Diamond Giant De Beers has cut its global workforce by 23%, or 4Â 700 positions, this year so far.
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/ 18 November 2008
Lonmin on Tuesday said it planned to suspend all its opencast operations from the end of this year as it scales back on unprofitable ounces.
Australian businessman John Stratton is fighting South Africa’s plans to have him extradited in connection with the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble. Currently living in Perth, Stratton is wanted by the Scorpions as an alleged co-conspirator in the brutal murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble in September 2005.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has quietly postponed its final decision on Eskom’s application for a 53% tariff hike to June 18. By Thursday the regulator had not yet posted notice of the change in its decision date on its website, despite the conclusion of this week’s public hearings into the proposed tariff increases.
Japanese engineering and heavy machinery maker Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is reportedly considering a ¥10-billion (R746,5-million) investment in South Africa’s Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). The investment would buy the Japanese company a stake of about 10% in PBMR.
Petrochemicals giant Sasol on Friday said its shareholders had approved its planned R25,9-billion black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction. The world’s largest producer of oil from coal announced its intention to conclude a broad-based BEE ownership transaction in respect of 10% of its issued share capital in September last year.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association said the replacement of older petrol pumps, which are unable to reflect a price of more than R9,99, would take several months. Roughly 18 500 petrol pumps, or about 30% of all South Africa’s pumps, need to be replaced. These pumps do not have digital readings.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) on Friday threatened to "take to the streets" in protest against South African power utility Eskom’s proposed electricity hikes. "We will announce in due course a rolling mass-action programme to stop this neo-liberal attack on the quality of life of South Africans," the SACP said in a statement.
Zambia has ended negotiations with Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, to finance a $1,2-billion (R9,7-billion) oil-import deal after the two parties failed to reach agreement. Talks between the Zambian government and Stanbic Bank Zambia, a unit of Standard Bank, were initially expected to be concluded by mid-January.
The South African government has moved to stem the haemorrhaging of jobs in the mining industry by allowing mines to increase their power consumption to 95% of normal usage. Minister of Energy and Minerals Buyelwa Sonjica was cited in various media reports on Thursday as saying that mines would be allowed to up their power use by 5%.