Junior miners honest about your ore body, realistic about your expectations and make sure that you have ticked all your boxes from a regulatory, social and environmental and point of view. This is the compendious advice that Robert Philpot of Qinisele Resources has for any junior miner looking to secure investment. Gerard Peter writes. After qualifying as an attorney, Philpot soon traded his robe for the world of corporate mining finance, becoming a partner at corporate advisory boutique, Qinisele Resources, in 2007. When it comes to securing funding for projects, he explains that unfortunately many retail and institutional investors follow short-term commodity cycles. Read the full article here
Ismail Momoniat says SA miners have bigger worries than carbon tax
A senior Treasury official dismissed as a "red herring" the SA mining industry’s concern over a relatively new tax on carbon dioxide emissions, saying the levy was too low to add up to unbearable costs. The tax, which was enshrined into law in May, faced opposition from big polluters such as miners, steelmakers and Eskom, which had warned it would eat into profits and push up electricity prices. Anglo American Platinum has said the tax could cost it up to R300m, while the Minerals Council of SA warned it could lead to 6,000 job losses a year. "In the short term, the impact of the carbon tax on the price of electricity is minimal," said Treasury deputy director-general Ismail Momoniat on the sidelines of a coal industry conference on Wednesday. Read the full article here
Prevost urges coal producers to focus on local demand
Nadine James - Creamer Media Writer
South African coal producers should focus on supplying local industries and State-owned power utility Eskom, given the changing and uncertain export environment, XMP Consulting senior coal analyst Xavier Prevost said on Wednesday. Speaking at the inaugural Coal Industry Day hosted by Resources 4 Africa at the Johannesburg Country Club, he pointed out that both China and India – the latter of which buys about 46% of South Africa’s coal exports – plan to reduce their coal import volumes. Read the full article here
Eskom needs more support from coal producers, SADC – panel
Coal producers should offer State-owned utility Eskom fairer pricing, while the Southern African Development Community (SADC) States should do more to support Eskom, delegates attending the Coal Industry Day, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, were told. In a panel discussion on the role of coal in resolving Eskom’s generation capacity and Southern Africa’s energy needs, Menar MD Vuslat Bayoglu noted that coal pricing, and therefore coal producers, needed to be fairer, while Shumba Energy MD Mashale Phumapahi noted that, given Eskom’s role in the SADC region, “it's time that other countries start contributing to ensure that there is security of supply.” Read the full article here
Coal critical to enabling South Africa’s stability and growth
High input costs to power generation, including coal, ultimately cause higher electricity prices which is detrimental to South Africa's economy, says Menar MD, Vuslat Bayoglu. He was speaking during a panel discussion on how the sector can assist Eskom in resolving its power generation challenges at the inaugural Coal Industry Day in Johannesburg. Bayoglu said that although none of Menar’s subsidiaries currently have contracts with Eskom at this stage, they were in discussion with the utility about offtake agreements, either through existing operations and/or acquisitions of new ones. Read the full article here
Coal mining definitely not on its way out
Ciaran Ryan, Moneyweb
The idea that coal mining is a sunset industry was put to rest at the Coal Industry Day in Johannesburg this week. Coal’s outsized contribution to mining and the energy grid cannot be wished away, no matter how many wind turbines are erected in honour of environmental correctness. Xavier Prévost, senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting, ran through the numbers and it’s clear coal will be here for a long time yet. Coal is found in 70 countries and mined in 50 of them. At current rates of consumption, the International Energy Agency forecasts that coal will last another 114 years, compared to 53 years for gas and 51 years for oil. Read the full article here
Coal will be around for a long time yet
The idea that coal mining is a sunset industry was put to rest at the Coal Industry Day in Johannesburg this week. Coal’s outsized contribution to mining and the energy grid cannot be wished away, no matter how many wind turbines are erected in honour of environmental correctness. Xavier Prévost, senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting, ran through the numbers and it’s clear coal will be here for a long time yet. Coal is found in 70 countries and mined in 50 of them. At current rates of consumption, the International Energy Agency forecasts that coal will last another 114 years, compared to 53 years for gas and 51 years for oil. Read the full article here
Australian companies remain hungry for African opportunities says AAMEG
With a number of its members already successfully operating in Africa’s resource-rich mining sector, the Australia-Africa Minerals & Energy Group (AAMEG), says that Australian companies remain hungry for the opportunities that Africa has to offer. While CEO William Witham believes there are huge opportunities abound, he doesn’t shy away from admitting that operating in Africa is not without its challenges writes Chantelle Kotze. Having taken to the helm of the AAMEG in January 2018, succeeding former CEO Trish O’Reilly, Witham brought with him a wealth of experience, spanning corporate leadership in resource development in Africa, senior roles in resource sector representative bodies and direct experience in government lobbying and negotiating. Read the full article here
Key mining issues to be debated at Joburg Indaba 2019: Confirm your place
The 7th edition of the Joburg Indaba is set to take place at the Inanda Club, Johannesburg on 2nd and 3rd October 2019 and will bring all the key stakeholders together – government, SOEs, mining houses, investors, labour unions and other industry thought leaders – both local and international, to contribute to a timely and critical discussion on the current and future role of mining in SA and beyond. Issues and questions to be debated include: where SA mining is currently, how the world, particularly investors, sees us now and what political, economic, environmental and market developments are influencing the industry going forward. Read the full article here
Eskom needs more support from coal producers, SADC – panel
By: Nadine James - Creamer Media Writer
Coal producers should offer State-owned utility Eskom fairer pricing, while the Southern African Development Community (SADC) States should do more to support Eskom, delegates attending the Coal Industry Day, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, were told. In a panel discussion on the role of coal in resolving Eskom’s generation capacity and Southern Africa’s energy needs, Menar MD Vuslat Bayoglu noted that coal pricing, and therefore coal producers, needed to be fairer, while Shumba Energy MD Mashale Phumapahi noted that, given Eskom’s role in the SADC region, “it's time that other countries start contributing to ensure that there is security of supply.” Read the full article here
Mantashe has a mountain to climb as SA mining exploration is at an investment ebb
By Natalie Greve - July 11, 2019
The scoreboard doesn’t lie. That’s the message from former Harmony Gold CEO, Bernard Swanepoel, and others when appraising the state of South Africa’s exploration and junior mining sector. Swanepoel references S&P Global Market Intelligence research on mining exploration in Africa when asked by Miningmx for his views on whether a material mining exploration industry still exists in the country. The report shows how, despite South Africa placing top of the list between 2000 and 2009 among African states’ ability to attract early-stage funding, it has since dropped to sixth place. Attracting $97.8m in exploration investment in 2018, South Africa now lags the Democratic Republic of the Congo ($269.5m) in first place, Burkina Faso ($149.10m), Ghana ($102.90m) and Côte d’Ivoire ($101.60m), and Mali ($99.60m). Read the full article here
Record Level
Mining Weekly - 12 Apr 2019
The report put out by BMO Global Commodities Research added that ETF inflows had been strong in the year to date, as investors had seemingly taken a view that palladium might be overbought and saw potential for platinum substitution in autocatalysts over the midterm. Although platinum had been out of favour for the past few years, with prices dropping from over $1 500 oz in 2014 to below $800 oz in 2018, BMO researchers described the price as having now steadied, after seemingly hit ting an inflection point in late 2018 and rising over 6% this year. Bloomberg reports that palladium was heading for its biggest weekly decline in more than three years as investors' focus turned to demand amid concerns over slowing global growth, with the decline following repeated warnings that the metal's recent surge to record highs had propelled it into bubble territory. Read the full article here
Rapidly rising costs will exacerbate PGMs industry crisis
By: Natasha Odendaal, Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor
Faster-than-inflation rising costs and a stall in revenue in the South African platinum group metals (PGMs) industry are exacerbating hardwired challenges that are already threatening nearly 90 000 jobs. Rapidly escalating costs, particularly for labour, electricity and supplies, are fast becoming one of the most significant issues faced by the local market, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter said on Tuesday. Read the full article here
LIVE: Investing in Resources and Mining in Zimbabwe
The Joburg Indaba team is hosting its 2nd annual Harare Indaba on investing in resources and mining in Zimbabwe. Chaired by Bernard Swanepoel, The Harare Indaba is bringing together mining and investment communities interested in the country as a mining investment destination. A senior delegation from the country including government and business is answering crucial questions such as: Is Zimbabwe really “open for business”? What has changed for the better since 2018? What has changed in mining policy? Read the full article here
Classic FM - Market Report on Classic Business Show at 17:00
A look at the day's local markets. Int: Portfolio Manager: Sanlam Private Wealth: Nick Kunze Mention: Anglo American Mention: Joburg Indaba Platinum Day Mention: JSE Mention: Imperial Crown Trading Mention: SA-Ink Mention: Val-Oil Mention: Nedlac Mention: Aspen Mention: Mediclinic Mention: Steinhoff Mention: MTN Listen to the interview here
Sibanye-Stillwater’s share price may have seen the worst
Sibanye-Stillwater’s CEO Neal Froneman had some sobering words for policy-makers at the Joburg Indaba this week. 2014 marked SA’s descent into a dark period of corruption, from which it is now beginning to emerge. “We need to grow outside of SA. We’re not leaving SA. We are committed to investing R4.5 billion a year in sustained capital in SA. But the investment climate in SA is not yet conducive to investing in projects with a 10-year time horizon.” The Labour Relations Act needs to be more business friendly, and until that happens investors will hold back. Government needs to focus on service delivery, and understand the role of business in the economy. “That’s one reason why we bought Stillwater in the US,” said Froneman. Read the full article here
Platinum ETFs hit record high, palladium seen as over-bought
Platinum-backed exchange traded fund (ETF) holdings increased for the ninth consecutive day yesterday reaching 2.96-million ounces, the highest level on record, the BMO Metals Brief noted on Friday. The report put out by BMO Global Commodities Research added that ETF inflows had been strong in the year to date, as investors have seemingly taken a view that palladium may be over-bought and see potential for platinum substitution in autocatalysts over the mid-term. Read full article here
Sibanye Stillwater plans to grow outside SA
Sibanye Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman announced at Joburg Indaba that the company has plans to invest outside of the country thanks to a non-conducive investment climate in South Africa. Froneman says that the labour relations Act needs to be more business friendly. This statement was linked to a four month strike and a labour court decision which granted an extension of the wage agreement to AMCU. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Themba Nkosi, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Sibanye-Stillwater. See the video here
Sibanye's share price may recover
Saturday Citizen (Johannesburg Edition), Business - 30 Mar 2019
Neal Froneman had sobering words for policy makers at this week's Joburg Indaba. 2014 marked SA's descent into a dark period of corruption, from which it's now beginning to emerge. "We need to grow outside of SA. We're not leaving SA. We are committed to investing R4.5 billion a year in sustained capital in SA. But the investment climate in SA is not yet conducive to investing in projects with a 10-year time horizon." The Labour Relations Act needs to be more business-friendly, until that happens investors will hold back. Government must focus on service delivery, and understand business's role in the economy. Read the full article here
Exciting DRDGold expertise deserves international prominence – Froneman
By: Martine Creamer
Creamer Media Editor
The exciting gold-from-tailings expertise of DRDGold, which has decades of experience in recovering precious metals profitably from mine dump material, deserves international prominence which Sibanye-Stillwater intends to afford it, CEO Neal Froneman said on Wednesday. Froneman drew attention to the value of his company’s stake in DRD during a wide-ranging interview with Joburg Indaba chairperson and mining luminary Bernard Swanepoel. Read the full article here
Hard for Gold Fields to walk from South Deep whilst it is making losses - MiningMX
Gold Fields CEO, Nick Holland’s call on shareholders last week to exercise “patience” in respect of the firm’s South Deep mine may be a precursor to eventually exiting from the operation and, in so doing, finally bringing the curtain down on the firm’s long-standing exposure to South African gold mining. “They are now very impatient, and one can understand it but I think we need to calmly look where we are and evaluate the best way forward,” said Holland in an interview with Bloomberg News regarding ongoing losses at South Deep. “There is a large resource base there, it’s well-drilled and we have spent a lot on infrastructure development costs. We are not far away, we just need more time,” he said. Read the full article here
Releasing exploration companies from onerous regulatory burdens is positive
Mining Weekly - 12 Oct 2018
The new charter does not insist that exploration companies have 30% black economic empowerment, 5% carried interest for labour and 5% carried interest for communities the boxes that new mining ventures must tick. Moreover, junior miners are also being looked at through a different regulatory lens, which is good news. But it is not that good that South Africa can expect investment doors to be flung open. What the regulators must continue to bear in mind is that some other rival mining jurisdictions provide much more than a regulatory clean sheet and go so far that they actually subsidise exploration as an acknowledgement of the high risks associated with it. Read the full article here
Safety Examplar
Mining Weekly - 12 Oct 2018
The Zimplats platinum mine, in Zimbabwe, was held up as a safety benchmark at the Joburg Indaba, which, last week, observed a minute's silence for mining colleagues fatally injured at work. Opening the second day of the well-attended event, Gold Fields, Kumba Iron Ore and AfriTin director Terence Goodlace emphasised how absolutely critical it had become globally for mining companies to attain the highest levels of safety. He drew attention to the significantly divergent safety cultures of the developing and developed worlds and identified safety's Holy Grail as being the enforcement of safety controls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Read the full article here
Cost Concerns
Mining Weekly - 12 Oct 2018
The mining sector is poised for a positive future but is still hindered by a "harsh" environment, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter has said. In his keynote address at the Joburg Indaba, titled 'A harsh environment in South Africa or a new dawn', he noted that one of the major constraints impacting on the sector was administered prices. "Electricity costs have more than trebled ... the industry can't afford these price increases." This sentiment was echoed by economist Mike Schussler, who pointed out that, based on statistics from State-owned utility Eskom, the mining sector's electricity costs had gone up from 4% of its yearly turnover to 9% of its turnover in the last decade. Moreover, since 1998, electricity prices had outperformed inflation by a factor of four. In a panel chaired by financial journalist Siki Mgabadeli, Schussler said electricity and water cost increases had to be lower than inflation, as sub-inflation increases immediately boosted investment returns, minimised margin pressure, and improved the viability of the sector, which, in turn, attracted more investment. Read the full article here
'Develop Demand'
Mining Weekly - 12 Oct 2018
A platinum Mandela coin should be minted and marketed and platinum catalysed fuel cells used to power off-grid areas, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said last week. In his opening speech to the well attended Joburg Indaba, Mantashe, who is seven months into the job, said he had inherited a mining industry that was not on speaking terms. "We have now re-established relations and we're talking to one another. We fought, we hugged, we embraced," he told the 500 attendees. Mantashe, who was last year inducted into the Joburg Indaba's Hall of Fame, said, in reference to his gazetting of Mining Charter III, that mining should not a be a sector of charters, but a sector able to contribute significantly to the gross domestic product of the South African economy. Read the full article here
Plea for Socialism
Mining Weekly - 12 Oct 2018
South Africa should transition from a constitutional democracy to a "social democracy" and implement more socialist policies to safeguard jobs in the mining sector, suggests Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa. Speaking on the second day of the Joburg Indaba, last week, he further suggested that government revoke the licences of mines that are on care and maintenance and transfer those rights to junior mining companies, thereby creating or retaining jobs. Another suggestion was that government cap executive salaries so that more value is spread to the workers, adding that some of the salaries earned by mining CEOs are "obscene", especially in light of the country's economic environment. Read the full article here
Eskom, coal sector urged to collaborate to overcome challenges
Mining Weekly - 12 Oct 2018
The power utility has not ruled out the possibility of introducing special tariffs for industry, Matleng Energy Solutions chairperson and Eskom nonexecutive director Nelisiwe Magubane has said. She stated at the Joburg Indaba, however, that, to date, the coal mining "industry had not made any guarantee that the cost of coal per ton would decrease as well". She said Eskom had realised that increasing tariffs was not going to be sustainable because the utility was seeing a lot of "grid defection". Magubane noted that the biggest issue was cost-cutting and that difficult decisions would need to be made in the near future. "In 2007, Eskom generated 218 000 TWh; by 2017, that had slipped to 214 000 TWh. Electricity costs increased from 18 c kWh in 2007 to 83.6 c kWh in 2017 ... as you can see, the increase in tariffs has nothing to do with the amount of electricity being sold," Magubane noted. Further, she noted that, in 2007, Eskom's debt amounted to about R40 billion. Read the full article here
Joburg Indaba CEO on mining and transformation
The Modise Network
Bernard Swanepoel, CEO of the Joburg Indaba, gives an overview of this year's edition of the conference which focused on the new mining charter, particularly regarding transformation and investment in the mining sector. Int: Bernard Swanepoel: CEO: Joburg Indaba Mention: BRICS Mention: Patrice Motsepe Mention: Minister: Gwede Mantashe: Mineral Resources Mention: Kumba Mention: Minerals Council South Africa. Watch the clip here
SA miners ‘need to fix bad dividend record’
15 October - Allan Seccombe
As SA mining companies struggle to get through the doors of North American investors to make a pitch, their boards are pushing to change the way they manage their cash, debt, asset pipeline and rewards for shareholders. At the Joburg Indaba mining conference, a number of finance directors and investor relations officials spoke about the changes wrought on their business and a shift in shareholder sentiment towards resource companies, which, by and large, have had a dismal track record in capital allocation and returns for shareholders. Read the full article here
SA miners realise they have to reward investors with a pot of gold
15 October 2018 - Allan Seccombe
As SA mining companies struggle to get through the doors of North American investors to make a pitch, boards are increasingly pushing to change the way they manage their cash, debt, asset pipeline and rewards for shareholders. At the Joburg Indaba mining conference, a number of finance directors and investor relations officials spoke about the changes wrought on their business and a shift in shareholder sentiment towards resource companies, which, by and large, have had a dismal track record in capital allocation and returns for shareholders. Chairing a panel discussion, Anglo American director and former fund manager Jim Rutherford spoke of his past frustration in dealing with mining companies, particularly in the gold sector, which were obsessed with growth at the expense of investors. Read the full article here
Greater beneficiation in South Africa not feasible yet
4th October 2018 / By: Marleny Arnoldi - Creamer Media Online Writer
Public Investment Corporation mining, beneficiation and energy sector specialist Heidi Sternberg says it is widely believed that South Africa should be beneficiating, since it has much of the world’s gold and platinum resources. “It is a key node for job creation; however, beneficiation requires skills that South Africa does not have. There is one engineering per 1 600 people, while in first world countries there is an average one engineer per 40 people,” she said during a panel discussion at the Joburg Indaba, on Thursday. Read the full article here
Mining tech boosts competitiveness, efficiency
4th October 2018 / By: Marleny Arnoldi - Creamer Media Online Writer
The miners of today look to create greater efficiencies to ensure their sustainability and profitability, which is greatly enabled with technology, a panel of speakers agreed during day two of the Joburg Indaba. Accenture Resources Africa MD Cameron Tandy said in a separate statement that the mining industry both locally and abroad, had endured a tumultuous period, owing to commodity price volatility, rising input costs and shifting operational requirements. Read the full article here
Capacitate communities to facilitate more meaningful engagements – Joburg Indaba panel
4th October 2018 / By: Nadine James / Creamer Media Writer
Communities cannot participate on an equal nor meaningful level with mining companies if they are not adequately capacitated and informed by the industry, Sibanye-Stillwater stakeholder engagement head Thabisile Phumo said in a panel discussion during the Joburg Indaba on Thursday. She stated that the trust deficit between communities and companies was as a result of a deficit in communication on both sides, misaligned expectations on the part of the communities and the industry’s chequered history. Read the full article here
Mathunjwa calls on govt to implement more socialist policies to retain jobs
4th October 2018 / By: Nadine James / Creamer Media Writer
South Africa should transition from a constitutional democracy to a “social democracy” and implement more socialist policies to retain jobs in the mining sector, suggests Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) president Joseph Mathunjwa. Speaking on the second day of the Joburg Indaba, on Thursday, he further suggested that government should revoke the licences of mines that are on care and maintenance and transfer those rights to junior mining companies, thereby creating or retaining jobs. Read the full article here
Zimplats held up as mine safety benchmark at Joburg Indaba
Zimplats platinum mine in Zimbabwe was held up as a safety benchmark at the Joburg Indaba, which on Thursday observed a minute’s silence for mining colleagues fatally injured at work. Opening the second day of the well-attended event, GoldFields, Kumba Iron Ore and AfriTin director Terence Goodlace emphasised how absolutely critical it had become globally for mining companies to attain the highest levels of safety. Read the full article here
Mining sector hails charter changes, raises concerns
Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter on Wednesday told delegates at the Joburg Indaba that while the South African mining industry is dealing with possibly one of the harshest environments that it has experienced in many decades, it is also beginning to see the first rays of a new dawn. Tebello Chabana, senior executive at the Minerals Council SA, talks to Classic Business Breakfast with Moneyweb about the council’s position on the Mining Charter. Read the full article here
Gwede now clears the air on exploration
Daily Dispatch (Final Edition), Business - 5 Oct 2018
Gwede now clears the air on exploration DIFFERENT DIRECTION: Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe says there will be no BEE targets for exploration. Picture FILE Minister makes it clear that there won't be any BEE target in new charter ALLAN SECCOMBE Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has moved to undo one of the most damaging elements in his predecessor's version of the Mining Charter, releasing exploration companies from onerous black ownership conditions that the industry partially blames for a drop in activity to levels not seen in about five decades. Read the full article here
Peru and Chile eclipse SA amid investment shift
Business Day (Final) - 5 Oct 2018
Shunned: Miners at the Central Rand Gold Mine in Robertville, Johannesburg. Investors are shunning SA because they find investing too complicated, the environment is not conducive to making returns and there are better opportunities elsewhere. Robert Tshabalala Allan Seccombe Resources Writer SA did not feature on the international investment radar as global mining grappled to regain investor trust as a good place to earn returns, said Jim Rutherford, a nonexecutive director at Anglo American. In a typically blunt assessment of SA's desirability as an investment destination for resources funds, Rutherford said the country had dropped off the radar, particularly as Peru and Chile showed the regulatory and policy certainty that underpinned investor confidence and showed companies could make sustainable profits there. Read the full article here
EDITORIAL: Don’t underestimate the value of Mantashe’s love-in with mining industry
Of all the economic problems that SA has, from unemployment to the crisis at state-owned enterprises, one important element gets overlooked. That’s the basic lack of trust between the social partners, which at times makes that term sound redundant. This should not come as a surprise to anyone with even a basic understanding of SA’s history and the legacy of poverty and inequality. The message that we are somehow “all in this together” is a hard sell when “all” includes dollar billionaires, workers on poverty wages and an army of the unemployed. But somehow that gulf has to be breached if the country is going to move forward. Read the full article here
Mining CEOs say deep-level mining is over in SA
Expensive new deep-level platinum and gold mines cannot be justified, they say
05 OCTOBER 2018 - 05:07 ALLAN SECCOMBE
The traditional deep-level mines in SA that absorb hundreds of thousands of jobs are no longer a viable option in platinum and in gold are the end of an era, industry chief executives say. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference, Impala Platinum CEO Nico Muller said the move to shallower, less labour-intensive, safer and more cost-efficient mines means there is unlikely to be investment in new shafts going kilometres deep into the earth after the company has completed its two new deep-level mines in the next few years. Read the full article here
We know mines are in deep trouble, but what comes next?
