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/ 28 July 2006

Trying times at De Beers

The world’s largest diamond miner, De Beers, on Friday said it expects the outlook for the global rough diamond market for the second half of 2006 to be difficult. "It has been a testing time over the past six months," De Beers chairperson Nicky Oppenheimer said during a results teleconference.

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/ 21 July 2006

Lafarge signs R1,1-billion BEE deal

Lafarge South Africa on Friday signed a R1,1-billion empowerment deal with consortium Sinako that may result in 26% of its quarries and 10% of its manufacturing businesses in South Africa being sold. Lafarge Mining incorporates aggregates and limestone, and Lafarge Industries incorporates cement, gypsum-plasterboard and ready mix concrete manufacturing.

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/ 20 July 2006

Windfall tax team issues discussion document

The five-person panel appointed by the Treasury to study the possibility of imposing a windfall tax on petrochemicals group Sasol and state-owned PetroSA on Thursday issued a 102-page discussion document. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel first mooted the possibility of a windfall tax during his Budget speech in February.

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/ 30 June 2006

Sasol concludes R1,45bn BEE deal

South African petrochemicals group Sasol on Thursday announced that the R1,45-billion Tshwarisano black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction has been successfully concluded. In terms of the agreement, Tshwarisano acquired a 25% shareholding in Sasol’s South African liquid-fuels business housed in Sasol Oil.

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/ 1 June 2006

Cosatu outraged at Mittal Steel job cuts

Africa’s largest steel producer Mittal Steel SA will cut 800 jobs through voluntary severance packages by the end of 2006, CEO Davinder Chugh said on Thursday. Of these 800 jobs, about 350 will be at the company’s largest plant at Vanderbijlpark. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Thursday it was outraged at Mittal’s plan.

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/ 31 May 2006

Kumba, union lock horns over wages

Trade union Solidarity and resources company Kumba Resources started the first day of their annual wage negotiations with Kumba tabling an offer of 4%, while Solidarity demanded an increase of 12%, the union said on Tuesday. "Kumba’s offer to workers at the bottom levels puts them under the breadline in South Africa," Solidarity said.

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/ 5 May 2006

Harmony reports 11th quarterly headline loss

As expected, South Africa’s third largest gold producer Harmony Gold reported its eleventh consecutive quarterly headline loss due to the Christmas break, a reduction in grades and an increase in costs. For the March quarter, Harmony reported a headline loss of 50 cents per share from a loss of 75 cents in the December quarter.

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/ 28 April 2006

JSE declines from all-time high

After starting very close to a record high, the JSE was lower at midday on Friday due to the increase in Chinese interest rates, which has sparked fears about the effect that this could have on demand for commodities, equity traders said. By 12.10pm, the all-share index was 1,34% weaker at 21 068,010.

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/ 6 April 2006

Wits Gold targets bulls

Mining exploration company Wits Gold, which is planning to list on the JSE at the end of April, will provide investors seeking leverage a long-term option on the gold price through its access to an ore resource of 1420-million troy ounces of gold in the Wits Basin,

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/ 30 March 2006

Platinum, gold price surge to new highs

The price of platinum on Thursday surged to an all-time high of $1 086 an ounce, eclipsing its previous all- time best of $1 085/oz established on February 3, on the back of gains in gold and silver, analysts said. At about noon on Thursday, gold climbed above $580/oz for the first time since January 1980.

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/ 29 March 2006

Wits Gold likely to list on JSE in April

Gold exploration company Wits Gold was likely to list on the JSE in the middle of April as part of the company’s strategy and to increase the company’s profile, chief executive officer Marc Watchorn said on Wednesday. In 2004, the company acquired gold resources from AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold.

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/ 16 March 2006

China could become leading gold producer

China’s annual gold output is currently increasing at a rate of 5% a year, and by 2009 the country could surpass South Africa or Australia as the world’s number one gold miner, New York-based CPM group managing director Jeffery Christian said on Thursday. South Africa has been the world’s largest gold miner for decades.

