ATLATSA Resources, the Johannesburg-listed company that owns the mothballed Bokoni Mines in joint venture with Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), reduced the second quarter net loss to $33.6m (Q2 2017: -$192.7m) and said a plan to restructure the company’s balance sheet would be in place by the fourth quarter of this year. The restructuring plan calls… Read More

THE privately-held Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (SSC), a predominantly mining services and contracting company, unveiled its first of several direct investments in the sector saying it would need R250m to buy the Barbrook gold mines. These are the operations in Mpumalanga province where the Lily mine disaster occurred in which three miners were trapped in a collapsed… Read More

SOUTH African mining production increased 2.8% in June, representing the first time in four months annual production has improved year-on-year, said Fin24 citing data published by Statistics South Africa. The largest contributor to the increase was platinum group metals (PGM) production which was 28.2% stronger whilst gold production fell 19.2% in the month. From a… Read More

GOLD Fields CEO, Nick Holland, will ask shareholders to indulge his team for another long haul on South Deep, the in-distress West Rand mine which would neither be sold nor closed in favour of eventually making a return on some R32bn invested since 2006. “If we continue to carry on here and improve some of… Read More

B2GOLD, the Toronto-listed gold producer, operating in Mali and Namibia, said the Malian government would subscribe for another 10% stake in its Fekola gold mine for $47m which will be repaid through dividends on half of the government’s total 20% stake. The Mali government already has a 10% stake in Fekola – an operation that… Read More

NICK Holland’s hope that “green shoots” had appeared in respect of Gold Fields’ South Deep production plans came to nought today after the group announced a profound restructure of the West Rand operation, cutting 1,560 permanent and contractor jobs, potentially slashing gold output, and impairing the mine by R4.8bn. Holland said only two weeks ago… Read More

“ANYONE can be a CEO; you can be the CEO of your corner shop if you want to,” said Niël Pretorius who actually doesn’t sell vegetables or cigarettes, but happens to be the CEO of a surface gold retreatment company – DRDGold. The reference is to criticism he received earlier this year for deciding to… Read More

THE safety of women working in mining – especially underground mines – ought to be added to the list of important items to discuss at the government’s National Safety Summit if the subject hasn’t already found a place on the agenda. The hazards experienced by women on South Africa’s mines beggars belief, according to data… Read More

IT was as if Impala Platinum CEO, Nico Muller, had a nose for the brewing storm when he told journalists at the announcement of the firm’s restructuring plan – in which up to 13,000 jobs at the Rustenburg shafts could be affected – that the South African government would not be amused. It wasn’t. Gwede… Read More

MALI was due to start counting ballot papers after voting for a presidential runoff was completed over the weekend, mostly peacefully, said Bloomberg News. “All stations were staffed, the electoral material was sufficient, and ballot boxes were correctly sealed,” Cecile Kyenge, head of the European Union’s (EU’s) observer mission, told reporters. The EU had observers… Read More

THE African National Congress (ANC) wanted to establish a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) before the next term of government with the focus of the fund falling on mining investments especially in minerals and strategic energy such as coal and gas, said City Press, a weekly newspaper. According to a report from the ANC’s national executive… Read More

SOUTH32 said it had completed the $1.3bn acquisition of Arizona Mining, a zinc exploration company that is developing the Taylor deposit, located in a prospective area called Hermosa south, near Tucson. The transaction, completed through a plan of arrangement, involved the payment of C$6.20 per share to Arizona Mining shareholders. South32 had previously bought a… Read More

IMPALA Platinum (Implats) has lifted the curtain on the much-anticipated restructuring of its Rustenburg (Lease Area) operations, the outcome of which is a 230,000 ounce reduction in annual platinum production taking labour numbers down 13,000 to 27,000 in two years. The effort will cost R2.7bn in restructuring. Implats said it had financial resources in place… Read More

UNLISTED thermal coal miner, Menar Holdings, has bought Kangra Coal including strategically important access to Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) entitlement in an effort to lift its competitiveness in the fuel’s thriving export market. The company was bought from Gas Natural Fenosa, a company listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange for $28m. The transaction is… Read More

THE World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) has teamed up with precious metals retail firm Shenzhen Hengfu Yingjia (Hengfu) to sell platinum bars in China and develop the physical platinum investment market in South China. In terms of the agreement investment grade platinum bars – minted by the Swiss Metalor Group and available in sizes of… Read More

THE view of investment banks on the likely impact of electric vehicles (EVs) is just a question of degree. EVs talk so sensibly to society’s broad concerns, as contained in the Paris Agreement on climate change for instance, that demand for the metals required for their fabrication is likely to be anything from robust to… Read More

THE proposed merger of the platinum operations owned by Sibanye-Stillwater with Lonmin received another important approval today after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) unconditionally gave its support to the transaction. All that is required now for the combination is approval by shareholders in Sibanye-Stillwater and Lonmin, as well as the South African competition… Read More

GLENCORE’S credit rating was improved by S&P Global Ratings in an assessment that takes a sanguine view of the political risk currently making headlines at the Swiss group’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) copper and cobalt operations. Analysts have commented recently that Glencore has tended to under-perform its peers lately partly owing to a legal… Read More

The share price of Bushveld Minerals – the London-listed junior miner which operates the Vametco vanadium mine in South Africa – has more than doubled since mid -March and Bushveld’s March quarter report shows why. Bushveld shares have soared from 8.55p on March 12 to 20.3p currently pushing the group’s market capitalisation to £216m equivalent… Read More

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… Read More