Execs at Indaba say opencast, mechanised mines are the only solution, and the industry has to consolidate. Read the full article here
Jury still out on Mining Charter's ability to lure investment, says former Exxaro boss
October 5, 2018
The finalisation of the Mining Charter may help bring policy certainty to the mining sector, but questions remain around whether the legislation can translate into increased investor confidence and competitiveness, according to former Exxaro Resources CEO Sipho Nkosi. Nkosi, now the non-executive chairperson of investment holdings company Talent10, said South Africa should learn from major mining countries like Australia and Canada when it comes to attracting investment. Read the full article here
Mantashe's mining love in
Business Day (Late Final) - 5 Oct 2018
Mantashe's mining love in 0 f all the economic problems that SA has, from unemployment to the crisis at state-owned enterprises, one important element gets overlooked. That's the basic lack of trust between the social partners, which at times makes that term sound redundant This should not come as a surprise to anyone with even a basic understanding of SA's history and the legacy of poverty and inequality. The message that we are "all in this together" is a hard sell when "all" includes dollar billionaires, workers on poverty wages and an army of the unemployed. But somehow that gulf has to be breached if the country is going to move forward. It's important to note as well that it wasn't always like this. The early days of democracy were characterised by goodwill, which was embodied in the formation of the National Economic Development and Labour Council, where the government, business, labour and community organisations were supposed to get together and find solutions to SA's social ills. Read the article here
Mining CEOs say deep-level mining is over in SA
Expensive new deep-level platinum and gold mines cannot be justified, they say
The traditional deep-level mines in SA that absorb hundreds of thousands of jobs are no longer a viable option in platinum and in gold are the end of an era, industry chief executives say. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference, Impala Platinum CEO Nico Muller said the move to shallower, less labour-intensive, safer and more cost-efficient mines means there is unlikely to be investment in new shafts going kilometres deep into the earth after the company has completed its two new deep-level mines in the next few years. Read the full article here
Eskom urged to return to cost plus coal mines to save itself and the industry
The Mail (Free State) - 5 Oct 2018
Eskom urged to return to cost plus coal mines to save itself and the industry By Lisa Steyn Johannesburg Coal miners have called on Eskom to revert to cost plus mines to save both the industry and itself. Speaking at the 2018 Joburg Indaba on Tuesday, South32 COO Mike Fraser said coal was expected to remain a big part of the SA energy mix and a significant portion of Eskom's costs. Because of this, reverting to long term contracts would be mutually beneficial for both Eskom and for the coal industry, Fraser said. Senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting Xavier Prevost said that while there were enough coal resources in the ground investment was desperately needed. Read the full article here
A 52-year-old career in mining - latest SA Mining Hall of Fame Inductee
(Johannesburg 6 October 2018) Dr Con Fauconnier a noted visionary, innovative, caring leader, and authority on underground fires was inducted into the Joburg Indaba’s SA Mining Hall of Fame in Johannesburg this week. The Joburg Indaba SA Mining Hall of Fame was launched in 2016 as a way of recognizing and honouring some of the legendary individuals who, over many years, have significantly influenced the South African mining sector since democracy. 15 years ago, in 2003 the then President of the Chamber of Mines (now Minerals Council of South Africa) Dr Con Fauconnier stated in an article in Miningmx “What lies ahead are the inevitable differences of opinion that will accompany the implementation of empowerment legislation. During this process, it will be important to look to the spirit of agreement in which the Mining Charter was formed. I believe this is the moral touchstone on which South Africa’s mining industry can take it next bold steps.” Read the full article here
Eskom BEE coal policy not official
Business Day (Final) - 8 Oct 2018
Eskom BEE coal policy not official Boardfoundformer CEO Molefe's supply conditions were 'aspirational' Lisa Steyn Mining and Energy Writer An Eskom policy to procure coal only from majority black owned coal suppliers, which influenced large mining houses such as Anglo American and South32 to divest from the local sector, was never official policy. Eskom nonexecutive direc tor Nelisiwe Magubane said the new board, installed in February, had looked through the Eskom policies but found no evidence of a supposed requirement that coal suppliers must be 50% plus black owned. "It wasn't in any of the poli cies," she told delegates at the Joburg Indaba last week. Rather it appeared to be "an aspiration". Under former CEO Brian Molefe, Eskom categorically stated that its coal procurement policy required all mines that supplied coal to its power sta tions to have a black ownership target of more than 50% throughout the life of the mine concerned significantly more than even the 30% empower ment shareholding required by the new mining charter. Read the full article here
Manatashe: "We need to change our narrative as an industry"
In his keynote address at the Joburg Indaba, Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe said the sector destroys value in how it talks about and projects itself. “For example, retrenchments will get coverage, but no-one will talk about a new colliery opening. As a result, everyone thinks the mining industry is heartless and destroys jobs. “We can change our narrative as an industry, our rating overseas will change. What the industry says will change the picture. The industry needs to talk more positively about itself and highlight its victories because this industry is doing more positive than negative, but the public view it as negative. When we talk badly about ourselves, it is essentially killing the industry.” Read the full article here
It’s time to stop dilly-dallying over Eskom
Unlike a state-owned enterprise like SAA that could realistically be closed down, no such option exists for Eskom – for all the obvious reasons Read the full article here
Eskom black-ownership target ', not official policy'
New board found no evidence of a requirement that coal suppliers must be 50%-plus black-owned, says non-executive director. Read the full article here
No new mining boom
Justin Brown
A “better” mining charter is unlikely to spark a local mining boom as the sector faces a number of hindrances. So said Minerals Council SA CEO Roger Baxter. “Remember the charter is just one component of an entire legislative suite.” In an interview on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba 2018, held in Johannesburg this week, he said: “We think the [latest] charter is pointing in the right direction. It addresses a number of issues which are needed to promote competitiveness by not imposing undue pressure on the investor.” Mxolisi Mgojo, Minerals Council president, said the charter, gazetted at the end of September, was “something we can build on”. Read the full article here
South Africa: Minerals Council SA Hopes Mandela Platinum Coin Will Rival Krugerrand
CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, Roger Baxter, was upbeat following the first day of the Jobs Summit, saying the industry has a proposal to improve platinum demand, a potential growth area. The sector has been in talks with government to develop a Mandela Platinum Rand in honour of the late statesman's centenary year in 2018, in the hopes it will become a popular item like the Krugerrand. Government , business, community and labour agreed on Thursday to do "everything possible" to avoid job losses in the private sector and zero retrenchments in state employment. Read the full article here
Mantashe’s DMR clean-up results in two officials fired and seven arrested
PUBLISHED ON 4 OCT 2018 HR PULSE NEWS DESK
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has revealed that seven suspects linked to his department have been arrested on charges of corruption in a clean-up of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). Mantashe has already closed two provincial offices, one in Mpumalanga and the other in Limpopo, which were tainted with allegations of corruption and maladministration linked to the term of former minister Mosebenzi Zwane. Speaking at the Mining Joburg Indaba on Wednesday, Mantashe indicated that he had fired two officials with seven others facing the courts. “There are seven people in court. Two have been fired in the department today, but we did not want to do that publicly. We wanted to keep it under the radar,” he stated. Read the full article here
South Africa researching hydrogen storage for platinum-using fuel cells
South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is researching innovative hydrogen storage technologies that have the potential to be key enablers of platinum-catalysed fuel cells, which generate clean electricity using hydrogen as a fuel and platinum as a catalyst. The research forms part of the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) project of the Department of Science and Technology’s National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technologies project and is targeting cost-effective hydrogen storage systems for fuel cell vehicles and portable applications, the CSIR’s latest ScienceScope publication states. Read the full article here
Dr Con Fauconnier latest inductee in South African Mining Hall of Fame
Dr Con Fauconnier was inducted into the Joburg Indaba’s South African Mining Hall of Fame, this week. Launched in 2016, the Joburg Indaba South Africa Mining Hall of Fame recognises and honours some of the individuals who, over many years, have significantly influenced the South African mining sector. After having experienced an initial hurdle, regarding what he wanted to study when he started university, Fauconnier approached Anglo American, where he managed to secure funding to complete his degree. “. . . I didn’t choose a career in mining, it actually chose me,” he enthused. Read the full article here
Charter continues expropriation of investor returns – Paul Miller
Mining Charter 3 has continued its predecessor’s trajectory of setting a “progressive creeping expropriation of investor returns”, CCP 12J Fund MD Paul Miller told delegates at the Joburg Indaba this week. He noted that South Africa had always relied on attracting foreign capital, adding that the people responsible for that capital were not involved in the negotiations around the charter, but we're taking stock of the situation. Read the full article here
Mining Charter: Just the catalyst to revive the industry
DANETTE BREITENBACH
After boycotting last year’s event to protest the presence of then mining minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, Minerals Council South Africa’s CEO, Roger Baxter, said in his keynote that Zwane’s agenda threatened the industry. “We had lost confidence in the minister’s ability to lead the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). Since then revelations have vindicated our actions. With the election of President Ramaphosa, we welcomed the appointed of Minister Gwede Mantashe. He is the first mining minister who has actually worked in a mine. He moved swiftly and opened up engagement leading to a new dawn for the industry.” Read the full article here
Ramaphosa plan 'will not cure SA's mining woes'
Business Day (Late Final) - 9 Oct 2018
Ramaphosa plan 'will not cure SA's mining woes' Sunita Menon Economics Writer The mining industry's woes are set to continue unabated despite the recent introduction of an economic stimulus plan by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the adoption of the new mining charter, warned a subsidiary of Fitch Group. The stimulus plan announced in September is unlikely to revive growth in the country's mining sector, despite a R400bn infrastructure fund pledge and renewed mining regulatory clarity, Fitch Solutions Macro Research warned on Monday in a research note. Fitch Solutions is separate from the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings. "Ramaphosa's drive to spur growth in SA's mining sector is unlikely to result in a significant revival of an industry in secular decline," reads the report The World Bank and Fitch Solutions have warned that the stimulus plan will have a "limited" effect. SA is estimated to have the world's fifth largest mining sector in terms of its contribution to economic growth, accounting for 8% in 2017. However, the sector has taken strain from persistent uncertainty, which has adversely affected production. Read the full article here
Eskom’s 50%-plus empowerment policy never existed
October 9, 2018
BEE News
Major coal suppliers were influenced to divest from the local sector because of an Eskom requirement that, it turns out, was never official policy at all.
An Eskom policy to procure coal only from majority black-owned coal suppliers — which influenced major mining houses such as Anglo American and South32 to divest from the local sector — was never official policy at all. Eskom nonexecutive director Nelisiwe Magubane said the new board, installed in February, had looked through the Eskom policies but found no evidence of a supposed requirement that coal suppliers must be 50%-plus black-owned. “It wasn’t in any of the policies,” she told delegates at the Joburg Indaba last week. Rather it appeared to be “an aspiration”. Read the full article here
International investment in South Africa’s mining industry lagging
4TH OCTOBER 2018 / Marleny Arnoldi - Creamer Media Online Writer
Although international mining funds are choosing to invest in other jurisdictions, rather than in South Africa’s mining sector, there is still hope for the local mining sector, Anglo American nonexecutive director and Joburg Indaba international investment panel chair Jim Rutherford said on Thursday. He told delegates attending the Joburg Indaba, that operating cash flow in South Africa’s mining sector has recovered since 2015 but that capital expenditure has halved. International mining funds have given up on investing in South African mining, as “they do not see a conducive environment [for] making profits and are investing their funds elsewhere.” Read the full article here
‘Optimism in the air’ at this year’s Joburg Indaba
Ciaran Ryan / 4 October 2018
Moneyweb journalist Ciaran Ryan, talks to Greg Webber, co-head of Mining and Resources at Nedbank CIB, from the sidelines of the Johannesburg Indaba. Listen to the full interview here
Zimplats held up as mine safety benchmark at Joburg Indaba
Zimplats platinum mine in Zimbabwe was held up as a safety benchmark at the Joburg Indaba, which on Thursday observed a minute’s silence for mining colleagues fatally injured at work. Opening the second day of the well-attended event, Gold Fields, Kumba Iron Ore and AfriTin director Terence Goodlace emphasised how absolutely critical it had become globally for mining companies to attain the highest levels of safety. Read the full article here
Five things making headlines in South Africa today
The annual two-day Joburg Indaba kicks off on Wednesday, and will see thought leaders and industry leaders take to the podium to discuss ways of encouraging investement in mining and resources in South Africa. Some of the prominent speakers for this year’s indaba include, Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, Chris Griffith, Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa and others. The indaba is being held in Inanda in Johannesburg. Read the full article here
A “harsh” environment or a new dawn asks Baxter
Minerals Council CEO, Roger Baxter, told delegates at the Joburg Indaba that while the South African mining industry is dealing with possibly one of the harshest environments that it has experienced in many decades, the industry is also beginning to see the first rays of a new dawn. Delivering the keynote address, Baxter noted the difference a year had made to the industry. “It was only in February, with President Ramaphosa’s election, that storm clouds started to dissipate and that South Africans could again start to look forward to the future that they had been promised. "As part of that process, we were fortunate, as an industry, to welcome the appointment of Minister Mantashe. "And, in the few short months since his appointment he has brought about rapid change in the department and the industry, and at the same time moved to instill a degree of certainty, greater engagement and openness,” Baxter said. Read the full article here.
Roger Baxter Delivers Keynote Address At Joburg Indaba
Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter today told delegates at the Joburg Indaba that while the South African mining industry is dealing with possibly one of the harshest environments that it has experienced in many decades, the industry is also beginning to see the first rays of a new dawn. Delivering the keynote address, Baxter noted the difference a year had made to the industry. “It was only in February, with President Ramaphosa’s election, that storm clouds started to dissipate and that South Africans could again start to look forward to the future that they had been promised. Read the full article here
Mantashe: Leave mining out of sovereign wealth fund plans
Oct 03 2018 l Sibongile Khumalo
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has revealed that he objected to a proposal of using the mining industry as one of the mechanisms to fund the country's mooted sovereign wealth fund. Mantashe said the idea was raised in the ruling party circles in the late stages of the drafting of the Mining Charter. "There was a discussion about creating a sovereign wealth fund, which is a good concept. It works everywhere in the world where there are resources, whether it is mining, oil or gas,” Mantashe told leaders of the mining industry during his address at the Joburg Indaba. “I said to them 'you cannot milk the industry which is already on its knees',” he told delegates. Mantashe, who became Minister in February stressed the importance of transformation as outlined in the charter which was gazetted last month. He stressed that for the industry to be competitive, it has to be transformed and that companies must not see transformation as a requirement only needed to tick the BEE score card. Read the full article here
South Africa mulls SOV, should not harm mining sector - minister
South Africa's mines minister said on Wednesday the government was considering a sovereign wealth fund but is looking for a way to fund it without harming the mining industry. "Normally it is funded from the primary extractive sector but we must find a way of doing it without hurting the sector," Minerals Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe told journalists on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba mining conference. Read the full article here
Not mining execs, but Zuma who has long been 'bad-mouthing' SA
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe lectured mining executives at the Joburg Indaba this week about the importance of being good ambassadors when they speak about South Africa. "If you badmouth the country," he said, "you are destroying your own investments." President Thabo Mbeki once expressed similar sentiments when he berated Anglo American CEO Tony Trahar for suggesting political risk in South Africa had not disappeared. "I think the South African political risk issue is starting to diminish – although I am not saying it is gone," Trahar had said. Mbeki reacted angrily. "When foreign business people have told us about South African business people badmouthing our country, was this what they were talking about?" he wrote in his acerbic weekly column in 2004. Mbeki felt that people like Trahar did not appreciate the political stability brought by the ANC government and the macro-economic policies favourable to business. Mbeki had a point. Read the full article here
MC: Roger Baxter delivers keynote address at Joburg Indaba
Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter today told delegates at the Joburg Indaba that while the South African mining industry is dealing with possibly one of the harshest environments that it has experienced in many decades, the industry is also beginning to see the first rays of a new dawn. Delivering the keynote address, Baxter noted the difference a year had made to the industry. “It was only in February, with President Ramaphosa’s election, that storm clouds started to dissipate and that South Africans could again start to look forward to the future that they had been promised. As part of that process, we were fortunate, as an industry, to welcome the appointment of Minister Mantashe. Read the full article here
Mining Charter to remain as is for the next five years, Gwede Mantashe assures
03 October 2018 - Allan Seccombe
There will be no changes to the Mining Charter, certainly within the next five years following years of uncertainty, mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday. By gazetting the third iteration of the charter on September 27, after starting talks with the Minerals Council SA in February to scrap the gazetted and subsequently suspended version by his predecessor Mosebenzi Zwane in June 2017, Mantashe has brought a degree of certainty to the local mining industry. Mantashe said at the two-day Joburg Indaba mining conference that he had no plans to introduce a fourth charter in the next five years, and declined to comment on a 10-year period because, "I might not be around." Read the full article here
Mantashe calls for marketing of platinum
A platinum Mandela coin should be minted and marketed and platinum-catalysed fuel cells used to power off-grid areas, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said today. In his opening speech to the well-attended Joburg Indaba, Mantashe, who is seven months into the job, said he had inherited a mining industry that was not on speaking terms. Read the full article here
Exxaro eyes South32’s coal assets, export quota – CEO
Tanisha Heiberg, Reuters
South African miner Exxaro is interested in South32’s local coal assets, which include an export quota, as it looks to increase its exports, Exxaro’s chief executive said on Wednesday. “We have expressed interest at this very early round in the South32 assets,” Chief Executive Mxolisi Mgojo told Reuters on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba mining conference. “Our primary objective is to get further exposure on the export side and the South32 assets also come with Richard Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) entitlements,” he said. South32 plans to dispose of its South Africa Energy Coal (SAEC) operations, consisting of four coal mining operations and processing plants in the coalfields of the Mpumalanga province. Read the full article here
South African, global mining industry facing risks – PwC
3RD October 2018, Marleny Arnoldi, Creamer Media Online Writer
The challenges facing the local mining industry this year are comparable to those facing the global mining industry, PwC Southern Africa CEO Dion Shango said on the first day of the Joburg Indaba, on Wednesday. He said there is a strong correlation between the market capitalisation of companies and commodity prices, among the top 40 global mining companies. “Sometimes investors’ view of the mining industry can be emotional, based on the spot price at any time.” The JSE mining index has underperformed, compared with the HSBC global mining index, over the last five-year measurement cycle, owing to the basket of commodities in South Africa being more weighted towards precious metals, which has been underperforming. Read the full article here
Eskom, the coal sector must collaborate to overcome challenges
Nadine James - Creamer Media Writer
Power utility has not ruled out the possibility of introducing special tariffs for industry, Matleng Energy Solutions chairperson and Eskom nonexecutive director Nelisiwe Magubane noted in an address at the Joburg Indaba on Wednesday. She stated, however, that, to date, the coal mining “industry has not made any guarantee that the cost of coal per ton would decrease as well”. She said Eskom had realised that increasing tariffs was not going to be sustainable because the utility was seeing a lot of “grid-defection". Magubane noted that the biggest issue is cost cutting and that difficult decisions would need to be made in the near future. Read the full article here
‘New dawn since Mantashe took over,’ says mining body
Ed Stoddard, Reuters
The industry body representing South African mining companies said on Wednesday that its members “broadly” supported a new regulatory charter for the sector but had concerns about a number of clauses including procurement targets. South Africa unveiled the new mining charter last week. It was a crucial step to attracting investment in a sector laid low by depressed prices, soaring costs and murky policy. Local content procurement targets include 70% of goods and 80% of services to come from black-owned companies, a tough goal for mechanised mines that rely heavily on imported capital equipment. Read the full article here
High administrative costs, industry uncertainty holding mining back
The mining sector is poised for a positive future but is still hindered by a “harsh” environment, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter stated at the Joburg Indaba, on Wednesday. In his keynote address, titled ‘A harsh environment in South Africa or a new dawn’, he noted that one of the major constraints impacting the sector is administrative costs. “Electricity costs have more than trebled . . . the industry can’t afford these price increases.” This sentiment was echoed by economist Mike Schussler who pointed out that, based on statistics from State-owned utility Eskom, the mining sector’s electricity costs have gone up from 4% of its yearly turnover to 9% of its turnover in the last decade. Read the full article here
Platinum miners their own worst enemies: Joburg mining update
South African mining executives, investors and officials gather in the nation’s economic hub for the Joburg Indaba conference, a week after Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe published the government’s new Mining Charter. It’s been a tough couple of years for South African mining, from regulatory uncertainty and legal fights with the government, to thousands of job cuts announced across the industry. National gold production has declined for 10 straight months. Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day. (Time-stamps are local time in Johannesburg.) Platinum miners hurt themselves over the past decade by failing to notice and respond quickly enough to dwindling demand for the metal, according to the head of the world’s top producer. Read the full article here
Minerals Council SA welcomes new mining charter
Interview with Roger Baxter, CEO at the Minerals Council South Africa about the Mining Charter published by Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe. The Minerals Council South Africa after taking the time to review the final Mining Charter, says it welcomes its publication and broadly supports its intentions and content. R-Int :CEO : Roger Baxter : Minerals Council SA Mention: Mining Indaba : Joburg Indaba Read the full article here
