Investment in the development of 15 new chrome and platinum mines will make Burgersfort the country’s new platinum capital within the next ten years, a property director said on Tuesday.
Hoffman Prinsloo, the managing director of Cranbrook Property Projects, was speaking at the launch of Motaganeng, a housing development in Burgersfort in Limpopo province.
Prinsloo said that Burgersfort has become the hub of the mining expansion of platinum group minerals (PGM’s) and related mining activities on the eastern limb of the Bushveld igneous complex.
”Impala Platinum, Anglo Platinum and other mining groups are developing various new platinum group mines, ie. Marula, Modikwa, Twickenham, Hackney, Pachaskraal, Der Brochen and Booysensdal in the vicinity of Burgersfort,” Prinsloo said.
He said the mega-mining developments around Burgersfort were expected to create thousands of new jobs and that millions of rands were currently invested in infrastructure and property development.
Prinsloo predicted that between 16 000 and 22 000 direct new job opportunities, in all income categories, would be generated by new mining related developments.
The town had in recent years developed into a ”sub-regional” centre, servicing an area with a radius of approximately 50km in all directions.
Prinsloo said the Motaganeng development was on 160ha of land that previously belonged to the Apiesdoorndraai mine. – Sapa