SOUTH Africa had been given a daunting reminder of the challenges on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic following the downgrade by Moody’s of the country’s credit rating to sub-investment grade. This is the view of the Minerals Council South Africa which said over the weekend that the government’s much-praised response to COVID-16 notwithstanding,… Read More

ANGLOGOLD Ashanti has drawn on $1.4bn in debt to bolster its balance sheet of which $700m has been put aside to tide it over during the COVID-19 crisis. The balance of the debt drawn down – which is from its US dollar revolving credit facility (RCF) – will be to settle $700m in bonds which… Read More

Sishen Iron Ore mine ANGLO American forecast COVID-19 induced production hits at its South African operations, and said work on its Quellaveco copper project in Peru would be further delayed owing to an extended lockdown aimed at stemming the virus. The impact of COVID-19 could eventually get worse, but in South Africa – which today… Read More

RAND Refinery would operate at reduced capacity during the national lockdown ordered by the South African government which is aimed at stemming the spread of COVID-19. “The refinery operation will be significantly scaled down, primarily processing residual surface materials from South African gold mines and mine doré received from Rand Refinery’s rest-of-Africa established gold mines,”… Read More

Massawa gold mine, Senegal TERANGA Gold forecast first quarter production of between 85,000 and 90,000 ounces of gold following a period of stable operation at its Sabodala and Wahgnion mines located in Senegal and Burkina Faso respectively. The company had imposed a voluntary isolation period including restricted access to the mines in the face of… Read More

SOUTH African mining firms began to count the cost of the three week shut down ordered by President Cyril Ramaphosa last night – effective from midnight March 26. Harmony Gold warned shareholders that putting its gold mines on care and maintenance for the period was almost certain to imperil its full-year production target. Whilst acknowledging… Read More

SOUTH Africa’s mining sector will go into a three week hibernation from March 26 in terms of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s dramatic lock-down announcement this evening. Addressing the nation on the day that infections of the COVID-19 virus in South Africa increased to 402 – an increase of 128 in only 24 hours – Ramaphosa said… Read More

ANGLO American CEO, Mark Cutifani, put a positive spin on the commodity market despite unprecedented volatility wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Global markets are reflecting the uncertainty created by the spread of COVID-19 through unprecedented volatility. This tends to mask the fundamental drivers of supply and demand, which we believe remain robust in the medium… Read More

THE cost of fixing Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats’) Waterval refining facilities in Rustenburg could be as much as R800m of which the majority would be incurred in the 2020 financial year, the group said in a statement today. As a result the company was reviewing its capital plans for its 2020 financial year with a further… Read More

Macro image of a one ounce Palladium bar ROYAL Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) headed off a significant working capital build-up after agreeing new payment terms with Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) to which it supplies platinum group metals (PGMs) for refining. This was after the parties today agreed new payment terms for PGMs supplied to Amplats in… Read More

Sasol CFO, Paul Victor SASOL said it was confident if could get “close to fair value” for the US chemicals assets it has identified for sale despite acknowledging it was “a distressed seller”. “We really need to make it clear: we cannot sell good assets at far below their fair value,” said Paul Victor, CFO… Read More

Sasol LCCP whilst under construction SASOL set down plans to “reshape its balance sheet” targeting $6bn by the end of its 2021 financial year including a potential $2bn rights issue, ‘self-help’ savings of $2bn, and asset disposal plans that would “significantly” exceed its current $2bn target. The measures, which also include an oil hedging programme… Read More

SOUTH African gold shares were heavily affected by the South African government’s declaration of national disaster on Sunday following the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus in the country. At the close of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the gold index was 7.4% lower with losses sustained by Gold Fields (down 6.6%), Harmony Gold (-9.8%); AngloGold Ashanti (-8.8%) and… Read More

TAPPING shareholders for funds via a rights issue might be “a tough ask” for Sasol’s shareholders, said Bloomberg News citing an analyst. Commenting on the likely scenarios for the debt-laden petrochemicals company, Abdul Davids, a fund manager at Kagiso Asset Management, told the newswire: “A distressed rights issue amid current market conditions will be a… Read More

MC Mining had “significantly advanced options” for raising the bulk of some $20m required for its $32m Makhado coking and thermal coal project, the company’s acting CEO, Brenda Berlin said in the firm’s interim results conference call today. “We have progressed several options to close the [funding] gap,” said Berlin, adding that an issue of… Read More