2 Officials fired, 7 arrested on charges of corruption - Mantashe
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe says he is cleaning up the department. Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has revealed seven suspects linked to his department have been arrested on charges of corruption. He says he is cleaning up the department. Manatashe has already closed two provincial offices, one in Mpumalanga and the other in Limpopo, which were engulfed with allegations of corruption and maladministration linked to the term of then minister Mosebenzi Zwane. He was speaking at the Mining Joburg Indaba on Wednesday. He says he has now fired two officials with seven others facing the courts. “There are seven people in court. Two have been fired in the department today, but we did not want to do that publicly. We wanted to keep it under the radar.” Read the full article here
Contribution of sector in numbers
Business Day (Late Final) - 28 Sep 2018
Contribution of sector in numbers R335bn was the contribution of the mining sector to SA's 2017 gross domestic product 880 0 of the country's metals were exported in 2017 The Minerals Council South Africa's Facts and Figures 2017 provides the following outline of the South African mining sector's important contribution to the country: R335bn contribution to 2017 gross domestic product; R630bn production; 88% of metals exported; R126bn employee earnings; 464,667 direct jobs created; About 4.5 million dependants supported. CRITICAL DELIBERATIONS CEOs and industry thought leaders will gather at the 2018 Joburg Indaba taking place on October 3 and 4 at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg to contribute to a timely and critical discussion, including: What are the economic enablers and how do we tackle the obstacles to growth? Read the full article here
Promise of a 'reality check' at 2018 indaba
Business Day (Late Final), Insights - 28 Sep 2018
Participants can once again look forward to a constructive and engaging two days where a diverse and representative speaking faculty of industry leaders, CEOs, investors and government and labour representatives will gather. The sixth edition of the highly regarded and influential platform is expected to accommodate conversations among mining stakeholders that are open, honest, bold, fresh and to the point With the economy and Mining Charter front of mind, the event will take a "reality check" as it scrutinises the economy and the mining industry, says Paula Munsie, CEO of Resources 4 Africa. Read full article here
Study demonstrates policy and sector decline link
September 28, 2018
Country-risk strategy and economics advisory firm Eunomix will release its latest study, completed on August 31, at this year’s Joburg Indaba, in which it demonstrates the causal relationship between the decline of the South African mining sector and the local policy environment. Eunomix CEO Claude Baissac tells Mining Weekly that the study, submitted to the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) as part of the Mining Charter’s public input, will be presented, distributed and published during the event which will take place from October 3 to 4 at the Inanda Club, in Johannesburg. Read the full article here
Panel discussions around legal uncertainty in SA mining
Mining Weekly - 28 Sep 2018
Panel discussions around legal uncertainty in SA mining Global law firm ENSafrica a premium sponsor, speaker and panellist at this year's Joburg Indaba states that it is eager to take part in this year's panel discussion themed around legal uncertainty. "With the Joburg Indaba becoming one of the preeminent annual fixtures on the mining industry's calendar and as Africa's largest law firm, ENSafrica is proud to have been associated with this event as well as the Breakfast Indaba for the last two years," enthuses ENSafrica head of natural resources and environment department Lloyd Christie. The Indaba will take place from October 3 to 4 at the Inanda Club, in Johannesburg. Christie avers that the Joburg Indaba and its accompanying Breakfast Indaba are important forums of public debate and prominent assemblies for thought leaders in the industry. Read the full article here
Study demonstrates policy and sector decline link
Mining Weekly - 28 Sep 2018
Eunomix's study shows that the impact of commodity price fluctuation has been more severe in South Africa than in peer countries Country risk strategy and economics advisory firm Eunomix will release its latest study, completed on August 31, at this year's Joburg Indaba, in which it demonstrates the causal relationship between the decline of the South African mining sector and the local policy environment. Eunomix CEO Claude Baissac tells Mining Weekly that the study, submitted to the Department of Mineral Resources DMR as part of the Mining Charter's public input, will be presented, distributed and published during the event which will take place from October 3 to 4 at the Inanda Club, in Johannesburg. Read the full article here
Eskom urged to return to cost plus coal mines to save itself and the industry
Business Day (Late Final), Companies & Markets - 4 Oct 2018
Eskom urged to return to cost plus coal mines to save itself and the industry Lisa Steyn Mining and Energy Writer Coal miners have called on Eskom to revert to cost plus mines to save both the industry and itself. Speaking at the 2018 Joburg Indaba on Tuesday, South32 COO Mike Fraser said coal was expected to remain a big part of the SA energy mix and a signifi cant portion of Eskom's costs. Because of this, reverting to long-term contracts would be mutually beneficial for both Eskom and for the coal industry, Fraser said. Senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting Xavier Prevost said that while there were enough coal resources in the ground investment was desperately needed. Read the full article here
Mineral Resources gets spring cleaning
Business Report (Pretoria News) - 4 Oct 2018
THE DEPARTMENT of Mineral Resources has axed two senior officials and laid charges of fraud against seven others as part of its bid to root out alleged corruption left behind by former minister Mosebenzi Zwane. Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe yesterday told journalists on the sidelines of the two day Joburg Indaba in Sandton a talk shop for key industry players including the government and banks, labour and mining houses that he had embarked on a clean out exercise to bring back credibility to the department. "I have discovered things I expected to see and some surprises since I took office seven months ago," Mantashe said. Read the full article here
Mantashe promises stability
Business Day (Final), Companies & Markets - 4 Oct 2018
Mantashe promises stability Mining minister vows to keep new charter unchanged for five years as indaba's delegates applaud new regime Digging deep: Minister of mineral resources Gwede Mantashe's announcements at the Mining lndaba brought praise from CEO of the Minerals Council SA, Roger Baxter. Bloomberg Allan Seccombe Resources Writer There will be no changes to the Mining Charter, certainly not within the next five years after years of uncertainty, mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday. By gazetting the third iteration of the charter on September 27, after starting talks with the Minerals Council SA in February to scrap the gazetted and subsequently suspended version by his predecessor Mosebenzi Zwane in June 2017, Mantashe has brought a degree of certainty to the local mining industry. Read the full article here
Mantashe axes 2 top officials, charges 7 others in spring cleaning
4 October 2018, Dineo Faku
The Department of Mineral Resources has axed two senior officials and laid charges of fraud against seven others as part of its bid to root out alleged corruption left behind by former minister Mosebenzi Zwane. Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe yesterday told journalists on the sidelines of the two-day Joburg Indaba in Sandton – a talk shop for key industry players including the government and banks, labour and mining houses – that he had embarked on a clean-out exercise to bring back credibility to the department. “I have discovered things I expected to see and some surprises since I took office seven months ago,” Mantashe said. “Actually, there are seven people who are in court for corruption; some are from the Department of Mineral Resources and others in collaboration with officials. Two have been fired.” Read the full article here
Eskom urged to return to cost-plus coal mines to save itself and the industry
4 October 2018 - Lisa Steyn
Coal miners have called on Eskom to revert to cost-plus mines to save both the industry and itself. Speaking at the 2018 Joburg Indaba on Tuesday, South32 COO Mike Fraser said coal was expected to remain a big part of the SA energy mix and a significant portion of Eskom’s costs. Because of this, reverting to long-term contracts would be mutually beneficial for both Eskom and for the coal industry, Fraser said. Senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting Xavier Prévost said that while there were enough coal resources in the ground investment was desperately needed. The price of coal had increased 100-fold since 2007, Prévost said. Read the full article here
New Nema regulations hold advantages, disadvantages for mining industry – law firm
By: Marleny Arnodi - Creamer Media Online Writer - www.miningweekly.com
The mining industry is under constant pressure to demonstrate continued commitment to responsible environmental management and to the concept of sustainable development. There are currently several pieces of environmental legislation being updated or coming to the fore, which the industry will be obliged to comply with. These include the National Environmental Management Act (Nema) regulations, which set out new obligations around mine rehabilitation. Read the full article here
SA platinum miners “dysfunctional” says JP Morgan
By Brendan Ryan - April 24, 2018
South Africa’s platinum miners resemble a “dysfunctional oligopoly” and are currently increasing supply despite depressed platinum prices with no meaningful improvement in the situation expected until 2020. That’s the view of JP Morgan Cazenove in its latest review of the SA platinum sector which singles out Impala Platinum (Implats) as being the “most vulnerable” producer and Northam Platinum as the “most preferred”. The report – by analysts Dominic O’Kane, Anna Antonova, Luke Nelson and Itumeleng Molefe – commented “the outlook for the platinum price in 2018 -19 is bleak. South Africa accounts for 70% of global mine supply and, at current prices, we estimated about 60% (2.6m oz) of SA mines are cash negative. Read the full article here
Mantashe changes his mind on “once empowered always empowered”
By Brendan Ryan - April 23, 2018
The government intends appealing a court judgement handed down on April 4 on the crucial “once empowered – always empowered” principle which ruled in favour of the Chamber of Mines. This is despite Minster of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe stating at a platinum investment conference in Johannesburg on April 10 that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) would not appeal against that judgement. In a press conference after his address to the Joburg Indaba Platinum Industry Seminar Mantashe said, “We won’t appeal. We are engaging and we will come up with a formulation with the Chamber. “ Read the full article here
Platinum: What do you mean there’s no crisis, Mantashe?
Minister should know that more than half of all platinum mines are unprofitable and jobs are at risk. Read the full article here
Opinion split on best way into rock-bottom platinum market
By Brendan Ryan - April 10, 2018
The platinum market is now at such a totally depressed stage that it’s time to buy in, but analyst opinion is divided over whether investors should go for the metal or the equities. That was the message from the panel debating whether there was a compelling investment case for PGM’s at the Joburg Indaba Platinum Industry Seminar held in Johannesburg on April 10. According to Peter Major – director for mining at Cadiz Corporate Solutions – it’s time to get into platinum metal through investing in exchange traded funds (ETFs). He commented: “The last ten years have amounted to suicide for the platinum sector because you have had a falling metal price and increasing production. That’s about to change. As a fund manager I want something that nobody else does. I want something that stinks so bad you need a clothes peg to get close to it because it will have its day and platinum is going to have its day pretty soon”. Read the full article here
Mantashe won’t appeal High Court finding as focus falls on “80% complete” Mining Charter talks
By David McKay - April 10, 2018
South Africa mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, declared the negotiating team discussing changes to the country’s Mining Charter was “80% there”, and would be concluded with the process of shaping an improved regulatory framework for the sector by end-May. “Let’s finish with the Charter and gazette it and adjust the legislation,” he told media on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba Platinum Industry Seminar organised by Joburg Indaba. “We are 80% through; by May, we will produce a Charter,” he said. He added that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) would not appeal a High Court ruling last week that mining companies were not required to ‘top-up’ the leve of their black economic empowerment shareholdings, even if they had fallen below the 26% stipulated in the Mining Charter. Read the full article here
Third of SA platinum in “harvest mode” as industry crisis deepens
By Brendan Ryan - April 11, 2018
It would be difficult for South Africa to recover the ground it had lost in platinum market share because of the high-cost base of many of its remaining producers. That’s the view of Deutsche Bank equity analyst, Patrick Mann, who pointed out to delegates attending the Joburg Indaba Platinum Industry Seminar held in Johannesburg on April 10 that the conventional wisdom that South Africa accounted for 80% of global supply was no longer accurate. The growth of the platinum recycling sector now accounted for some 25% of platinum supply which means South Africa’s mines effectively comprised only 50% of global platinum supply. Mann was also negative on the prospects of the South African platinum producers recovering the ground they had lost because of their position at the high end of the cost curve; in particular, the deep-level mines operating around Rustenburg. “We are higher cost than Norilsk; we are higher cost than recycling. In that context it’s hard to see South Africa becoming a greater proportion of global supply,” he said. Read the full article here
Fresh conversations at the inaugural 2018 Harare Indaba for mining
South Africa and Zimbabwe mining and investment industries come face to face at the inaugural 2018 Harare Indaba as Zimbabwe flings open wide its doors to doing business and has firmly put its business cap on in committing to a one day conference in Johannesburg on 26th March, set up by Resources for Africa, the custodians of the annual Joburg Indaba for mining and investment.
Zimbabwe’s total mining exports last year amounted to $2.6 billion, however the region is relatively under explored, boasting vast deposits of gold, lithium, platinum, coal and is sitting with a number of abandoned sites, some of which were last worked on way back in the 1930’s.
Having adopted a strategy “Ease of Doing Business” the Zimbabwean government aims to reform its mining sector to improve the business operating environment not only for the many small-scale miners, but also for larger mining companies. The country’s mining industry is governed by its Mines & Minerals Act (1961), which has undergone a review, part of the Ease of Doing Business program, and the Bill is presently under consideration by the Parliamentary Committee.
Two other pieces of legislation under review include the Precious Stones and the Gold Trade Act, and the Royalty Structure.
A long history exists between Zimbabwe and the South African business and investment communities and with the current changes with each respective mining sector, Paula Munsie, CEO Resources for Africa, responsible for the successful local Joburg Indaba series, has secured a visit of a high level Zimbabwean delegation comprised of the Zimbabwean Minster of Mines & Mining Development Hon. Minister Winston Chitando; Speaker of the Zimbabwean National Assembly Hon. Adv. Jacob Francis Mudenda; and the Chairperson of the Zimbabwean Mines & Energy Portfolio Committee, Hon Temba P Milswa.
“The delegation is coming specifically for the inaugural 2018 Harare Indaba to address local mining and investment companies on topics including how the mining sectors could contribute to the regeneration of the Zimbabwean economy, and how Zimbabwe intends to establish itself as a mining investment destination,” said Munsie.
The 2018 Harare Indaba, is also providing investors and fund managers an opportunity to engage in a closed private session face to face with the Zimbabwean delegation during the event. Both mining sectors are set for fresh talks on Monday 26th March at The Country Club, Auckland Park, Johannesburg. www.harareindaba.com to register.
Zimbabwe calls former ministers to account
Business Day (Late Final), Companies & Markets - 27 Mar 2018
Zimbabwe calls former ministers to account Parliamentary committee investigates diamond mining and Zimplats loss of assets PR blitz: Zimbabwean Mines Minister Winston Chitando. Wynand van der Merwe Photography Allan Seccombe Resources Writer Zimbabwe's parliamentary portfolio committee on mines and energy is calling a host of former ministers and senior officials to explain their role in the country's diamond trade as it exercises a more muscular role that could entail revisiting transactions with the state like that of Zimplats handing over millions of ounces of unmined platinum to the government On the sidelines of the inaugural Harare Indaba in Johannesburg, committee chairman Temba Mliswa reiterated a warning to the government that they ignore the committee "at their peril" and investigations would be conducted into past deals to weed out corruption. Read the full article here
Delegates uneasy over Joburg Indaba snub
www.businesslive.co.za
Chamber of Mines CE Roger Baxter lost momentum and opportunity in his delayed rebuttal Read the full article here
State Capture is a 'huge embarrassment' - Mkhize
Oct 04 2017, Lameez Omarjee
www.fin24.com
South Africa's struggle with state capture has caused the country huge embarrassment, ANC treasurer general Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday. Mkhize delivered an address at the Joburg Indaba, where he spoke on the challenges facing the country and efforts being made by the ANC to address them. “This issue of state capture is a huge embarrassment. We take it as a form of corruption,” he said at the Indaba, which focuses on the mining industry.Call for judicial commission. During a question and answer session, Mkhize said state capture presents one of South Africa's major challenges and called for the speedy appointment of a judicial commission of inquiry to “put the matter to rest”. He blamed the delay in establishing the judicial commission on setting its terms of reference, which needed to finalised. Read the full article here
ANC must decide on Zuma’s future as SA’s president – Zweli Mkhize
Citizen reporter, 11 October 2017
www.citizen.co.za
African National Congress treasurer-general and presidential contender Zweli Mkhize says the governing party has to decide whether Jacob Zuma should see out the remaining two years of his term as the country’s president. In an interview with Bloomberg TV in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Mkhize said the ANC would have to take the decision on what happens to Zuma after the party’s upcoming 54th national conference. “There’s been discussions in the past, there was no agreement that he should be removed, but of course when the matter arises, it’s up to the ANC to take that decision,” Mkhize said. On Zuma’s track record as president, he told the broadcaster: “There have been lots of achievements and lots of challenges, and that would happen with a person in that particular position. Read the full article here
'Special' executives under fire
Charlotte Mathews, Financial Mail - 12 Oct 2017
www.businesslive.co.za/fm/
MINING INVESTMENT `Special' executives under fire Careful, conservative management is the best style for cyclical industries like mining, analysts agree Jim Rutherford, former Capital International Investors fund manager and now a nonexecutive director of Anglo American Corp, says he applied the "4S" rule when he was an analyst If within a few paragraphs of an executive's report, the words "synergies" 'strategy" and "shareholder value" were used, Rutherford applied the fourth S: Fund managers and analysts from institutions representing about $2 trillion, or seven times SA's gross domestic product, agreed in a panel discussion at the Joburg Indaba that mining industry executives have been worse than those from any other industry in capital allocation, meeting forecasts and communicating with investors. Read the full article here
How current environment is affecting mining companies' strategy
12 October 2017 - Charlotte Mathews
www.businesslive.co.za
On top of the almost daily political crises and rand volatility that have made decision making harder for SA businessmen over the past two years, mining company executives have also grappled with crises around their regulatory regime, safety incidents, wage negotiations and illegal mining. Speaking at last week’s Joburg Indaba, Lonmin CEO Ben Magara said he expected "chaos" to continue while Implats group executive Gerhard Potgieter said: "There’s a lot of red flags at the moment."The biggest talking point at the Joburg Indaba was the boycott of the opening dinner by the Chamber of Mines’ top executives to avoid sharing a platform with mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane. The chamber said that if its executives had attended, it would not have brought about any constructive dialogue. The disagreement between the industry and the minister on the third version of the mining charter is now before the courts. Read the full article here
'Mines in need of technology boost'
Allan Seccombe, Daily Dispatch, 13 Oct 2017
www.dispatchlive.co.za
'Mines in need of technology boost' By ALLAN SECCOMBE SOUTH African mining companies and equipment makers have to collaborate to lift the country's mining sector out of a self-inflicted technology slump and cannot expect the rest of the world to come to its rescue. At last week's Johannesburg Indaba mining conference, a panel of mining experts spoke of the urgent need to modernise and automate mining in order to bring down costs as well as extend the lives of deep level South African gold and platinum mines and save jobs. In recent years, South African mining research and development has slowly been emerging from the doldrums when less than R5million was spent annually on exploring new ideas to a TIME FOR CHANGE: Experts say the country's mining sector must haul itself out of its technological slump Picture WALDO SWIEGERS new era when in 2017, R100million of government money has been pumped into this kind of work. It was a long way off the R4billion to R5billion other mining countries spend annually on research and development, said Alastair Macfarlane, a director of mining research at The Mining Precinct, which is a joint industry and government technology research project to modernise SA's mines. Read the full article here
ANC's Pledge
Mining Weekly - 13 Oct 2017
Martin Creamer, Cream Media Editor
www.miningweekly.com
The majority call by the Joburg Indaba for government to replace Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane with a new Minister would be communicated to the African National Congress ANC, which was committed to facilitating an enabling environment for the South African mining industry, ANC treasurer-general and former KwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize said last week. He was delivering the opening keynote address on the first day of the fifth Joburg Indaba conference, following the controversial Minister going on a charm offensive the day before as the main speaker at the Joburg Indaba gala dinner. Despite all the offers of cooperation made by the errant Minister, Joburg Indaba attendees gave the Minister a firm thumb down during the indaba's traditional digital voting session, even after Joburg Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel said he would respond to his gala dinner invitation for mining to put forward suggestions to improve the industry. Read the full article here
Rip up charter, provide tax incentives, back junior miners – Maimane
4 October 2017, Martin Creamer, Creamer Media Editor
www.miningweekly.com
Mining Charter Three should be ripped up, proper tax incentives introduced and junior mining enterprises supported to restore investment in the mining industry, which is a stimulator of the South African economy as a whole, Opposition Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said on Wednesday. Delivering a keynote address on the first day of the fifth Joburg Indaba conference, Maimane said it is an indictment against South Africa and the mining industry that the country’s last significant diamond discovery was at Venetia 40 years ago. Read the full article here
Mining industry must innovate to remain relevant – Baleni
5th October 2017, Anine Kilian, Contributing Editor Online
www.miningweekly.com
South Africa’s mining industry must be creative and innovative to remain relevant, says F11 Consulting director Frans Baleni. “For example, mine dumps, which are in abundance, can also create mine opportunities. [Industry] must also embrace mechanisation, people are ready for it. There are various ways the mining industry can sustain itself in the future,” he said during a panel discussion on South Africa’s future mining opportunities at the Joburg Indaba on Wednesday. He pointed out that there was a high level of inequality and unemployment in South Africa, which politicians could not ignore. “We want to sit down with Mineral Resources Minster Mosebenzi Zwane and engage with him regarding opportunities in the sector. If all players in the industry can accept that there is a need to transform, we need to agree on a way to reach our destination,” he said. Read the full article here
Success Imperative
Mining Weekly - 13 Oct 2017
Good leadership is critical to South Africa, former AngloGold Ashanti CEO Bobby Godsell said last week. Speaking during a panel discussion on the leadership skills required for the future at the fifth Joburg Indaba conference, he stressed that the "fish rots from the head" and that good leadership remained imperative. In terms of leading the mining industry, Godsell said, mining companies should focus more on profitability and less on investments into companies that destroy value. He further highlighted integrity as being a key aspect in the mining industry's operations. Sasol Mining senior VP Lucky Kgatle stressed that honesty, integrity and accountability started from the top. He further highlighted the need for more participatory leadership, noting that change required mining companies' leaders to understand the issues of the people and to ensure they implemented a leadership style to involve people in coming up with new ideas. Read the full article here
