A top executive at the Coega industrial zone has assured Rio Tinto its planned smelter is still viable, despite the mining company’s decision to delay the project due to an electricity crisis. Rio announced on Thursday it would delay the project at Coega, near Port Elizabeth, because of power shortages in South Africa.
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/ 14 February 2008
The power situation has eased somewhat over the past few days and there has been no load-shedding since February 4, Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga told reporters on Thursday in Sunninghill, near Johannesburg. Maroga was announcing measures to be taken by Eskom to resolve the country’s electricity crisis.
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/ 13 February 2008
The world’s third-largest miner, Rio Tinto, said on Wednesday its full-year net profit fell almost 2% in 2007 to $7,312-billion as it again rejected a takeover bid by rival BHP Billiton. But underlying profit rose 1,4% from 2006 to $7,443-billion as the firm said it produced record amounts of iron ore, bauxite, aluminium, gold and copper.
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/ 12 February 2008
South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa, said on Tuesday the country’s support for a planned aluminium smelter at Coega remained unshaken despite a power shortage. Eskom said in January that electricity intensive investment projects could be reviewed due to the country’s power shortage.
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/ 11 February 2008
South Africans can expect tight energy supply for another four years, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said in Cape Town on Monday. The country’s energy supply problems are no different from those of other developing countries, he told a media briefing in Parliament.
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/ 6 February 2008
BHP Billiton launched a hostile ,4-billion bid for rival Rio Tinto in a move that could trigger a Chinese-led counterbid in the world’s second biggest corporate takeover. Combined, BHP and Rio would create the world’s third-richest company, with a market capitalisation eclipsed only by Exxon Mobil and General Electric.
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/ 17 January 2008
Outrage over the country’s ongoing power cuts spread among business, agricultural and political sectors on Thursday as Eskom announced that the risk for continued cuts over the weekend remained high. ”Load shedding will continue today [Thursday] until after evening peak and the possibility of load shedding remains high,” said Eskom.
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/ 16 November 2007
Rio Tinto is reportedly considering a counter-bid for BHP Billiton as a defence against a Aus-billion takeover proposal from its bigger mining rival, but analysts said such a move was unlikely. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Rio was considering a broad array of potential options to fight off BHP.
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/ 9 November 2007
Rio Tinto’s rejection of a -billion all-share offer from BHP Billiton is likely to trigger rival bids from resource companies awash with cash from record commodity and stock prices. A marriage would create the world’s biggest mining force, capable of controlling the global flow of fleet loads of iron ore, copper and coal.