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/ 13 March 2006

Diamond gains made in Southern Africa

African Diamonds on Monday announced further results from its joint venture with De Beers at the AK6 diamond discovery in the Orapa province in Botswana. From the LDD016 drill-hole a total of 2 258 diamonds weighing 122,1-carats were recovered from 316-tonnes from one 23-inch large-diamond drill hole.

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/ 10 March 2006

Harmony seen to up stake in Western Areas

South Africa’s third-largest gold miner, Harmony Gold, is expected to make an offer for Western Areas in the future to increase its stake in the company following its acquisition of a 29% stake, analysts and fund managers said on Friday. "I think that Harmony could make an offer to Western Areas’ minorities," an analyst said.

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/ 10 March 2006

Harmony acquires stake in Western Areas

South Africa’s third-largest gold miner, Harmony Gold, on Friday announced that it has acquired 44,99-million shares in Western Areas, representing a 29,2% stake in the company. The acquisition was made up by acquiring 37,37-million shares from fund manager Allan Gray and 7,62-million shares on the open market.

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/ 7 March 2006

Zim proposal makes mines ‘uneconomic’

The proposal by the Zimbabwe government that it own 51% of the country’s platinum mines, with a proposed ceding of 25% for free, would render Zimbabwe’s existing platinum mines, as well as any expansions, "uneconomic", Impala Platinum (Implats) Chief Financial Officer David Brown told I-Net Bridge on Monday.

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/ 24 February 2006

DRDGold looks to diversify into Africa

Gold miner DRDGold is looking to diversify into the rest of Africa and is examining the potential of two gold-mining properties in two different African countries, DRDGold strategic development officer Ilja Graulich said on Thursday. DRDGold started the process of diversifying into Africa in November last year, he said.

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/ 15 February 2006

BHP Billiton reports record half-year result

Global resources group BHP Billiton on Wednesday reported a 47,8% increase in attributable profit for the half-year ended December 2005, to $4,364-billion from $2,953-billion in the previous comparative period. BHP Billiton’s latest half-year result is the fifth consecutive record half-year result the group has produced, the company said.

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/ 10 February 2006

Mbeki’s had it with Zim

President Thabo Mbeki is no longer prepared to grit his teeth and stare down his critics to defend his "quiet diplomacy" approach to the troubles on his northern front. In an interview with the SABC last Sunday, he as much as conceded that he had been duped into believing that informal talks between the Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change would yield a political breakthrough.

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/ 9 February 2006

SA biodiesel plant may triple soyabean demand

The mooted biodiesel plant that is to be the subject of a pre-feasibility study by South African petrochemicals group Sasol and the Central Energy Fund (CEF), could almost triple soyabean demand in South Africa. Sasol and the CEF said the plant would require more than 500 000 tonnes of soya beans to produce 100 000 tonnes of biodiesel per annum.

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/ 3 February 2006

Platinum keeps on climbing

The spot price of platinum on Friday climbed to an all-time high, while sister metals palladium and rhodium reached long-term highs on fund buying and bullish sentiment towards platinum group metals, traders and analysts said. At 3.10pm, platinum was quoted at $1 082,50/oz, up $1,50/oz from its previous close.

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/ 31 January 2006

Gold, platinum climb to new highs

The spot price of gold on Tuesday climbed to a 25-year high of $570,85 a troy ounce on continued investor interest in the metal, traders said. The spot price of platinum on Monday climbed to an all-time high of $1 081 an ounce due to strength in precious metals as well as renewed investor appetite for the metal, analysts said.

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/ 26 January 2006

Platinum price climbs to all-time high

The spot price of platinum on Wednesday climbed to an all-time high of $1 060,50 an ounce on fund-buying of the metal, analysts said. Fund interest was largely based on platinum’s more constructive fundamentals, relatively low inventories and the strong upward momentum, analysts said.

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/ 20 January 2006

Gold at highest level since January 1981

The spot price of gold on Friday afternoon climbed to $567 a troy ounce, its highest level since January 1981, on strong buying of the precious metal. The spot price of rhodium climbed to a 14-and-half-year high of $3 140 a troy ounce on Friday on the back of strength in the rest of the precious-metals complex.