South African mining industry still not spending enough on R&D
By: Mia Breytenbach, Creamer Media Writer, 6th October 2017
www.miningweekly.com
While South Africa has increased its investment in mining research and development (R&D) since 2014, the country’s investment is still below that of its peers, delegates heard during a panel discussion on ‘Technological Innovation and Advancements in the Mining Industry’ at the Joburg Indaba, on Thursday. Despite R100-million having been set aside for mining R&D for 2018 – a marked improvement from R5-million in 2014 – other developing mining countries spend between R4-billion and R5-billion a year on R&D. It was also underscored by Mining Precinct mining research director Alastair McFarlane that achieving the organisation’s goal of increasing investment in R&D in South Africa’s mining industry was only achievable with the help of industry and government. “It is a true partnership that we have to innovate,” McFarlane stressed. Read the full article here
Battle lines drawn as chamber of mines opts to ‘speak through court’
Lesetja Malope, 6 October 2017
www.city-press.news24.com
There seems to be no end in sight to the tension between Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and the Chamber of Mines over the much-disputed Mining Charter Three. The tension between Zwane and the Chamber’s chief executive, Roger Baxter, this week reached new heights and their relationship all-time lows. The chamber boycotted the Joburg Indaba gala dinner on Tuesday, where Zwane was scheduled to speak, and Zwane dared them to rather fight him locally instead of bad-mouthing him overseas. Despite the boycott, a number of the chamber’s members attended the event. In his speech, Zwane lambasted the chamber for rubbishing its own country whilst addressing overseas audiences. Baxter made some explosive comments last month at the Africa Down Under Conference in Perth, where he had told delegates that the local mining industry was in a crisis and took a swipe at Zwane by reiterating his alleged dodgy Gupta-linked past. Read the full article here
Mgojo seeks to win back Chamber’s moral high ground
By David McKay - October 5, 2017
www.miningmx.com
CHAMBER of Mines president, Mxolisi Mgojo, sought to reclaim the organisation’s moral high ground today telling delegates at the Joburg Indaba mining conference that it was committed to engagement in resolving the mining sector’s impasse with government. “As the Chamber of Mines, we have drawn a fine line in the sand regarding unethical leadership, bad governance and state capture,” said Mgojo, referring to two legal processes the Chamber has in the High Court. “The Chamber remains committed to find a workable solution. “Zweli Mkhize (ANC treasurer-general) stated earlier this week we were in dialogue with the ANC. We need to continue that because we need to be collectively engaged for better outcomes. Only by engaging and bargaining hard so there isn’t a winner takes all can we find solutions in a rational manner,” he said. Read the full article here
Kaya FM - Breakfast with David O'Sullivan
6 Oct 2017 -Joburg Indaba concludes
www.kayafm.co.za
Listen here
Strong sentiments from 2017 Joburg Indaba
6th October 2017 EDITED BY: CREAMER MEDIA REPORTER
www.miningweekly.com
This year’s Joburg Indaba kicked off with strong sentiments from government and industry players. Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer attended speaks to Creamer Media's Sashnee Moodley about the highlights. - Listen Here
SA Business 'Complicit' In Looting Of State - Jay Naidoo
www.safrica24.com
Johannesburg- Activist for social justice, Jay Naidoo, on Thursday urged the South African business community to find its moral compass and not be complicit in the looting of the State by greedy individuals. Naidoo, who was founding general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and a minister in Nelson Mandela's Cabinet, blasted what he called a lack of ethics in the business community, questioning the industry leaders' credibility and morality. "Look at the complicity of KPMG in the looting of our country. Read more here
Mkhize calls for Charter talks even as day in court looms large
By David McKay - October 4, 2017
www.miningmx.com
AGREEMENT between the South African government and the country’s mining sector on a new Mining Charter could only be reached through negotiation, said African National Congress (ANC) treasurer-general, Dr Zweli Mkhize, Speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference today, Mkhize said the review of the Charter, brought before a full bench of judges in the High Court in December, was not the best means of resolution. The Chamber described the impact of the Reviewed Mining Charter undertaken by mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), as “egregious” as it contained regulations that had not been previously discussed with the mining sector and could not be practically implemented. The High Court is to meet on December 13-14. “Even with the best outcomes out of court, the most likely outcome is that a whole negotiation needs to be reopened. It is better to get a forumula, solution or decision that we can live with together rather than subjecting everything to the courts in order to take ourselves forward,” said Mkhize. Read more here
Mgojo seeks to win back Chamber’s moral high ground
By David McKay - October 5, 2017
www.miningmx.com
CHAMBER of Mines president, Mxolisi Mgojo, sought to reclaim the organisation’s moral high ground today telling delegates at the Joburg Indaba mining conference that it was committed to engagement in resolving the mining sector’s impasse with government. “As the Chamber of Mines, we have drawn a fine line in the sand regarding unethical leadership, bad governance and state capture,” said Mgojo, referring to two legal processes the Chamber has in the High Court. “The Chamber remains committed to find a workable solution. “Zweli Mkhize (ANC treasurer-general) stated earlier this week we were in dialogue with the ANC. We need to continue that because we need to be collectively engaged for better outcomes. Only by engaging and bargaining hard so there isn’t a winner takes all can we find solutions in a rational manner,” he said. Read more here
Industry to focus on back-to-basics for new Mining Charter – Herbert Smith Freehills
5th October 2017 - Mia Breytenbach, Creamer Media Writer
www.miningweekly.com
The South African mining industry has to focus on going back to basics and on why the Mining Charter was created when considering Mining Charter Three, Herbert Smith Freehills partner and Africa cochairperson Peter Leon said on Thursday. Speaking during a panel discussion that highlighted ways mining companies could manage the unpredictable regulatory environment, at the fifth Joburg Indaba Conference, he said the industry has to reconsider the principles of the latest Mining Charter. Leon averred that while Mining Charter One was a social compact with government, labour and business, this compact has “gone out of the window” with Mining Charter Three. “In fact, even in Mining Charter Two there was an erosion of those principles,” he argued, stressing the need for a re-evaluation of why the charter was originally created. Read more here
De Beers’ diamond exploration grinding to halt on government issues
5th October 2017, Martin Creamer - Creamer Media Editor
www.miningweekly.com
The exploration programme of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) is grinding to a halt owing to the ongoing issues the iconic diamond mining company is experiencing with South Africa’s Department of Minerals Resources (DMR). With the hold-up of as many as 54 prospecting licence applications for as long as two years as well as Mining Charter Three deal-breakers, DBCM is unlikely to continue budgeting between R30-million to R40-million a year for greenfields diamond exploration in South Africa. When its Voorspoed diamond mine in the Free State reaches the end of its life in 2020, lack of augmentation will mean that the company, which has been synonymous with diamonds since 1888 and which is eager to continue its exploration programme, will be down to one South African mine. “We, as De Beers, believe that South Africa is highly prospective for diamonds, probably one of the number-one destinations in the world for diamonds. We have in the past had R30-million to R40-million a year in our budget just for greenfields exploration. Also watch attached Creamer Media video here.
CoM committed to finding workable solutions that are in the national interest
5TH OCTOBER 2017 BY: MIA BREYTENBACH, CREAMER MEDIA WRITER
The Chamber of Mines (CoM) has drawn a firm line in the sand regarding its opposition to unethical leadership, bad governance and State capture, CoM president Mxolisi Mgojo asserted on Thursday. “We are doing what is necessary to ensure better outcomes for our sector and our country. The chamber remains committed to finding workable solutions in the national interest. But, no single grouping can do this alone,” he noted during his keynote address, titled ‘What does the mining industry contribute to the South African economy?’ at the Joburg Indaba conference. Mgojo noted that, in speaking of the industry’s role as the historical foundation of the South African economy, the industry cannot forget the part it played in shaping society. “We recognise the continuing socio-economic legacies of this history. That was why, 20 years ago, the industry began talking to government about how best to remedy these. read the full article here
Rehab Puzzle
Mining Weekly - 6 Oct 2017
There is no clarity on the way that mining companies can draw down from their financial provision vehicles to undertake mine rehabilitation, the Joburg Indaba Breakfast heard last week during a discussion on the implications of the new National Environmental Management Act Nema. Chaired by mining luminary Bernard Swanepoel, the meeting was told that the withdrawal of excess funds from mine rehabilitation trusts is to continue to be disallowed, after failing to make the list of many proposed amendments to Nema's financial provision regulations of 2015. Despite being raised at stakeholder meetings as a major concern, the amendments proposed do not include financial excess drawdown following mandatory yearly reviews. Instead, money not used in the year must be deferred to the next year of assessment, which means that excess money may not be taken out of the financial provision vehicles, even if they are completely overfunded. Read more here
Jay Naidoo lashes out at private sector
Jacaranda 94.2 Listen here
Joburg Indaba - Martin Creamer - On-The-Air (06/10/2017)
BY: MARTIN CREAMER - CREAMER MEDIA EDITOR
Every Friday morning, SAfm’s AMLive’s radio anchor Sakina Kamwendo speaks to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly. Reported here is this Friday’s At the Coalface transcript: Kamwendo: The Department of Mineral Resources has dealt the economy a heavy blow by forcing the exploration of diamond giant De Beers to grind to a halt. Creamer: It was both wonderful and sad to see the young mining graduate students standing at Joburg Indaba, smiling faces, ready to go into the workplace. But, the bad news is when they whisper in your ear there are no jobs around. Now we see that government is shooting itself in the foot and the country in the foot, by not allowing De Beers to go ahead with exploration. Now, De Beers has been here since 1888, it has got a lot of data and has put in 54 applications to explore. Exploration is not the juiciest thing to do, you can see in Canada they have to beg, borrow and steal to get people to get that money in the ground because it is high risk. Listen to this interview here
SA business ‘complicit’ in looting of State, says activist Jay Naidoo
JOHANNESBURG, October 5 (ANA) – Activist for social justice, Jay Naidoo, on Thursday urged the South African business community to find its moral compass and not be complicit in the looting of the State by greedy individuals. Naidoo, who was founding general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and a minister in Nelson Mandela’s Cabinet, blasted what he called a lack of ethics in the business community, questioning the industry leaders’ credibility and morality. “Look at the complicity of KPMG in the looting of our country. They don’t come from government, they come from the private sector. These are the guardians of the code of ethics that they have sworn to uphold. But what do they do. They collaborate in looting in our country,” Naidoo said. “I think the mining sector’s decline was not because of the economy. Marikana and the decline of the mining industry happened as a result of complicity. Mining companies need to shut up, learn to listen because communities know what they need.” Naidoo was delivering a keynote address on leadership for the future on the last day of the Joburg Indaba in Johannesburg. Read more here
Chamber of Mines: Transformation a process, not an event
Oct 05 2017 17:41 Lameez Omarjee
Johannesburg – The Chamber of Mines is able to hold government to account and ensure that its own house is in order, its President Mxolisi Mgojo said on Thursday. Delivering a speech at the Joburg Indaba mining conference, Mgojo described mining as "the flywheel of the South African economy. "When mining does well, it lifts many other sectors." The Chamber has for the past few months been involved in an acrimonious public dispute with Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane over the new Mining Charter. On Tuesday the mining body chose to skip a industry dinner where the minister was a guest speaker. The Department of Minerals Resources said this was "a pity". While he underlined mining's contribution to the economy, Mgojo also acknowledged its past role in shaping SA society. “We need to be frank and acknowledge that our predecessors were party to the development of many of the ugliest features of our society, some of which remain with us today,” he said. Read more here
Mosebenzi Zwane: Conference Delegates Want Controversial Minister Replaced
Post by Queen Mentor October 5, 2017
The tension between Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane and the Chamber of Mines heightened at the Joburg mining Indaba gala dinner, held on Tuesday night. Not only that the mining bosses boycotted Zwane’s address, a majority of them voted for the embattled minister to be replaced immediately.Delegates who participated in the voting process included mining personalities from companies like Anglo American‚ Harmony Gold‚ Sibanye Gold‚ PWC and JP Morgan‚ KPMG and Standard Bank. Among other questions, delegates who participated in the voting process were asked to “mention the one thing you want the ANC-led government to do for the mining sector.” At the end of the voting, which was cast electronically ahead of the Joburg Indaba, forty-one percent of them called for Zwane to be replaced‚ while 26.6 percent called for the scrapping of the Mining Charter. Read more here
Calls for mining industry to embrace new technology
posted by Phila Mzamo on October 5, 2017 in News
The mining industry is starting to see global mining companies embracing technologies and engaging in discussions that promote collaboration and innovation. “We are typically inclined to be late bloomers as the mining industry. We don’t like nor want to be an industry who embraces technology, we don’t want to be the guinea pigs. “The mining industry always wants to be the best when it comes to being second place in adopting new technologies, because we are not an industry that easily embraces it,” said Wray Carvelas, CEO, DRA group. Carvelas said during a panel discussion at the Joburg Indaba that the mining industry needed to work towards collaborating with other entities that are using innovative technological solutions to propel their business objectives. Read the entire article here
Mining industry must refrain from politicising legislation
posted by Phila Mzamo on October 5, 2017 in News
The mining industry and its stakeholders cannot fault the revised Mining Charter lll and forget that the original mining charter was also flawed, these are the words of Hulme Scholes, the Director of Malan Scholes, a law firm specialising in mining & environmental dispute resolution. Scholes said during a panel discussion at the Joburg indaba that the original mining charter was also imperfect, but it tried to improve the issues of imperfection in the industry by focusing on administration rather than politicising legislation... read the entire article here
Calls for Mosebenzi Zwane to step down
Calls for Mosebenzi Zwane to step down Thursday 5 October 2017 16:40 Amina Accram Mining experts say Minister Mosebenzi Zwane must step down in order to ensure implementation of transformation.(SABC) Industry experts say the Department of Minerals and Resources needs institutional capacity if it has to tackle radical economic transformation within the mining sector. The industry experts are calling for Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to step down so that they can fast-track transformational challenges and policies facing the mining sector. They say Zwane has no motivation for transformation. Mining experts say the implementation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRD) is a well-thought piece of legislation that is designed to give effect to transformation, but the problem is that the implementation has become political and not administrative. The experts were speaking at the second day of the Joburg Indaba Mining Conference currently underway in Johannesburg. “If I was given the opportunity to whisper into the ministers ears what would I tell him? One, I would look at the DMR (Department of Mineral Resources) and I would plead with him not to destroy what has been built over many years because if he wants to be successful in radical economic transformation, they need institutional capacity. If you destroy that capacity, radical economic transformation will not fly,” says Senior Lecturer of Prospecting and Mining Law at the Wits University Jacinto Rocha.... View the entire article here
Talle het hoop vir SA se mynbou
Sake (Volksblad) - 6 Oct 2017
JOBURG INDABA Mlle het hoop vir SA se mynbou 'Bak beter resultate as rolspelers saamwerk' Elvira Wood Stormwolke hang tans oor die SuidAfrikaanse mynbedryf, maar dit beteken nie die sektor se dae is getel nie, se Mark Bristow, uitvoerende direkteur van Mxolisi Mgojo, Randgold Resour president van die ces. Kamer van Hy is nie die Mynwese. enigste een nie wat die week op die Joburg Indaba oor die bedryf gese het as rolspelers saamwerk, sal hulle oor 'n jaar baie beter resultate sien. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53186205/141090086/5931/t
Zwane 'SA mining's biggest problem'
Business Day (Late Final), Companies & Markets - 6 Oct 2017
JOBURG INDABA Zwane 'SA mining's biggest problem' Allan Seccombe Resources Writer The problem confronting the country's mining sector on the legislative front is not the act under which companies are operating, but Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, politics, inexperience in his department and too much discretion exercised by officials, say experts in the sector. A panel of lawyers and Jacinto Rocha, the former deputy director-general in the department, spoke at the Joburg Indaba mining conference on the reasons for SA's poor performance compared with its neighbour Botswana and other jurisdictions. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53186311/141090108/5931/t
Chamber of Mines consulting on a new charter
Business Report (Cape Times) - 6 Oct 2017
Chamber of Mines consulting on a new charter Dineo Faku THE CHAMBER of Mines is working behind the scenes to develop a new mining charter. The chamber's president, Mxolisi Mgojo, yesterday told the Joburg Indaba in Sandton that the mistrust between the industry and Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane was too wide to consider the existing charter. Mgojo said the mining industry was now developing ideas on what a new charter could look like. He said the chamber was consulting with relevant stakeholders to come up with an acceptable pact. "We are talking to civil society organisations," he said. "We are talking to the unions; we are talking to political and government leaders, apart from those we are dealing with through the courts." https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53186395/141090127/5931/t
Childish miners speak ill
Business Day (Late Final) - 6 Oct 2017
Childish miners speak ill A lot has been said about the Chamber of Mines decision to boycott an important mining stakeholder event that was held in Joburg on Monday evening. Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane attended the event, addressed the delegates and had an opportunity to interact with the media to outline his views on the sector and the impasse regarding the Mining Charter, which will be dealt with in the High Court in Pretoria later in 2017. One of the important things Zwane said in his address was that the mining sector plays an important role in the economy. It is still a goose that lays the golden egg, but there is important and urgent work to be done by all industry stakeholders to transform the industry and make it beneficial to all South Africans across race and gender. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53186820/141090263/5931/t
Business lost moral compass Naidoo
Cape Argus (AM Edition) - 6 Oct 2017
Business lost moral compass Naidoo ACTIVIST for social justice Jay Naidoo urged the South African business community to find its moral compass and not be complicit in the looting of the state by greedy individuals. Naidoo, founding general secretary of Cosatu and a former minister, blasted what he called a lack of ethics, questioning the industry leaders' credibility and morality. "Look at the complicity of KPMG in the looting of our country. They don't come from government, they come from the private sector. These are the guardians of the code of ethics they have sworn to uphold. But what do they do? They collaborate in looting our country," he said. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53187135/141090372/5931/t
Resist looting, says Naidoo
The Citizen (Johannesburg Edition) - 6 Oct 2017
Resist looting, says Naidoo Activist for social justice Jay Naidoo, pictured, yesterday urged the South African business community to find its moral compass and not be complicit in the looting of the state by greedy individuals. Naidoo, who was founding general secretary of Cosatu and a minister in Nelson Mandela's Cabinet, blasted a lack of ethics in business, questioning leaders' credibility and morality. "Look at the complicity of KPMG in the looting of our country. They don't come from government, they come from the private sector. These are the guardians of the code of ethics that they have sworn to uphold. But what do they do? They collaborate in looting in our country," Naidoo said. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53188110/141090913/5931/t
De Beers may go to court over 54 exploration applications
Daily Dispatch (First Edition), Business - 6 Oct 2017
De Beers may o to court over 54 exploration applications By ALLAN SECCOMBE DE BEERS, which will be down to a single mine in South Africa from 2020, has 54 exploration applications stuck with the Department of Mineral Resources, some for two years, and has suspended its R40million annual exploration budget. The focus of De Beers Consolidated Mines DBCM, the South African subsidiary of De Beers, the world's largest producer of rough diamonds by value, is on bringing its $2billion R27billion Venetia mine into production and managing the transition from opencast mining to underground mining, minimising the anticipated dip in production at that time, DBCM CEO Philip Barton said. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53189058/141091525/5931/t
Mining 'is transforming'
The New Age - 6 Oct 2017
Mining 'is transforming' Chamber president says industry supports new mineral rights regime that offers real benefits to all SA citizens nar.10 SHARED VISION: Chamber of Mines president Mxolisi Mgojo says the mining industry remains supportive of the new mineral rights regime that transferred the ownership of mineral rights to the custodianship of the state. NONHLANHLA MASEKO MINING is the flywheel of the South African economy, Chamber of Mines President Mxolisi Mgojo told the Johannesburg indaba yesterday. "When mining does well, it lifts many sectors, those who supply inputs into the industry and through the significant export revenue it brings. "When mining struggles, most other economic sectors also feel the pain," Mgojo said. He said the mining industry remained supportive of the new mineral rights regime that transferred the ownership of mineral rights to the custodianship of the state and was integrally involved in the development of the first Mining Charter, aimed at achieving "a shared vision of a globally competitive mining industry which offers real benefits to all South Africans". "We are not there yet. We only need to look at the state of some mining towns and the composition of our workforce to know that the legacies have not been fully overcome. Similarly, we must acknowledge that SA is no longer viewed as a favoured mining investment destination. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53189323/141091668/5931/t
Engrossed in its politicking, Government is blind to market indifference
By David McKay - October 6, 2017
THE absolute, stand-out moment of the Joburg Indaba conference was perhaps its most chilling. Asked for his view about investing in South African mining, M&G Investments lead manager, Jamie Horvat said: “Unfortunately, South Africa is a no-go zone for us”. Granted, not the most incendiary of comments, nor the most barnstorming of insights, but it was the manner of Horvat’s delivery that froze the heart, which was one of casual, disinterested dismissal. This must be the cold shoulder of which Johannesburg’s mining CEOs talk when they complain about the impact of government policy on their investment ambitions. It is one of the reasons why Sibanye-Stillwater has pulled the plug on future South African investment, and why De Beers has suspended $30m to $40m-odd in exploration in the country. It’s also why this year’s Joburg Indaba was exclusively turned over to policy and politics instead of companies and markets. Business environment is everything at the moment in South Africa. And how the politicians spoke, inscrutably, mostly. But are they listening? Mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, isn’t listening; in fact, it’s worse: he doesn’t care to listen. I can understand why Roger Baxter, CEO of the Chamber of Mines, boycotted Zwane’s speech (he didn’t boycott the conference, not even amid host Bernard Swanepoel’s barracking of the Chamber. (But then, who is exempt from Swanepoel’s sharp tongue as he even described those with access to endless ink as sound bite bums?)). Baxter’s boycott – a Chamber mandated action – was born of frustration. Zwane couldn’t give two hoots about the long-term future of South African mining. And when he said he’d met and won the support of investors for his redrafted Charter, I’m prepared to bet an important body limb it wasn’t with M&G’s Horvat. http://www.miningmx.com/opinion/columnists/30632-engrossed-politicking-government-blind-market-indifference/
WHAT DOES THE MINING INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTE TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMY?
ADDRESS BY CHAMBER OF MINES PRESIDENT AT THE JOBURG INDABA
Johannesburg, 5 October 2017: “The Chamber remains committed to finding workable solutions in the national interest. But, no single grouping can do this alone.” This was the message in the address by Chamber of Mines President, Mxolisi Mgojo, in his address at the Joburg Indaba on What does the mining industry contribute to the South African economy?” “Simply stated,” he said, “mining is the flywheel of the South African economy. When mining does well, it lifts many other sectors, those who supply inputs into the industry and through the significant export revenue it brings back into the economy. The converse is also true – when mining struggles, most other economic sectors also feel the pain. “In speaking of the industry’s role as the historical foundation of the South African economy, we cannot forget the part it played in shaping our society. We need to be frank and acknowledge that our predecessors were party to the development of many of the ugliest features of our society, some of which remain with us today. “We recognise the continuing socio-economic legacies of this history. That was why, 20 years ago, the industry began talking to government about how best to remedy these. We were – and remain – supportive of the new mineral rights regime that transferred the ownership of mineral rights to the custodianship of the state, and were integrally involved in the development of the first Mining Charter, aimed at achieving “a shared vision of a globally competitive mining industry that draws on the human and financial resources of all South Africa's people and offers real benefits to all South Africans.” The full address may be viewed here https://goo.gl/3qkbAq
Sidestepping HCI may tread on many toes
Business Day (Late Final) - 3 Oct 2017
COMPANY COMMENT Sidestepping HCI may tread on many toes Let's face it, few of us like the bother — and often expense — of having to adhere to rules and regulations. In 1999, when the new Competition Act was launched, you could hear the collective groan of the business community when it suddenly realised how much restriction and regulation it faced. But, after a few tough years, it learnt to deal with the new regulatory environment. Hosken Consolidated Investments' HCI's efforts to sidestep the competition authorities could undo all of that learning. In what looks like a case of "opinion shopping", it has gone to the top of the decision tree to get the opinion it had hoped the Competition Commission and then the Competition Tribunal would provide, but didn't. HCI believes the approval it received for taking control of Tsogo in 2014 means it is free to rearrange assets between Tsogo and Niveus, which it also controls, and that it does not need to go back to the competition authorities. Not so fast, says the commission. The approval granted in 2014 was for a different transaction and did not involve restructuring of businesses, which potentially has publicinterest implications. If the Competition Appeal Court grants the order sought by HCI, it could drastically diminish the commission's authority to oversee mergers. The case could also see HCI, which sourced much of its original funding as an empowerment vehicle from the South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union, pitted against Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, who oversees the competition authorities. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53049069/141052637/5931/t
Chamber criticised for no-show at Joburg Indaba gala dinner
Officials of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa were criticised for opting to not attend Tuesday night’s Joburg Indaba’s gala dinner, which was addressed by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who stated that he would not discuss the controversial but agreement-fettered Mining Charter Three. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba’s pre-conference gathering attended by 300 people, Joburg Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel contended that the best way to confront the problems of the mining industry was through contact and interaction at events like the Joburg Indaba. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/joburg-indaba-gala-dinner-2017-10-03
Zwane calls for resolution in mining charter
battleAt a gala dinner boycotted by the Chamber of Mines on the eve of the two-day Johannesburg Indaba mining conference, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane sounded a conciliatory tone, reaching out to the industry to resolve the impasse bedevilling relationships between the regulator and the sector. Zwane, however, did not hold back from levelling criticism at those who denigrated the country and the mining sector, which is embroiled in a legal battle with the Department of Mineral Resources over the suspended third iteration of the Mining Charter. Chamber CEO Roger Baxter said at the Africa Down Under mining conference in Australia in September the industry had lost confidence in Zwane, who, he said, had unresolved allegations of corruption hanging over him and officials in his department. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/mining/2017-10-03-zwane-calls-for-resolution-in-mining-charter-battle/
Kloppers condemns “split the pizza” politics as anti-investment
FORMER BHP Billiton CEO, Marius Kloppers, has called on governments to lower sovereign risk rather than playing “split the pizza” politics – an approach that will dissuade the best mining companies from their shores. Speaking via recorded video message at the Joburg Indaba gala dinner, where he was inducted into the Joburg Indaba’s Hall of Fame, Kloppers said governments believe their main task was to “… argue over levies and taxes” and perceive value to be a “zero-sum game”. “This is plain wrong,” he said. Kloppers was CEO of BHP Billiton between 2007 and 2013, a period that took in part of the super-cycle before the global financial crisis which was followed by a heavy metals and minerals price correction. During that period, so-called ‘resource nationalism’ took off, especially among African governments, but also in Australia where BHP Billiton (now BHP) is headquartered. The aim of resource nationalism was to extract a larger slice of value from the mining sector that went beyond windfall taxes. http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/30606-kloppers-condemns-split-pizza-politics-anti-investment/
Chamber of Mines snubs Minister Zwane
BUSINESS REPORT / 4 OCTOBER 2017, 05:30AM / DINEO FAKU
The chambers of Mines last night (Tuesday) snubbed Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, refusing to attend a Joburg Indaba gala dinner in which he was expected to deliver a keynote address. The chamber decided to forego the key highlight of the local mining calendar which brings industry stakeholders under one roof. Chamber spokesperson Charmane Russell, said yesterday: “I can confirm that the chamber leadership will not be attending the dinner this evening, but will be there tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday. Both chamber chief executive Roger Baxter and chamber president Mxolisi Mgojo will be speaking,” she said without giving further details. The breakdown in relations between Zwane and the industry became evident at the annual Africa Down Under conference held in Perth Australia last month when Baxter questioned Zwane’s credibility as a minister. At the meeting Zwane told investors that the controversial mining charter, which was gazetted in June, had become law, despite a legal challenge on the proposal by the chamber. The chamber, which represents 90 percent of the industry by value, applied to the court to have the charter interdicted. Zwane, last month said in that the charter would not be implemented until a legal review was heard in December. https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/chamber-of-mines-snubs-minister-zwane-11476496
The following speech was delivered by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the Joburg Indaba.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to welcome you here in Egoli, the City of Gold, to speak about the future of mining in South Africa. This is a city built on both the pains and the benefits of mining. A city with a history of rich white tycoons and poor black labourers. A place vividly brought to life by Miriam Makeba on her album Promise, where she describes how her children died here. It is fitting that we are gathered here in the city that owes its very existence to the rush of mining. But I am also grateful to welcome you to a Johannesburg that is beginning to thrive under a new government. A Johannesburg where we now have a DA-led administration and an ambitious new Mayor who are working hard to rid this city of corrupt officials and improve the living conditions of its people. Not afraid to get dressed in his overalls and help clean the streets of a previously neglected inner city, Mayor Mashaba is a firm believer in the power of a capable and committed government to turn our cities around. http://www.miningprospectus.co.za/articles/completely-transformed-mining-industry-23380.html
Maimane calls ANC's economic transformation policy 'patronage politics
DA leader Mmusi Maimane on Wednesday described the radical economic transformation policy of the ruling ANC as "a poorly disguised extension of lucrative patronage politics". Maimane said the ANC's definition of radical economic transformation was a way of legislating the replacement of one elite with another, to replace white mining tycoons with black mining tycoons and nothing more. However, Maimane said the DA was not opposed to the handing over of shares in mining companies, saying that this had to benefit ordinary workers and their communities, not the wealthy elite. "The way the ANC government uses the term – and the way it has been written into the new Mining Charter – radical economic transformation is little more than a fig leaf for elite enrichment," Maimane said. "It is a way of legislating the replacement of one elite with another. Azero-sum game that changes the owners, but where ordinary workers and ordinary communities see no change and no improvement." https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/maimane-calls-ancs-economic-transformation-policy-patronage-politics-11487388
Chamber of Mines: We'll see you in court
The chamber decided to boycott the traditional dinner ahead of the annual Joburg Indaba on Tuesday night, where Zwane was set to speak. Tensions between the chamber and Zwane have been at an all-time high following the gazetting of the third and final Mining Charter. CEO Roger Baxter says the only place they are prepared to engage the minister is in a court of law. "Right now we are focused on legal remedies because it is the only currently available course of action in which we have confidence. "For us to have attended last night's dinner it would have forced us to engage with the minister on specific regulatory issues in circumstances that are simply not conducive to any constructive engagement at this stage other than through the courts." Addressing the conference earlier, African National Congress (ANC) treasurer Zweli Mkhize also expressed concern over the spat between Zwane and the chamber. https://www.jacarandafm.com/news/news/chamber-mines-well-see-you-court/
Mkhize calls for Charter talks even as day in court looms large
AGREEMENT between the South African government and the country’s mining sector on a new Mining Charter could only be reached through negotiation, said African National Congress (ANC) treasurer-general, Dr Zweli Mkhize, Speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference today, Mkhize said the review of the Charter, brought before a full bench of judges in the High Court in December, was not the best means of resolution. The Chamber described the impact of the Reviewed Mining Charter undertaken by mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), as “egregious” as it contained regulations that had not been previously discussed with the mining sector and could not be practically implemented. The High Court is to meet on December 13-14. “Even with the best outcomes out of court, the most likely outcome is that a whole negotiation needs to be reopened. It is better to get a formula, solution or decision that we can live with together rather than subjecting everything to the courts in order to take ourselves forward,” said Mkhize. http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/30609-mkhize-calls-charter-talks-even-day-court-looms-large/
CoM’s Baxter defends boycott saying he won’t condone Zwane
By David McKay - October 4, 2017
www.miningmx.com
SOUTH Africa’s Chamber of Mines defended its decision to boycott the opening of a mining conference in Johannesburg last night that was attended by the mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, saying it was an informed decision, not borne of “personal animosity”. “It was not an impetuous decision,” said Roger Baxter, CEO of the Chamber of Mines regarding the gala dinner of the Joburg Indaba. “It was something we resolved to do without fanfare or comment,” he said. “We regret that the conference organiser chose to publicise our decision which was conveyed to him purely as a matter of courtesy to assist his organisational considerations,” said Baxter, referring to Bernard Swanepoel who chairs the Joburg Indaba. The boycott was first reported on Miningmx on the eve of the conference in which an industry source said the Chamber was reticent to be exposed to more wild claims by Zwane. Zwane said at the Africa Down Under conference in Australia last month that the Reviewed Mining Charter was law and that all investors he had consulted were in favour of the revised document and would comply with its provisions. Read the full article here
Analysts pan Zwane's claim to know who next ANC president will be.
04 October 2017, Ernest Mabuza
www.timeslive.co.za
Political analysts have poured cold water to a claim by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane that it was a foregone conclusion who the next president of the ANC will be. “We already know who will be president … It’s a done deal. We are not stressing. The policies won’t change. In January there will new leadership and policies will remain the same‚” said Zwane‚ widely seen as a staunch supporter of current party president Jacob Zuma. Zwane‚ who made the remarks at the Joburg Indaba gala dinner on Tuesday night‚ said the matter had already been decided at branch level around the country and the result was already known within the party. Read the full article here
SA mining industry “carefully considered” boycotting Zwane’s address
Algoa FM
www.algoafm.co.za
Tensions between the South African mining industry and government continued to play out on Wednesday as the Chamber of Mines said that its decision to boycott the gala dinner of the Joburg Indaba mining conference was “carefully considered”. This comes after the Chamber’s executives and office bearers decided not to attend Tuesday night’s Joburg Indaba banquet at which Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane was the guest speaker. “It was not an impetuous decision. It was not a decision based on personal animosity towards the minister. It was a carefully considered decision based on the current regulatory and judicial situation,” the Chamber’s chief executive, Roger Baxter, said in a statement. “It was also something we resolved to do without fanfare or comment. We regret that the conference organiser chose to publicise our decision, which was conveyed to him purely as a matter of courtesy to assist his organisational considerations.” The mining industry is currently challenging the unilateral implementation of the 2017 Reviewed Mining Charter at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The industry is seeking for the Charter to be reviewed or set aside, arguing that its implementation would be harmful to the industry and the economy because of its content as well as the vague and contradictory language employed to convey that content. The Charter sets new black ownership targets for the industry, including that new mining rights holders have 30 percent black ownership shared among employees, communities and black entrepreneurs. The review will be heard between December 13 and 14. Read the full article here
CoM should stay away from ‘crook’ Zwane – Pityana
4 October 2017, Anine Kilian, Contributing Editor Online
www.miningweekly.com
AngloGold Ashanti chairperson Sipho Pityana has urged South Africa’s mining lobby, the Chamber of Mines, to stay away from Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, whom he accused of not being committed to South Africa’s mining industry.“I fully endorse that the Chamber of Mines stays away from that crook. The President has appointed a joker. Zwane is not committed to the industry and all he wants to do is loot, steal and undermine it,” he said as part of a panel discussion on transformation in the industry at the Joburg Indaba on Tuesday. Read the full article here
Mining industry must innovate to remain relevant – Baleni
5 October 2017, Anine Kilian, Contributing Editor Online
www.miningweekly.com
South Africa’s mining industry must be creative and innovative to remain relevant, says F11 Consulting director Frans Baleni. “For example, mine dumps, which are in abundance, can also create mine opportunities. [Industry] must also embrace mechanisation, people are ready for it. There are various ways the mining industry can sustain itself in the future,” he said during a panel discussion on South Africa’s future mining opportunities at the Joburg Indaba on Wednesday. He pointed out that there was a high level of inequality and unemployment in South Africa, which politicians could not ignore. “We want to sit down with Mineral Resources Minster Mosebenzi Zwane and engage with him regarding opportunities in the sector. If all players in the industry can accept that there is a need to transform, we need to agree on a way to reach our destination,” he said. Read the full article here
State Capture is a 'huge embarrassment' - Mkhize
Oct 04 2017 21:30 Lameez Omarjee
www.fin24.com
South Africa's struggle with state capture has caused the country huge embarrassment, ANC treasurer general Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday. Mkhize delivered an address at the Joburg Indaba, where he spoke on the challenges facing the country and efforts being made by the ANC to address them. “This issue of state capture is a huge embarrassment. We take it as a form of corruption,” he said at the Indaba, which focuses on the mining industry. During a question and answer session, Mkhize said state capture presents one of South Africa's major challenges and called for the speedy appointment of a judicial commission of inquiry to “put the matter to rest”. He blamed the delay in establishing the judicial commission on setting its terms of reference, which needed to finalised. Mkhize said the commission should have the ability to question everyone involved and be able to get to a point where police investigations are instituted, and those implicated ultimately prosecuted. He added that the ANC should act against those within the party who have been implicated once the findings and outcomes are released. Read the full article here
Why DA’s Mmusi Maimane would “rip up” the Mining Charter
By David McKay - October 4, 2017
www.miningmx.com
MMUSI Maimane, leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA), would “… rip up the Mining Charter” in favour of identifying new, 100% black-owned mining companies entering the sector – a move that could be supported by “modern investors”. A redraft of the Mining Charter has set down a provision for an increase in black economic empowerment targets of 30% from 25% for new mining licence applications, among other demands. The Chamber of Mines is taking the redrafted document on review in the High Court in December. In a separate legal action, the Chamber is seeking a declaratory order from the High Court on whether certain previous transactions can be recognised or if existing licence holders must continue to empower – an outcome that could see some firms potentially having to empower in perpetuity. Maimane said the approach of increasing empowerment targets was the wrong one. “The problem with setting targets is that you are always – in the interest of popular rhetoric – having to change the goal posts,” he said. “Why can’t we rather frame the question differently and say: ‘Can we not have 100% black-owned mining houses that are new entrants into the market?'”. “That’s a different way to look at it, that’s the conversation we ought to be having,” said Maimane. “In the new entrants’ space, there would be majority black ownership just by virtue of what it is,” he said. “So when we look at the industry in its totality, we can then build more companies and diversify ownership on the stock exchange rather than taking the narrow view of saying: ‘Let’s take what currently exists and chop it up,'” he said. Maimane was speaking in an interview with media on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba, a mining conference. He also said the African National Congress was unable to correct its approach to the mining sector because it was ideologically set against doing so. “If you look at the recent [ANC] policy conference, you can draw the conclusion that the ANC is simply not going to get a plan for mining – regardless of who leads it – because the ANC’s mantra is that of the replacement of one racial elite for another. So regardless of who leads it, that is always going to be the fundamental [approach],” he said. Earlier at the conference, Maimane outlined a number of steps the DA would take in respect of the mining sector. Read the full article here
Transformation of mining sector will not harm SA
Government will continue to work diligently to ensure that as it transforms the mining sector, it does not do so at the expense of the long-term sustainability of the industry, says Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane. “Equally, the sector must be mindful of its national duty to drive real, substantial change in the sector and make it an economic-home for all to participate in,” Minister Zwane said. Addressing the Joburg Indaba Gala dinner on Tuesday, he said government believes that the Mining Charter is one of those instruments that can assist it further in transforming the country. “The story of change in this country cannot be confined only to certain aspects or parts of our public. It has to cover other key aspects of our public life such as economic inclusion and all of us have a duty to work hard in ensuring that this goal is realized,” Minister Zwane said. He said beneficiation is the way to go as part of capitalising on the mineral wealth of the country to create jobs and value for communities that live in mining areas. https://southafricatoday.net/economy/transformation-of-mining-sector-will-not-harm-sa/
ANC en DA dit eens: Handves moet waai
ANC en DA dit eens: Handves moet waai Deur Elvira Wood 04 Oktober 2017 13:56 email Mmusi Maimane, leier van die DA. Foto: JABU KUMALO Die ANC en DA mag dalk oor baie dinge verskil, maar hulle stem saam dat die nuutste weergawe van die Mynbouhandves hersien moet word. Dr. Zweli Mkhize, tesourier-generaal van die ANC, en Mmusi Maimane, leier van die DA, was Woensdag albei sprekers op die Joburg Indaba, ’n gespreksreeks oor die mynbousektor wat in Sandton, Johannesburg plaasvind. Die derde weergawe van dié beleidsdokument is in Junie deur Mosebenzi Zwane, minister van minerale bronne, in die Staatskoerant gepubliseer. Die Kamer van Mynwese is só heftig teen die inhoud van die dokument gekant dat hy hom onmiddellik op die hof beroep het om ’n interdik teen die toepassing daarvan te bekom. Zwane het intussen onderneem om die nuwe handves nie in werking te stel voordat die hof besluit het oor die interpretasie van sekere elemente daarvan nie. Die saak daaroor word eers in Desember hervat. “Die beste manier om geskille oor die nuwe Mynbouhandves op te los, is om weer daaroor te onderhandel,” sê Mkhize. “Die ANC is bewus van die Kamer van Mynwese se klagte dat die nuwe handves elemente bevat waaroor daar glo nooit onderhandel is nie. “Hoewel ons besef dat daar tans ’n hofsaak oor die dokument aan die gang is, dink ons dit sal die beste wees om weer daaroor te onderhandel.” Maimane stel voor die dokument moet saam met die Wet op die Ontwikkeling van Minerale en Petroleumhulpbronne (MPRDA) opgeskeur word en daar moet van voor af daarmee begin word. “Wanneer ons na dokumente soos die handves en die MPRDA kyk, kan ons sien dit is deur ’n minister wat in ’n private Gupta-vliegtuig rondvlieg, geskryf,” sê Maimane. “Zwane is ’n ambassadeur van Saxonwold. Hy verstaan nie die impak van die handves nie want hy doen met wat daar aan hom gesê word om te doen,” sê Maimane. Afgevaardigdes wat die indaba bywoon is ook ontevrede oor die handves en die leierskap wat die minister aan die sektor bied. Die afgevaardigdes is gevra om aan ’n informele peiling deel te neem voordat politici hul voordragte sou lewer. Op die vraag wat die een ding is wat hulle sou wou sien die ANC vir mynbou moet doen, was die uitslag as volg: * Gee ons ’n nuwe minister: 41,7% * Onderhandel weer oor die handves: 26,6% * Los ons uit: 24,3% * Keur die voorgestelde MPRDA goed: 4,1% * Laat die sektor vir sy geskiedenis betaal: 3,2% Meer oor: Da | Anc | Mmusi | Zweli Mkhize | Mynbou | Mynbouhandves | Mynbou-Indaba... View the entire article here https://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Mynbou/anc-en-da-dit-eens-handves-moet-waai-20171004
Geen datum vir ondersoek na staatskaping
https://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Mynbou/geen-datum-vir-ondersoek-na-staatskaping-20171004
Zwane lyk na enigste wat nog in handves glo
Sake (Volksblad) - 5 Oct 2017
MYNBOU Zwane lyk na enigste wat nog in handves glo `Skeur clit op!' els DA se leier Togeth South REPUBLIC OF SOUTH Mosebenzi Zwane, minister van minerale bronne. Foto: ELVIRA WOOD Elvira Wood Dit lyk of Mosebenzi Zwane, minister van minerale bronne, die enigste mens is wat nog glo dat die nuutste weergawe van die Mynbouhandves 'n goeie idee is. Hy het die derde weergawe van die beleidsdokument in Junie in die Staatskoerant gepubliseer. SeIfs senior lede van die ANC en spesifiek dr. Zweli Mkhize, tesouriergeneraal van die party, se die dokument moet hersien word. Mmusi Maimane, leier van die DA, stel meer drastiese stappe voor en se die huidige dokument moet bloot opgeskeur word. Dit geld ook nie net die handves nie, maar ook die Wet op die Ontwikkeling van Minerale en Petroleumhulpbronne. Sy voorstel is daar moet van voor af besin word oor beleid en wetgewing met betrekking tot die mynbousektor. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53134620/141077254/5931/t
Ondersoek na kaping: `Dis rede vir gesloer'
Ondersoek na kaping: `Dis rede vir gesloee Mmusi Maimane, leier van die DA, gister op die Joburg Indaba in Sandton, Johannesburg. Foto: FELIX DLANGAMANDLA Elvira Wood Die ANC en pres. Jacob Zuma wil die bewerings oor staatskaping ondersoek, maar vrae oor regskwessies is die rede hoekom nog niks gebeur het nie, se dr. Zweli Mkhize, die party se tesouriergeneraal. Hy was gisteroggend een van die sprekers op die jaarlikse Joburg Indaba in Sandton, Johannesburg, waar gesprekke oor die mynbousektor gevoer is. "Ons wil hierdie kwessie ondersoek en 'n kommissie is nodig, maar daar moet eers duidelikheid wees oor die presiese raamwerk waarbinne die ondersoek gaan plaasvind. "Die bevindings in die openbare beskermer se verslag moet in ag geneem word en dit word tans hersien. "Die onsekerheid wat hierdie kwessies veroorsaak, is die rede dat die proses so sloer," se Mkhize. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53134706/141077301/5931/t
ANC’s economic transformation policy ‘patronage politics’, says Maimane
4 October 2017, The Citizen
www.citizen.co.za
Maimane described the ANC’s economic transformation policy as ‘a poorly disguised extension of lucrative patronage politics’. Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, on Wednesday described the radical economic transformation policy of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as “a poorly disguised extension of lucrative patronage politics”. Maimane said the ANC’s definition of radical economic transformation was a way of legislating the replacement of one elite with another, to replace white mining tycoons with black mining tycoons and nothing more. However, Maimane said the DA was not opposed to the handing over of shares in mining companies, saying that this had to benefit ordinary workers and their communities, not the wealthy elite. “The way the ANC government uses the term – and the way it has been written into the new Mining Charter – Radical Economic Transformation is little more than a fig leaf for elite enrichment,” Maimane said. Read the full article here
Hardball at mining indaba
The New Age - 5 Oct 2017
www.thenewage.co.za
Hardball at mining indaba Engaging mining minister directly is not going to achieve an acceptable outcome on the mining charter, says chamber HEADBASHNG: The mining industry is at loggerheads with the Mineral Resources Minister NONHLANHLA MASEKO SOUTH Africa's mining lobby is continuing to play hardball with the mining ministry over the revised mining charter, which is intended to foster transformation and includes raising targets for black ownership. "Engaging with the minister directly is not going to achieve results for the industry that are workable," Roger Baxter, CEO of the Chamber of Mines, said at the Joburg Indaba mining conference in Sandton yesterday. He said he hoped the court actions next month and in December would deliver an acceptable outcome on the charter, which the chamber says is unworkable and was foisted upon the industry. The disputes are over the once empowered, always empowered principle and the increase in minimum black ownership of mines to 30% from the current 26%. The last time the chamber engaged with the minister was in March. Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane believes the charter is an instrument that can assist in transforming the country. "I had an opportunity to lead a delegation to Australia as part of attracting investment into our country, especially in the mining sector," Zwane said. Read the full article here
Kamer: Dít is hoekom ons Zwane vermy
Elvira Wood, 5 Oktober 2017
Read the full article here
Guptas got quick go-ahead for use of ring-fenced funds, Outa claims
Civil society body argues money for mine rehabilitation was diverted https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/mining/2017-10-05-in-depth-guptas-got-quick-go-ahead-for-use-of-ring-fenced-funds-outa-claims/
Mining bosses say they want Mosebenzi Zwane to be replaced
05 October 2017 - By Naledi Shange
www.timeslive.co.za
South Africa's mining bosses are pushing for a new mineral resources minister, boycotting a keynote address by incumbent Mosebenzi Zwane during which he raised eyebrows by saying the outcome of the ANC's national elective conference was a foregone conclusion. While Zwane was playing politics at a mining industry's Joburg Indaba gala dinner on Tuesday, delegates from companies like Anglo American, Harmony Gold, Sibanye Gold, PWC and JP Morgan, KPMG and Standard Bank were outspoken about him in an online poll conducted on Wednesday morning. Asked about "the one thing you want the ANC-led government to do for mining", 41% called for a new minister. Another 26.6% called for the scrapping of the controversial Mining Charter that happened on Zwane's watch. Read the full article here
Analysts pour cold water on Zwane's claim he knows who is going to be next ANC president
By Ernest Mabuza | Oct 05, 2017
www.sowetanlive.co.za
Political analysts have poured cold water to a claim by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane that it was a foregone conclusion who the next president of the ANC will be. “We already know who will be president … It’s a done deal. We are not stressing. The policies won’t change. In January there will new leadership and policies will remain the same‚” said Zwane‚ widely seen as a staunch supporter of current party president Jacob Zuma. We all know who the ANC president will be‚ says Zwane. Zwane‚ who made the remarks at the Joburg Indaba gala dinner on Tuesday night‚ said the matter had already been decided at branch level around the country and the result was already known within the party. However‚ political analyst Ebrahim Fakir said there were certain trends that one could read about who could be leader of the ANC‚ but no one could know for certain who the leader would be. “Maybe it is bluster or he knows something we don’t know. Maybe he is party to manipulating the voting process‚” Fakir said. Read the full article here
De Beers suspends exploration budget
05 October 2017, Allan Seccombe
www.businesslive.co.za
De Beers, which will be down to a single mine in South Africa from 2020, has 54 exploration applications stuck with the Department of Mineral Resources, some for two years, and has suspended its R40m annual exploration budget in the country.The focus of De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM), the South African subsidiary of De Beers, the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by value, is on bringing its $2bn Venetia mine into production and managing the transition from opencast mining to underground mining, minimising the anticipated dip in production at that time, said DBCM CEO Philip Barton.While De Beers has patiently pushed for the exploration licences to be approved having exhausted all its other exploration permits but it is now coming to a point where taking the Department of Mineral Resources to court is being considered as an option if talks with Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane yielded no progress, Barton said on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba mining conference. Read the full article here
Mining Charter battle continues
ctlive.info
Seriti Resources CEO Mike Teke discusses Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane comments at the Joburg Indaba and how it’s navigating things as a coal miner in South Africa right now. Read the full article here
ANC will heed Joburg Indaba call for removal of Minerals Minister – Mkhize
4 October, Martin Creamer, Creamer Media Editor
www.engineeringnews.co.za
The majority call by the Joburg Indaba for government to replace Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane with a new Minister would be communicated to the African National Congress (ANC), which was committed to facilitating an enabling environment for the South African mining industry, ANC treasurer general and former KwaZulu-Natal premier Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday. Mkhize was delivering the opening keynote address on the first day of the fifth Joburg Indaba conference following the controversial Minister going on a charm offensive the day before as the main speaker at the Joburg Indaba gala dinner. Despite all the offers of cooperation made by the errant Minister, Joburg Indaba attendees gave the Minister a firm thumbs down during the indaba’s traditional digital voting session, even after Joburg Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel said he would respond to his gala dinner invitation for mining to put forward suggestions to improve the industry. Read the full article here
Zweli Mkhize: State Capture Is An 'Embarrassment'
Amil Umraw Politics Reporter, 4 October 2017
www.huffingtonpost.co.za
State capture is a huge embarrassment to South Africa, ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday. "This issue of state capture is something that is a huge embarrassment...we take it as a form of corruption. This is something that we have not experienced before," he said. Mkhize was speaking at The Joburg Indaba which focuses on the mining industry. After his speech, he was grilled about issues of state capture. Mkhize says the delay in the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture was due to issues surrounding its terms of reference. "From the National Executive Committee, we expected it (inquiry) would have taken place much quicker," he said. "The commission must be able to question everyone who is involved...legislation needs to be put in place. When the findings are released, we will be able to act on those involved. Those emails have come with a lot of revelations." Read the full article here
Rip Up And Rewrite The Mining Charter, Says Mmusi Maimane
4 October, Amil Umraw, Politics Reporter
www.huffingtonpost.co.za
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane says the first step in fixing the country's mining sector is to "rip up" Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane's new Mining Charter. "There are several things we must do in order to make this happen, but the most important has to do with a change of attitude," said Maimane. He is one of the featured speakers at the 2017 Joburg Indaba, which focuses on the mining sector. "First among these is to rip up the new Mining Charter, along with the MPRDA [Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act], and rewrite them for a modern, investor-friendly mining sector," Maimane said. "We must accept that South Africa exists in the real world. This is a world that functions on regular market forces and doesn't owe special treatment to anyone." The second step for the DA is providing regulatory certainty. "Investors must have a reasonable assurance that the conditions under which they invest will be the same as when dividends begin to flow. Our regulations must be light and clear. The interpretation of rules cannot depend on the goodwill of a government official," he said. Maimane said the industry needs an efficient and honest regulator as well as an open and transparent industry. Read the full article here
DON'T FEAR RADICAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION, MKHIZE TELLS BUSINESS LEADERS
Clement Manyathela, 4 October 2017
www.ewn.co.za
ANC Treasurer General Zweli Mkhize, speaking at the Johannesburg Indaba in Sandton, says everyone must participate in the country's economy. African National Congress (ANC) Treasurer General Zweli Mkhize has told business leaders this morning not to fear radical economic transformation as it’s simply about increasing the participation of black people in the economy. Mkhize was speaking at the Johannesburg Indaba in Sandton. President Jacob Zuma and other ANC presidential hopefuls have spoken at lengths about the need for radical transformation.Mkhize says everyone must participate in the country's economy. “Effectively what we’re really looking at is a question of how do we increase the ownership, the participation by the black industrialists, black entrepreneurs who have over the years been left out because of the past policies.” Read the full article here
Mkhize sidesteps questions on ANC leadership race after Zwane says it is a 'done deal'
By Naledi Shange | Oct 04, 2017
www.sowetanlive.co.za
ANC treasurer general Zweli Mkhize has sidestepped questions on the party’s leadership battle after Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said it was a foregone conclusion. “I am not able to comment on that because I do not know what the statement was. Unfortunately‚ I was not there‚” Mkhize said. He was addressing journalists at the Joburg Indaba held in Sandton on Wednesday. Speaking at a gala dinner on Tuesday‚ Zwane had said: “We already know who will be the president. It’s a done deal. We are not stressing. The policies won’t change. In January‚ there will be new leadership and policies will remain the same.” Zwane said the matter had already been decided at branch level and the result was already known within the party. He made the remarks at a gala dinner on Tuesday night. The ANC is expected to elect a new leader in December. The contest has sharply divided the party‚, in particular, those rallying behind deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and rival Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. President Zuma has openly thrown his weight behind his ex-wife. Zwane’s comments came just days after a violent brawl at a provincial ANC leadership conference in the Eastern Cape. Read the full article here
SA mining trapped in old paradigm of apartheid-era – Maimane
posted by Phila Mzamo on October 4, 2017, in www.miningne.ws
Democratic Alliance leader, Mmusi Maimane speaking to delegates at the Joburg Indaba 2017, said the mining industry could not afford to be trapped in the old paradigm of the apartheid era if it hoped to succeed. Maimane said the mining industry should not be about being a source of instant wealth for a few people. He said it needed to change the attitude of hostility in the mining industry without replacing one racial elite, with another. The DA leader narrated a story of a graduate who had approached him, discussing the difficulties he was experiencing whilst trying to attain a mining license. Maimane said the graduate had done all of the necessary groundwork, had the necessary qualifications and skills and was still denied the license. Maimane narrates how the land for which the graduate’s applied license was for, was given to someone with no mining interests, no skills, and no qualifications. Read the full article here
Geology honours graduate Glen will persist until he finds a job
4 October 2107, by Katharine Child
Geology honours graduate Glen Mashau Ndouvhada from Limpopo has been looking for a job for a year - driving to Rustenburg mines‚ handing out his CV and using every recruitment company he can find. On Wednesday‚ he decided to stand near KPMG's offices in busy Johannesburg with a poster asking for work and advertising his qualifications.Ndouvhada said he graduated with an honours degree in geology and mining at the University of Venda last year. He is determined to get a job. "I am growing up. I am 25 in December." But "all the emails he gets back from recruiters are the same‚ saying there are no jobs at the moment"‚ he explained. He studied mining as he believed it would bring a good career path‚ with opportunities for advancement and a competitive salary. "I love mining actually." He was told growing up that mining is a career you can "grow in and you can get more money". Before coming to Johannesburg‚ he went twice to Rustenburg‚ to the mines. He told security guards at the heavily secured mines he had appointments with the managers to convince them to let him in. "I couldn’t go there and come back without talking to them [managers]." The mining managers all told him: "There is nothing [any]more. If something comes up‚ I will contact you." Read the full article here
Radical economic transformation means replacing one elite with another‚ says Maimane
By Naledi Shange | Oct 04, 2017
www.sowetanlive.co.za
“The way the ANC government uses the term – and the way it has been written into the new mining charter – radical economic transformation is little more than a fig leaf for elite enrichment‚,” he said. “It is a way of legislating the replacement of one elite with another. A zero-sum game that changes the owners‚ but where ordinary workers and ordinary communities see no change and no improvement‚” he said. Maimane was speaking at the Joburg Indaba held in Sandton attended by mining giants as well as other stakeholders. “If we’re all okay with the ANC government’s definition of radical economic transformation‚ then it won’t take us long to agree on a way forward. The MPRDA of fifteen years ago‚ along with this year’s Mining Charter‚ give us all the tools we need to transfer mine ownership from an old wealthy elite to a new wealthy elite‚” Maimane said. “So if the idea is to replace white mining tycoons with black mining tycoons and nothing more‚ then this could be the shortest Mining Indaba session ever.” He told delegates that he was against slogans such as radical economic transformation as well as white monopoly capital. Read the full article here
Chamber of Mines boycotts Zwane at Joburg Indaba shindig
By David McKay - October 3, 2017
THE Chamber of Mines appears to be anxious to avoid a repeat of the fireworks of the Africa Down Under conference last month when South Africa mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, made wild claims regarding the Mining Charter redraft. It’s understood Roger Baxter, CEO of the Chamber of Mines, and possibly his colleagues on the Chamber’s board will boycott the opening event of the Joburg Indaba conference which will be a gala dinner to be held at the Inanda Club tonight (October 3). Zwane is scheduled to speak at the dinner at which 250 guests who are registered for the conference will attend. Zweli Mkhize, treasurer-general of the African National Conference (ANC), will deliver the keynote address. Mkhize has thrown his hat into the ring for presidency of the ANC. According to News24, Mkhize is the candidate of the unity campaign led by Gauteng provincial chairperson Paul Mashatile and Mpumalanga chairperson David “DD” Mabuza. Read the full article here
Are mining companies closing the digital disconnect?
By: Wickus Botha, Africa Mining and Metals Leader and Wim Hoogedeure, Africa Advisory Mining and Metals Leader at EY
The current digital disruption that is sweeping across the world and upending industries, has resulted in a digital disconnect – a gap between the potential from digital transformation and the poor track record of successful implementations – in the mining and metals sector. This disconnect is not because of a lack of engagement from the sector, but is rather due to unsuccessful implementations, perceptions of high costs relating to IT spend and a disconnect with current operating models.
As productivity remains the number one operational risk in the mining sector, digital transformation in the sector will be a critical enabler to addressing the industry’s productivity and margin challenges. Mining companies will be able to better manage variability and improve productivity by merging digital with a manufacturing mindset, which focuses on productivity across the end-to-end value chain.
Closing the digital disconnect will position mines to be fit for purpose for the future, ensuring practical and sustainable solutions.
However, many mining companies are yet to seize the advantages of digital. The current rate of digital progress is out of sync with their scale of opportunity. EY’s global report, The digital disconnect: problem or pathway? found that 31% of 700 global respondents in the sector say digital is high on the agenda for their organisation, while 15% say it is not on their agenda at all.
An example of one of the many ways digital can transform operations can be found in a South African mine. This operation has overcome its numerous structural challenges through the use of digital radio technology to monitor slope failures. The technology used by the mine has advanced to a point where it tells the mine’s operators where and sometimes when the slope failures are likely to occur, allowing for evacuations to take place.
A second example is a mine that used digital technology to track equipment and employees through the entire operation. It allowed them to optimise the utilisation of equipment, reduce stoppages, minimise bottlenecks and improve asset productivity and utilisation.
These mines show the potential that can be reached in terms of both productivity and safety. A pragmatic digital strategy starts with clarity of purpose and understanding where it will create value, supported by an over-arching, integrated 3-5 year roadmap of digital initiatives that are margin accretive. Key is understanding what that requires in terms of governance, leadership, culture, capacity, capability, and digital process maturity.
Other examples where mining and metals companies seized digital opportunities include:
- Optimising production plans and productivity rates across any operation and managing variability under any conditions. Combining detailed ore body data with digitised equipment performance and maintenance data, in a real-time environment, allowed scenario analysis of alternative operating plans, and the ability to refine these plans for variability.
- Enhancing asset availability and reliability. A move to digitally enabled predictive maintenance allows for the extension of maintenance windows, reduced component and labour costs, and the minimisation of costly breakdown events. Further, once the effective maintenance practices are standardised, the introduction of robotic process automation (RPA) and schedule optimisation tools is possible.
- Understanding true end-to-end capability and systems bottlenecks, and supporting loss elimination, is fundamental to a manufacturing excellence mindset.
- Increasing agility and responsiveness to changes in market factors, such as freight rates and customers’ buying behaviour trends. This would optimise shipping and scheduling to reduce demurrage, maximise port utilisation and also enable miners to capture spot markets and price premiums via sales contracted at different points of the value chain (e.g., on the water sales).
The mining and metals industry plays an important role in South Africa’s economy. Digital enables mining companies to increase productivity and also solve safety problems. It is less about when to go digital, more about how to successfully operate in a digital world. Mining companies that will win in the digital age are those that use digital to solve business problems.
Ends.
Sasol indaba bring mining sector players together to delve into issues in industry
The New Age, Careers - 2 Oct 2017
Sasol indaba bring mining sector players together to delve into issues in industry THELMA NGOMA SASOL Mining will be sponsoring the fifth annual Joburg indaba on October 45 at the Inanda Club. The Joburg indaba brings together South Africa's foremost mining industry players to discuss issues impacting the industry. The main objectives of the event are to encourage strategic, insightful conversations and create networking opportunities for different stakeholders in the industry. For the past 67 years Sasol has played an important role in the industrial growth and socio-economic development of South Africa. Through its mining business unit, Sasol continues to create jobs and contribute to social and economic development. In addition to Sasol's corporate social investment programmes, Sasol Mining promotes social and economic development by implementing social labour plans and local economic development projects. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/53002637/141041982/5931/t
Event a platform for 'blunt debate'
Mining Weekly - 29 Sep 2017
Mining stakeholders from various sectors – including leaders from society, government, industry and labour – will engage in “blunt debate” about the many challenges currently facing the sector when they congregate at the Joburg Indaba 2017, says event organiser Resources4Africa CEO Paula Munsie. She notes that unpredictable regulatory environments in mining jurisdictions, an increase in stakeholder expectations, unfavourable country risk profiles – which affect attractiveness for investment – and the modernisation of the industry are some of the key issues facing the African mining sector. She stresses that, with a maximum of 500 delegates, the Joburg Indaba will provide an intimate networking environment where stakeholders can engage in “honest, open and frank interaction, and openly air their views and give constructive inputs”. http://www.miningweekly.com/print-version/event-a-platform-for-blunt-debate-2017-09-29
Stakeholder cohesion crucial to change trajectory of South African mining
Mining Weekly - 29 Sep 2017
Chamber of Mines (CoM) of South Africa CEO Roger Baxter will consider the role that the CoM and mining companies can play in increasing investment in South Africa’s mining sector, despite current challenges, by creating an enabling business environment through the building of trust between mining stakeholders at the Joburg Indaba mining conference this year. He stresses that key to encouraging this cohesion between industry players is a continued commitment to driving transformation in the industry at all levels to facilitate growth and ensure that the benefits of such growth reach all stakeholders. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/stakeholder-cohesion-crucial-to-change-trajectory-of-s-african-mining-2017-09-29
Software makes complex data accessible for geologists
Mining Weekly - 29 Sep 2017
Amid the hype surrounding the proliferation of disruptive technologies for the mining industry is a real need for effective collaboration in terms of information. Global technology company ARANZ Geo’s latest user-friendly software offering – Leapfrog Geo 4.0 – provides a key advancement in this regard, says ARANZ Geo Africa regional director Felix Walraven. Headquartered in New Zealand, ARANZ Geo develops solutions that aim to harness complex information and make it meaningful to users in the mining and mineral processing, civil and environmental, and energy sectors. ARANZ Geo’s products are distributed to the South African market through its branch in Johannesburg and delegates from the company will attend the 2017 Joburg Indaba at the Inanda Club, in Sandton, Johannesburg, from October 4 to 5, where the company hopes to gain further insight into the future technological needs of the South African mining industry. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/software-makes-complex-data-accessible-for-geologists-2017-09-29
New brand to be showcased at event
Mining Weekly - 29 Sep 2017
New brand to be showcased at event Picture by Senior Chief Photo, Rapher Duane Daws Mining company SibanyeStillwater will showcase its newly launched brand as a mining industry partner sponsor at the Joburg Indaba, which will be held at the Inanda Club, in Sandton, Johannesburg, from October 4 to 5. Gold producer Sibanye Gold announced last month a change in its trading name to SibanyeStillwater, emphasising that this forms the next natural step in the group's evolution from a gold mining company with its asset base entirely located in South Africa, into a leading international precious metals company. The announcement follows Sibanye's acquisition of Stillwater, a high quality, low-cost platinum group metals PGMs producer located in Montana, in the US, in May this year. DISCUSSING OPERATIONS Globally, SibanyeStillwater is the third-largest producer of palladium and platinum and the company features among the world's top ten gold producers. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/52942170/141025821/5931/t
SASOL MINING SPONSORS THE 2017 JOBURG INDABA
Secunda, Mpumalanga – Sasol Mining is proud to sponsor the 5th annual Joburg Indaba. Taking place on 4 and 5 October 2017 at the Inanda Club, the Joburg Indaba brings together South Africa’s foremost mining industry players to discuss issues impacting the industry. The main objectives of the event are to encourage strategic, insightful conversations and create networking opportunities for different stakeholders within the industry. The theme for this year’s event is “investing in resources and mining in Africa”. For the past 67 years Sasol has played an important role in the industrial growth and socio-economic development of South Africa. Through its mining business unit, Sasol continues to create jobs and contribute to social and economic development. In addition to Sasol’s corporate social responsibility programmes, Sasol Mining promotes social and economic development by implementing Social Labour Plans (SLPs) and Local Economic Development Projects (LEDs). Sasol’s host communities, situated in four municipalities in Mpumalanga and two in the Free State, have benefitted in many ways from a variety of projects such as health clinics, a fire station, roads and foot-bridges as well as housing for Mining employees. http://www.sasol.com/media-centre/media-releases/sasol-mining-sponsors-2017-joburg-indaba
Industry concerns will be addressed around Nema
Dineo Faku
Reubeen Masenya, the director of mine closure at the Department of Mineral Resources, yesterday said that the government was in the process of addressing industry concerns around the National Environmental Management Act (Nema) new financial provisioning regulations. “For the past 15 months, we have been working hard to address the challenges with Nema. It has been like fixing a car while it is in motion. You can imagine how challenging it is,” Masenya said. “Like any other new thing that is implemented, there will be challenges”. Masenya was speaking at the 2017 Joburg Indaba breakfast focused on the implications of Nema held in Johannesburg. The proposed financial provisioning regulations are expected to change the way mining companies plan for closure of mines and were also expected add to their closure liability costs. https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/energy/industry-concerns-will-be-addressed-around-nema-11386555
Industry concerns will be addressed
The Star - Dineo Faku
Lia Bolz, a senior associate at Malan Scholes, briefs stakeholders in the mining industry ahead of the Joburg lndaba on implications of the new Nema. PHOTO WYNAND VAN DER MERWEANA Dineo Faku REUBEN Masenya, the director of mine closure at the Department of Mineral Resources, yesterday said that the government was in the process of addressing industry concerns around the National Environmental Management Act Nema new financial provisioning regulations. "For the past 15 months, we have been working hard to address the challenges with Nema. It has been like fixing a car while it is in motion. You can imagine how challenging it is," Masenya said. "Like any other new thing that is implemented, there will be challenges". Masenya was speaking at the 2017 Joburg Indaba breakfast focused on the implications of Nema held in Johannesburg. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92782/qv/52879567/141007852/5931/p
No clarity on funding drawdown for mine rehab – Joburg Indaba
Mining Weekly - Martin Creamer
There is no clarity on the way that mining companies can draw down from their financial provision vehicles to undertake mine rehabilitation, the Joburg Indaba Breakfast heard on Wednesday during a discussion on the implications of the new National EnvironmentalManagement Act (Nema). Chaired by mining luminary Bernard Swanepoel, the meeting was told that the withdrawal of excess funds from mine rehabilitation trusts is to continue to be disallowed, after failing to make the list of many proposed amendments to Nema’s financial provision regulations of 2015.
Platinum has best price improvement prospects – Major
Martin Creamer- Mining Weekly
Platinum has better price improvement prospects than virtually any other commodity, Cadiz Corporate Solutions mining director Peter Major said on Thursday. Speaking at a breakfast to publicise the upcoming Junior Indaba on June 7 and 8, Major cast doubt on gold going much higher, said iron-ore was heading for a fall and forecast a lower thermal coal price by year-end.“I think platinum has a better chance of going up than almost any other commodity,” Major said, positioning the currently low-priced precious metal as being “very close to its mean”. “I’ve got a lot of my pension fund in platinum, as opposed to gold,” he added at the function, which was hosted by Junior Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel, who is also president of AHI, the small and medium-sized enterprise representative organisation. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/platinum-has-best-price-improvement-prospects-major-2017-04-06/rep_id:3650
Mining lost in deep, dark hole
07 April 2017 - Charlotte Mathews
South Africa must begin to take mining seriously, consult on issues – Manuel
Martin Creamer- Mining Weekly
South Africa must begin to take the mining industry seriously and consult on the issues, former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday.In a keynote address to the Joburg Indaba, Manuel pointed out that foreign direct investment into South Africa had fallen to a fraction of what it was and from being number one in gold in the world to seventh position. “It’s not a happy place to be and if we don’t have discussions we will be betraying future generations,” he said. Infrastructure challenges remain with the country not knowing how big the energy crisis is, as mining output is so low, and transport costs remain an issue.The metrics for iron-ore and coal have changed in a short space of time and there are ongoing environmental issues long after the mines have closed, such as acid mine drainage. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/south-africa-must-begin-to-take-mining-seriously-consult-issues-manuel-2016-10-05
Manuel: Corruption, non-compliance dogging SA mining
Lameez Omarjee
Johannesburg – Corruption and the failure to comply with regulation plagues the mining sector, former finance minister Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday at the Joburg Indaba held in Sandton. Discussing what can be done to ensure the sustainability of the mining sector, Manuel highlighted the challenges that threatened this. “If we do not have this conversation we will shoot future generations in the foot,” said Manuel. He was referring to infrastructural challenges, environmental depletion caused by mining operations, corruption in the sector and regulatory uncertainties. The landscape of the mining industry is different from that of other sectors, which requires different things to be done to deal with challenges in the industry. Water licensing was one of the issues he raised. “There are ongoing environmental issues long after mines have closed,” he said. http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Mining-Indaba/manuel-corruption-non-compliance-dogging-sa-mining-20161005
Godongwana: Nationalisation talk has hurt mining
Lameez Omarjee
Johannesburg - The ANC has influence over mining sector policy but has not been helpful in this area, ANC official and former economic development minister Enoch Godongwana said at the Joburg Indaba held in Sandton on Wednesday. Godongwana was highlighting the role of the ANC government in making the mining industry a key driver of the economy. “[The ANC] spent two years debating the nationalisation of the mining industry. We allowed the debate to continue for two years, to the detriment of the industry,” he said. “We all have agreed that a lack of common vision for the industry creates challenges.” Godongwana said that a way to grapple with the challenges facing the industry is to develop a strategic vision. This forms part of government’s Vision 2030, National Development Plan (NDP), he said. “We should not be lukewarm when it comes to the NDP,” he added. http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Mining-Indaba/godongwana-nationalisation-talk-has-hurt-mining-20161006
Improving labour relations requires trust - Chamber of Mines
Lameez Omarjee
Johannesburg – Trust is at the centre of improving labour relations in the mining industry, according to Andile Sangqu, vice president of the South African Chamber of Mines. Sangqu spoke to Fin24 at the Joburg Indaba held on Wednesday in Sandton. He said it is necessary to have good relationships with unions and employees to boost productivity in the sector. “We need an engaged workforce. We need to communicate and discuss the strategy and vision with workers,” he said. Part of building relationships with workers involves acknowledging the wrongs that have taken place in the past. “There are a lot of legacy issues … we need to commit ourselves to work together with labour to create solutions.” Sangqu added that a number of mining companies are engaging with labour. “Those relationships are changing and coming right.” He added that engagements should not only be “transactional” and happen only during the wage negotiation season.http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Mining-Indaba/improving-labour-relations-requires-trust-andile-sangqu-20161006
Ownership issue must be settled out of court - Godongwana
Sungula Nkabinde
JOHANNESBURG - The ANC’s head of economic transformation Enoch Godongwana, believes the controversial ‘once empowered, always empowered’ debate is too complex to be settled in the courts. In its current form, the Mining Charter does not recognise empowerment deals done after 2002 and requires companies to continue to empower black people to maintain 26% ownership, even if those beneficiaries sell their assets thereby dissolving black ownership. It is the subject of a court battle between the Department of Mineral Resources and the Chamber of Mines of South of South Africa, whereby a declaratory order has been sought. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba on Wednesday on what the ruling party should be doing to aid the ailing mining sector, he said the issue was too complex to be resolved . Because, if black investors want to realise the value of their assets, they should not be prevented from doing so, just because the transaction would have implications for the empowerment status of a company. At the same time, he is sensitive to the concerns of mining companies. http://today.moneyweb.co.za/article?id=619421#.WAiXu-h95QI
Zuma 'sponsor-in-chief of corruption' must go: Sipho Pityana’s speech to the Mining Indaba
Times Live
There are very few among us in this room who would dispute that South Africa is in crisis. It’s a crisis spanning the economy, society, and the political sphere. It’s a crisis fueled by patronage, corruption, mismanagement, unchecked power and widespread apathy. It is a crisis that compels me to persist with my call urging every proud citizen to join the movement to save South Africa.It is perhaps the most important Constitutional duty of any President to protect the sovereignty of a nation. Yet it is this sovereignty, the very independence of our republic, that I believe is being threatened by widespread graft and malign influence on parts of our government, by entrenched vested interests. That, in my view, is the elephant in the room. http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2016/10/05/Zuma-sponsor-in-chief-of-corruption-must-go-Sipho-Pityana%E2%80%99s-speech-to-the-Mining-Indaba
Pityana dubs Zuma “sponsor of corruption” in breathtaking attack
Brendan Ryan - Miningmx
ANGLOGOLD Ashanti chairman, Sipho Pityana, today launched an all-out attack on President Jacob Zuma calling for his immediate departure from office and describing him as a man “who cannot be trusted”. Pityana was speaking at the Joburg Indaba conference being held in Sandton and he launched his attack on Zuma after being warned from the podium by the speaker ahead of him – deputy minister of mineral resources Godfrey Oliphant – to tone down his comments. Oliphant said: “You can’t take South Africans to the ballot box. The president has to run his term. If you carry on like that we will return in kind”. In response Pityana stated flatly: “I have been asked to behave myself but, sorry deputy minister, Zuma must go for the sake of the country. The elephant in the room is a president who lacks integrity; the elephant in the room is a president who is without honour”.http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/28138-pityana-calls-zuma-sponsor-corruption-breathtaking-attack/
“I have committed an act of treason” – Sipho Pityana
Miningne.ws -Phila Mzamo
Sipho Pityana, the chairman, AngloGold Ashanti addressing the audience at the Joburg Indaba, announced that he came to address the ‘elephant in the room’.He proceeded to speak against South African President, Jacob Zuma, accusing him of being a sponsor of corruption.He spoke about how and why South Africa has fallen into state capture, and has put the blame on Zuma, saying corruption is threatening SA’s sovereignty, and the President is either ‘missing in action’ or at the heart of the problem.The chairman foregrounded education as a massive tool of empowerment, and urged the business community to play its part as it has a big role to play in South Africa against state capture. “State capture is another South Africanism destined for global infamy,” he stated.http://www.miningne.ws/2016/10/05/i-have-committed-an-act-of-treason-sipho-pityana/
Business Day
South African mining
Hotly debated future for South African mining
Mining Prospectus
Ahead of the fourth edition of the Joburg Indaba, stakeholders of the mining industry are upbeat and focused on becoming internationally competitive to secure the future of this key driver of the South African economy. One of the central themes at this year’s Joburg Indaba is what the mining industry is doing to attract investment into their own companies in this sector. “Instead of pointing externally we are focusing on how we, as an industry, can better manage elements that are in our control, be they productivity, costs, safety, volumes, growth and expansion,” states Joburg Indaba chairman, Bernard Swanepoel. This year’s sold out event has attracted a full house of regulators, CEOs, labour, analysts, investors and suppliers to the industry. http://www.miningprospectus.co.za/articles/south-african-mining-19550.html
Govt working on out-of-court charter settlement – Deputy Minister
Martin Creamer- Mining Weekly
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – President Jacob Zuma has instructed the government to work hard to arrive at an out-of-court settlement on Mining Charter Three, Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant disclosed on Wednesday. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, Oliphant said that the intention was to finalise the issue by the end of October. The Deputy Minister’s comments come against the background of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa and the government attempting to find each other, not in the courts, but through negotiation and engagement, on how best to ensure due acknowledgement of mining companies who over the years have assisted in taking forward the national imperative of black economic empowerment (BEE) ownership of mining companies. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/govt-working-on-out-of-court-charter-settlement-deputy-minister-2016-10-05
Create unresistable force with labour to bring about mining change – Godsell
Martin Creamer- Mining Weekly
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Organised labour is more willing to fix mining than at any time in the past, formerAngloGold
Ashanti CEO Bobby Godsell contended on Wednesday.Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, Godsell urged a coalition of the willing to create an unresistable force with labour to shame the government into coming to the table to make the necessary changes in mining. “AMCU, NUM, UASA and Solidarity are more willing to fix the industry than at any time in the past,” Godsell said of the Association of Mining and Construction Union (AMCU), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the United Association of South Africa (UASA) and the Solidarity labour unions.
unions.http://www.miningweekly.com/article/create-unresistable-force-with-labour-to-bring-about-mining-change-godsell-2016-10-05/rep_id:3650
IT’S been two years since former Impala Platinum marketing executive Derek Engelbrecht announced early-stage plans to mint a Nelson Mandela platinum coin. Since then, while the platinum producers have managed to convince Austria to introduce a platinum coin, they have failed to do so in South Africa. “!t really does boggle the mind as to why we cannot do that immediately,” said Anglo American Platinum CEO, Chris Griffith, when interviewed on the sidelines of the Joburg Indaba. He had earlier given a presentation on the platinum industry’s initiatives to grow demand for the metal in its three main markets: autocatalyst, jewellery, and investment. The investment market accounts for only 4% of platinum demand. Consequently, the platinum producers are looking to expand it through the work of an organisation called the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) by marketing platinum coins and bars. http://www.miningmx.com/news/platinum/28148-amplats-stumped-sa-platinum-coin-yet-materialise/
Ownership issue must be settled out of court - Godongwana
Sungula Nkabinde
JOHANNESBURG - The ANC’s head of economic transformation Enoch Godongwana, believes the controversial ‘once empowered, always empowered’ debate is too complex to be settled in the courts. In its current form, the Mining Charter does not recognise empowerment deals done after 2002 and requires companies to continue to empower black people to maintain 26% ownership, even if those beneficiaries sell their assets thereby dissolving black ownership. It is the subject of a court battle between the Department of Mineral Resources and the Chamber of Mines of South of South Africa, whereby a declaratory order has been sought. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba on Wednesday on what the ruling party should be doing to aid the ailing mining sector, he said the issue was too complex to be resolved . Because, if black investors want to realise the value of their assets, they should not be prevented from doing so, just because the transaction would have implications for the empowerment status of a company. At the same time, he is sensitive to the concerns of mining companies.http://today.moneyweb.co.za/article?id=619421#.V_zKEuh97IU
Godongwana: Nationalisation talk has hurt mining
Lameez Omarjee
Johannesburg - The ANC has influence over mining sector policy but has not been helpful in this area, ANC official and former economic development minister Enoch Godongwana said at the Joburg Indaba held in Sandton on Wednesday. Godongwana was highlighting the role of the ANC government in making the mining industry a key driver of the economy. “[The ANC] spent two years debating the nationalisation of the mining industry. We allowed the debate to continue for two years, to the detriment of the industry,” he said. “We all have agreed that a lack of common vision for the industry creates challenges.” Godongwana said that a way to grapple with the challenges facing the industry is to develop a strategic vision. This forms part of government’s Vision 2030, National Development Plan (NDP), he said. “We should not be lukewarm when it comes to the NDP,” he added. The mining charter is expected to be finalised by the end of October. http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Mining-Indaba/godongwana-nationalisation-talk-has-hurt-mining-20161006
Corruption erodes investment opportunities - mining CEO
Fin24-Lameez Omarjee
Johannesburg – To attract investment, mining companies can build a solid business, however, investors are most perturbed by corruption. This is according to Steve Phiri, CEO of Royal Bafokeng Platinum, who was speaking at the Joburg Indaba, held in Sandton on Wednesday. Phiri was part of a panel discussion with CEOs Neal Froneman of Sibanye Gold, Chris Griffith of Anglo American Platinum and Nick Holland of Gold Fields. “If you do not have a good relationship with government and a sustainable regulatory environment, investors run fast from you,” said Phiri. He explained that investors are concerned when they see “morality collapsing”. “People are concerned if their investment is not protected and safe.” http://www.fin24.com/Economy/Mining-Indaba/corruption-erodes-investment-opportunities-mining-ceo-20161005
Amcu-hoof: Daar ís geld vir gratis onderwys
Elvira Wood-Netwerk24
Joseph Mathunjwa het op die Joburg Indaba gepraat oor loononderhandelinge, ’n leefbare loon en #FeesMustFall http://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Mynbou/amcu-hoof-daar-is-geld-vir-gratis-onderwys-20161006
Transparency only way to win mineworker trust – Motlatsi
Mining Weekly-Martin Creamer
The only way to win the trust of mineworkers is for the mining business to become open and transparent, former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president DrJames Motlatsi said on Thursday.Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, Motlatsi shared the podium with Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) president Joseph Mathunjwa in a discussion of mining’s legacy and investment issues.http://www.miningweekly.com/article/transparency-only-way-to-win-mineworker-trust-motlatsi-2016-10-06
Sipho Pityana faces down Godfrey Oliphant’s warning at Joburg Indaba
By Allan Seccombe, www.bdlive.co.za
IN THE face of a hostile reception and a warning from the deputy mines minister, AngloGold Ashanti chairman Sipho Pityana said President Jacob Zuma was the “sponsor in chief of corruption” in the government and had to go.
Godfrey Oliphant, the deputy mineral resources minister, said at the opening of the third Joburg Indaba, a mining conference, that he did not want to hear continued criticism of the government without any solutions offered and that a change in presidency could not be forced.
“If you carry on like that we will return in kind,” he said.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/10/05/sipho-pityana-faces-down-godfrey-oliphants-warning-at-joburg-indaba
AngloGold chair calls on business to seize moment, demand Zuma’s resignation
miningweekly.com
Johannesburg – South African business and civil society should seize the moment and demand the resignation of head of State President Jacob Zuma, who is the "sponsor-in-chief of corruption" in South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti chairperson Sipho Pityana said on Wednesday. In a keynote address at the Joburg Indaba, Pityana received a standing ovation after drawing attention to South Africa being in political and economic crisis, fuelled by corruption.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/anglogold-chair-calls-on-business-to-seize-moment-demand-zumas-resignation-2016-10-05
All hands on deck for mining turnaround
by Phila Mzamo
The keynote address by Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye Gold and Vice President of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa at the Joburg Indaba 2016 intended to provide his perspective on what he believed could be achieved by the mining industry as a result of the collective and aligned efforts of all stakeholders. Looking at the agenda for this year’s Indaba, it is clear that delegates will be expected to consider how the industry will make further meaningful progress towards realising a vision of a modernised industry. “A modern mining industry will optimally extract and beneficiate the country’s natural resources, causing no harm to people or the planet. It benefits both the local community as well as the national economy. It procures locally, it is a preferred employer of well-skilled people and creates appropriate risk-adjusted returns for investors,” Froneman said. http://www.miningne.ws/2016/10/05/all-hands-on-deck-for-mining-turnaround/
Giving Zuma the boot will boost the economy. Pityana
Ezra Claymore
ANC stalwart and businessman Sipho Pityana has made no secret of his disapproval of how Jacob Zuma is running the ANC and the country.He’s often called for the president to do the ‘right’ thing and step down, and believes that el presidente’s resignation would be a step in the right direction for the country’s economic recovery.“The things that are holding back the performance of our economy hinge around the lack of policy certainty and around perceptions of high levels of corruption, as well as governance of SOEs. All revolve around the president,” Pityana told journalists at the Joburg Indaba on Wednesday. http://www.thesouthafrican.com/giving-zuma-the-boot-will-boost-the-economy-pityana-video/
Mynbou se nuwe handves dalk einde Oktober klaar
Elvira Wood- Netwerk24
Godfrey Oliphant, adjunkminister vir minerale bronne, sê die departement hoop om gesprekke oor die nuwe Mynbouhandves teen einde Oktober af te handel.http://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Mynbou/mynbouhandves-dalk-einde-oktober-klaar-20161005
Meganisasie mynwese se voorland
Elvira Wood- Netwerk24
Suid-Afrikaanse myne gaan moet meganiseer as hulle mededingend wil bly. http://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Mynbou/meganisasie-mynwese-se-voorland-20161005
Sipho Pityana: ‘Zuma moet gaan!’
Elvira Wood-Netwerk24
“Onder die nie so uitstekende pres. Jacob Zuma se leiding is die olifant in die vertrek ’n president sonder integriteit en waardigheid.”.http://www.netwerk24.com/Sake/Mynbou/sipho-pityana-zuma-moet-gaan-20161005
Ugly showdown over 'corrupt' Zuma at Joburg mining indaba
Allan Seccombe- Rand Daily Mail
In the face of a hostile reception and a warning from the deputy mines minister‚ AngloGold Ashanti chairman Sipho Pityana said President Jacob Zuma was the “sponsor in chief of corruption” in the government and had to go.Godfrey Oliphant‚ the deputy mineral resources minister‚ said at the opening of the third Joburg Indaba‚ a mining conference‚ that he did not want to hear continued criticism of the government without any solutions offered and that a change in presidency could not be forced.
“If you carry on like that we will return in kind‚” he said.Pityana ignored the warning and in a blistering address to the audience‚ which gave him a long standing ovation‚ he called on business and broader society to unite in an unambiguous message to the ANC-led government that corruption and decisions made for narrow interests would no longer be tolerated. “Leaders found guilty of corruption or misrepresentation no longer fall on their swords for the greater good. These days they remain in office‚ inured to the shame of public opprobrium and cheered on by their superiors. And why not‚ when we have a president who literally laughs off any suggestion that government be held to a higher standard — and is‚ in fact‚ the sponsor-in-chief of corruption?” Pityana said.
http://www.rdm.co.za/politics/2016/10/05/ugly-showdown-over-corrupt-zuma-at-joburg-mining-indaba
SA mines must rectify past injustices, Sibanye CEO says
Kevin Crowley, Bloomberg
The failure of South Africa’s mining industry to rectify the injustices of its apartheid-era past is in large part to blame for today’s difficult operating environment, where mines face changing government regulations and labor strife, according to Sibanye Gold Chief Executive Officer Neal Froneman. “We need to critically and honestly acknowledge the role of our industry where it acted against the interests of the vast majority of South Africans if we wish to secure full reconciliation with our broader society,” Froneman said at a dinner in Johannesburg on Tuesday night before the start of Joburg Indaba, an annual mining conference. “We have, ladies and gentlemen, a past that continues to taint our present.” South Africa’s mining industry, which has the world’s biggest reserves of platinum, third-largest stores of gold and is the biggest manganese producer, has been hit by frequent labor strikes and an uncertain regulatory environment. The Chamber of Mines, which represents mining companies, took the government to court earlier this year over plans to force mines to cede 26% stakes to black investors even if they had already done so. The two sides are still negotiating a solution. http://www.moneyweb.co.za/news-fast-news/sa-mines-must-rectify-past-injustices-sibanye-ceo-says/
Mining in need of long-term strategic vision – Enoch Godongwana
Martin Creamer- Mining Weekly- 5 October 2016
South Africa is in need of a strategic vision that extends to 2030 for the mining industry, where growing trust between industry stakeholders points to a common vision being achievable, African National Congress (ANC) Economic Transformation Committee chairperson Enoch Godongwana said on Wednesday.
His keynote call for a long-term strategic vision received nearly 90% digital voting support from the packed Joburg Indaba conference, where Godongwana emphasised the need to modernise mining.
http://www.miningweekly.com/article/mining-in-need-of-long-term-strategic-vision-enoch-godongwana-2016-10-05/rep_id:3650
Building a 'conference of substance'
Business Day (Late Final), Insights - 28 Sep 2016
RESOURCES 4 Africa was founded on the ideal of events that make a meaningful contribution to the industries for which they provide a platform and forum. Having.come from a journalism background Paula Munsie, founder and CEO of Resources 4 Africa, focused more on the research side of the media industry. As a consequence she ended up working for a UK conference company where her prime area was researching different industries. "I researched a lot of different industries. While in Dubai for a short time I gained some exposure to the mining industry as the.company I was working for had interests in both Australia and SA. "When I returned to SA I decided to start my own business, leveraging off my overseas conference experience to create an event that would be meaningful and offer value to an industry. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/74906/qv/43904643/137782532/5931/t
Up the proverbial creek: SA mining needs paradigm shift
By: Danette Breitenbach-Biz Community
We are living in interesting times, and nowhere is it more true than in the local mining industry. Facing external challenges - such as the commodities downturn - as well as internal ones - namely the continuing uncertain regulatory environment - it is the underlying ability of the industry to deal with these challenges that will determine whether it will have a future. The only way that the industry can do this is through clear thinking and leadership, says Roger Baxter, CEO of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa. Speaking at a pre-Joburg Indaba event, together with Niël Pretorius, DRDGold CEO, and Sipho Nkosi, non-executive chairman: talent10, Baxter was part of a panel that addressed the industry and its stakeholders on the cost of doing business in South Africa. http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/608/151237.html
SA’s cost-of-doing-business ranking badly down – Chamber
Martin Creamer- Polity.org.za
South Africa has plummeted to an abysmally low level in the World Bank’s 160-country cost-of-doing-business rankings.On the bank’s Doing Business scale, which measures the fitness of a country’s economy to grow and compete, South Africa has tumbled 15 notches since 2007, from position number58, to position number 73.Revealing this at a pre-Joburg Indaba breakfast session on Tuesday, Chamber of Mines of South Africa CEO Roger Baxter also drew attention to the Fraser Institute placing South Africa eighty-first out of 109 countries on current mineral policy potential.http://www.polity.org.za/article/sas-global-cost-of-doing-business-ranking-badly-down-chamber-of-mines-2016-09-20
South African ‘Mining Hall of Fame’ on way – Swanepoel
Martin Creamer- Creamer Media Editor
Revealing this at a pre-Joburg Indaba presentation on Tuesday, chairperson Bernard Swanepoel noted thatSouth Africa was the odd mining jurisdiction out in not having a mining hall of fame. “Every other mining jurisdiction has its own mining hall of fame but somehow, as South Africans, we’ve never done it,” Swanepoel said. Now, under the auspices of the Joburg Indaba, he is about to remedy this by unveiling inductees at a dinner ahead of next month’s conference on October 5 and 6. “We’ll have a significant number of inductees. We’ve found some blasts-from-the-past. We are not giving it to dead people and we’re not giving it to people from a previous regime. This will be a New South Africa Mining Hall of Fame," said Swanepoel, who added that nine people and possibly even ten would be inducted. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/south-african-mining-hall-of-fame-on-way-swanepoel-2016-09-20
Mining executives’ packages and shareholder returns out of kilter
www.bdlive.co.za
THERE is a disconnect between the way mining executives are remunerated and the benefits flowing through to shareholders that has to be addressed, fund managers and analysts said on Wednesday, while one warned pension funds should not flow into gold mining shares. The criteria used to measure executives’ performance had to change to move their focus away from short-term share price gains rather than more profound operational measurements, the participants in a discussion said at the third Joburg Indaba mining conference. Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/mining/2015/10/15/mining-executives-packages-and-shareholder-returns-out-of-kilter
Mining chiefs say Zuma should have consulted on minister replacement
www.bdlive.co.za
TWO senior figures in mining, Bobby Godsell and James Motlatsi, on Wednesday said the sudden replacement of the mineral resources minister was perplexing and it would have been better had President Jacob Zuma consulted on his decision. The industry was caught off guard when Ngoako Ramatlhodi was replaced by Mosebenzi Zwane last month. The relatively unknown Mr Zwane is perceived as tainted and encumbered with the "baggage" of being close to the politically connected Gupta family. Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/mining/2015/10/15/mining-chiefs-say-zuma-should-have-consulted-on-minister-replacement
Mining firms forced to lead, says Froneman
www.bdlive.co.za
MINING companies increasingly took a leadership position in the industry after the government failed to play this role, Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman said at the Joburg Indaba mining conference on Wednesday. The industry is headed for an intense discussion next month in a government-led initiative called Mining Phakisa, involving all stakeholders, to identify and unblock bottlenecks preventing investment in the sector and stifling growth. There was a real concern that the event would be just another talk shop, with no tangible outcomes, Mr Froneman said. "Hopefully we’re wrong and there will be real outputs and real solutions," he said. Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/mining/2015/10/15/mining-firms-forced-to-lead-says-froneman
Leadership a hot topic at mining indaba
www.iol.co.za
Johannesburg - Retired businessman and former AngloGold Ashanti boss, Bobby Godsell, yesterday criticised the lack of leadership in the mining industry amid uncertainty following the recent appointment of little known Mosebenzi Zwane as Minister of Mineral Resources. Godsell was addressing captains of the mining industry on day one of the 2015 Joburg Indaba: Investing in Resources and Mining held in Johannesburg where he blamed President Jacob Zuma for playing musical chairs with the position of mining minister. Read the full article here: http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/leadership-a-hot-topic-at-mining-indaba-1.1930202
SA’s mining industry sees steep decline in financial performance
Insurance Gateway
SA’s mining industry sees steep decline in financial performance impacted by a slump in commodity prices and increased cost pressures. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 15, 2015/ -- The 2015 financial year has proved to be extremely challenging for South Africa’s mining industry. Local cost pressures, labour action, and a continuing downswing in commodity prices have resulted in shrinking margins and impairment provisions. Mining companies are grappling to improve productivity in order to address the demanding global and local mining environment. These are some of the findings from PwC’s seventh edition of ‘SA Mine’, a series of publications that highlights trends in the South African mining industry, released by PwC (http://www.pwc.com) today at the 2015 Joburg Indaba: Investing in Resources and Mining in Africa conference held in Sandton. Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/1RdarsO
Godsell calls for jailing of errant mine provident fund trustees
www.miningweekly.com
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Former Chamber of Mines president and current Business Leadership South Africa chairperson Bobby Godsell has called for the jailing of the trustees of mineworker pension and provident funds who have failed to deal with the huge backlog of billions of rands worth of fund payouts. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, Godsell was responding to the comments of founding National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president and current Teba executive chairperson James Motlatsi, who was lamenting the large number of former mineworkers who are entitled to benefits involving considerable sums of money but are not receiving them. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/godsell-calls-for-jailing-of-errant-mine-provident-fund-trustees-2015-10-15
Face-to-face with Joseph Mathunjwa - As he engages with the investment community for the first time
MiningMx
JOHANNESBURG – Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) leader Joseph Mathunjwa made his first entrance and engagement with the investment community at the Joburg Indaba on Thursday, which provided some fascinating insight into his thinking and mindset. The man has been notoriously hard to get a hold of and this meeting was certainly widely anticipated at the indaba – if the size of the crowd was any indication. He attended a plenary session alongside Impala Platinum CEO Terence Goodlace, which was chaired by the indaba’s organiser Bernard Swanepoel. Read the full article here: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/face-to-face-with-joseph-mathunjwa/
Mathunjwa delivers rebuff to Phakisa
MiningMx
[miningmx.com] – THE South African government's Operation Phakisa, a programme aimed at tackling some of the mining sector's ills, will be convened without the participation of the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU). Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, a mining conference, Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the union, claimed not to know what Operation Phakisa was about, and added that his unions would not be attending. Read the ful article here: http://www.miningmx.com/page/news/markets/1654922-Mathunjwa-delivers-rebuff-to-Phakisa#.Vh_XYY2JjIV
Raising cash "extremely awkward": Goodlace
MiningMx
[miningmx.com] – IMPALA Platinum (Implats) CEO, Terence Goodlace, described the firm's recent R4bn capital raising programme as "extremely awkward" and said that the discussion over productivity was "becoming urgent". Speaking in a question and answer session at the Joburg Indaba, in which he was joined on stage by Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU), Goodlace said that combining the firm's capital needs with its social aims was a difficulty.Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/page/news/platinum_group_metals/1654926-Raising-cash-extremely-awkward-Goodlace#.Vh_XSo2JjIV
PwC flags SA miner payout resolve
MiningMx
[miningmx.com] – SOUTH Africa's mining industry halved impairments and kept dividends stable in 2015, according to a report by PwC. However, the auditing firm questioned whether returns to shareholders were sustainable in 2016. In its report 'SA Mine:2015', released on the fringe of the Joburg Indaba mining conference, PwC also raised the possibility of restructuring by highly geared companies, more production cuts, and "the likelihood for retrenchments as a last resort". Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/page/news/markets/1654910-PwC-flags-SA-miner-payout-resolve#.Vh9TeI2JjIV
Sibanye displays new mining machine at Joburg Indaba
www.miningweekly.com
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Precious metals mining company Sibanye Gold on Wednesday wheeled a new mining machine into the Joburg Indaba conference room to display the steps it is taking to modernise mining. The low-lying machine for South Africa’s stopes the height of a kitchen table has dozer and sweeper attachments and the drill rig comes with breaker for nonexplosive mining and also with a multi drill attachment for normal explosive mining. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/sibanye-displays-new-mining-machine-at-joburg-indaba-2015-10-14
Mining bosses, investors discuss issues facing the resources sector: Bernard Swanepoel – chairman, The Joburg Indaba
www.moneyweb.co.za
The Joburg Indaba, focused on mining and resources, started today up here in Gauteng. Key issues include the impact of commodity market forecasts on the industry, how investors are thinking about the sector, the pros and cons of beneficiation and much more. Bernard Swanepoel is the chairman of The Joburg Indaba and joins us now. Bernard, it’s good to have you with us. Thanks for your time. Let’s jump straight in. Today the Indaba heard from a number of mining bosses in a CEO panel discussion. I’d like to know if they were critical enough about how they are measuring up in a very tough environment. Read the full article here: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-radio/safm-market-update/mining-bosses-investors-discuss-issues-facing-the-resources-sector-bernard-swanepoel-chairman-the-joburg-indaba/?podcast=1
Phakisa opportunity to reset mining dialogue
www.miningweekly.com
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The upcoming government-led mining Phakisa represented a new opportunity to reset the dialogue for arrival at solutions to the many problems plaguing South Africa’s mining industry, the Joburg Indaba heard on Wednesday. “If we engage properly, we can make a real difference,” was Credit Suisse South Africa chairperson Rick Menell’s summing up of comments on Phakisa, or Hurry Up, made by a panel that included AngloGold Ashanti chairperson Sipho Pityana, De Beers Consolidated Mines chairperson Barend Petersen, Gold Fields chairperson Cheryl Carolus, and University of Pretoria vice-chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/phakisa-opportunity-to-reset-mining-dialogue-2015-10-14
Weak financial performance for SA mining sector in 2015 says PwC
Mining Review
The 2015 financial year has proved to be extremely challenging for the SA mining sector. Local cost pressures, labour action, and a continuing downswing in commodity prices have resulted in shrinking margins and impairment provisions. Mining companies are grappling to improve productivity in order to address the demanding global and local mining environment. These are some of the findings from PwC’s seventh edition of ‘SA Mine’, a series of publications that highlights trends in the South African mining industry, released by PwC today at the 2015 Joburg Indaba: Investing in Resources and Mining in Africa conference held in Sandton. Read the full article here: http://www.miningreview.com/weak-financial-performance-for-sa-mining-sector-in-2015-says-pwc/
Eunomix hosting beneficiation panel at Joburg Indaba 2015
www.miningweekly.com
Company Announcement - Advisory firm Eunomix is a premium sponsor at this year’s Joburg Indaba to be held on 14 & 15 October 2015 and will be hosting a discussion on beneficiation. Claude Baissac, Group CEO of Eunomix Business, will be part of a panel-style discussion on the topic of beneficiation. Claude and his team at Eunomix have extensive expertise in beneficiation on the African continent, having provided consulting services to private companies and published very well received public domain research. Claude is also regularly consulted by leading media, including Miningmx, Bloomberg and CNBC. Read the full article here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/eunomix-hosting-beneficiation-panel-at-joburg-indaba-2015-2015-10-12
Huge gold wealth in ground is patriotic challenge – Godsell
www.miningweekly.com
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africans should see as a patriotic challenge the mining of the remaining 30 000 t to 40 000 t of gold still in the ground in South Africa, which would be a source of great wealth for the country, former AngloGold Ashanti CEO and current Business Leadership South Africa chairperson Bobby Godsell said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba along with former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president James Motlatsi, Godsell said the mining industry owed it to South Africa to extract as much as possible of the remaining vast gold wealth still underground. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/huge-gold-wealth-in-ground-is-patriotic-challenge-godsell-2015-10-14
Godsell critical of Ramatlhodi, Zwane change
MiningMx
[miningmx.com] – FORMER mining industry leaders weighed into the debate regarding the replacement of South African mines minister, Ngoako Ramalthodi, with the relatively unknown Free State politician, Mosebenzi Zwane. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, a mining conference, former AngloGold Ashanti CEO, Bobby Godsell, said it was "... a very strange time" to have moved Ramatlhodi only 18 months into the job. Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/page/news/markets/1654900-Godsell-critical-of-Ramatlhodi-Zwane-change#.Vh6fL_mqqko
Gold sector’s demise: Bristow blames fund managers
www.iol.co.za
Johannesburg - South African businessman and chief executive at London-listed Randgold Resources Mark Bristow yesterday blamed fund managers for contributing to the demise of the gold mining industry. "I blame fund managers. The allocation of capital has been a disaster. They have been allowed to manage a long-term industry on a quarterly basis,” he told journalists yesterday, ahead of the 2015 Joburg Indaba: Investing in Resources and Mining scheduled to start today. Read the full article here: http://www.iol.co.za/business/news/gold-sector-s-demise-bristow-blames-fund-managers-1.1929519#.Vh6d_vmqqko
Commodity prices won't return to past high levels – Bristow
Mining Weekly
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – An examination of global commodity price scenarios showed that commodity prices were poised to remain low for long and not return to the high super cycle levels of the past, Randgold Resources CEO Dr Mark Bristow said on Tuesday. Oil storage the world over was full, which would keep oil prices down, and to deplete iron-ore stocks in China would take six years at the current rate of consumption. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/numbers-show-world-economys-stuffed-bristow-2015-10-13
Mining’s big names to gather in Johannesburg
Mining Weekly
Africa's mining elite will discuss tangible ways in which investors and industry owners can interact about challenges and opportunities in the mining industry later this month at the Inanda Club in Johannesburg, Gauteng, during the Joburg Indaba, states Joburg Indaba founder and event organisers Resources 4 Africa CEO Paula Munsie. “The essence of this event – set to take place on October 14 and 15 – is facilitating conversations between industry players and stakeholders, rather than an exhibition of products and services,” she states. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/minings-big-names-to-gather-in-johannesburg-2015-10-02
Mark Bristow to speak at new pre-Joburg Indaba dinner
Mining Weekly
The 2015 Joburg Indaba’s pre-Indaba dinner will host West African gold producer Randgold Resources CEO Mark Bristow as its guest speaker. This is the first time the dinner will be held to signal the beginning of the Joburg Indaba, which will take place on October 13 in the Polo Room of the Inanda Club in Johannesburg, Gauteng, which is also the venue of the event. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/mark-bristow-to-speak-at-new-pre-joburg-indaba-dinner-2015-10-02
Joburg Indaba to discuss SA’s competitiveness
Mining Weekly
The 2015 Joburg Indaba is set to attract a significant number of mining industry stakeholders, particularly at executive level, states independent investment business Coronation Fund Managers analyst Henk Groenewald. He says this should help further the conversation on recovering South Africa’s competitiveness, which he expects to be highlighted at this year’s event. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/joburg-indaba-to-discuss-s-africas-competitiveness-analyst-2015-10-02
This year’s Joburg Indaba slated for mid-October
Mining Weekly
2015 Joburg Indaba will paint a picture of how the future mining industry will be defined and what stakeholders will implement, asserts investment conference organiser Resources 4 Africa. The 2015 Joburg Indaba, which will take place at the Inanda Club, in Johannesburg, from October 14 to 15, aims to provide a positive narrative in overcoming industry challenges and progress to a better future and cross over the bridge into the “promised land”. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/2015-joburg-indaba-aims-to-be-a-window-to-the-future-of-mining-sector-2015-08-14
THE INSIDER: Questions and answers all in a spin
The Insider / BD Live
The recent Junior Indaba focusing on junior mining and exploration companies delivered some notable gems under the chairmanship of Bernard Swanepoel, the well-known funny man of mining. Peter Major, the outspoken fund manager from Cadiz, asked Swanepoel to rephrase his question of "where the juniors screw up". Without missing a beat, Swanepoel said, "Why don’t you rephrase it for me and then I’ll rephrase your answer." Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2015/06/10/the-insider-questions-and-answers-all-in-a-spin