The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has been on strike since 6pm on Sunday at Kumba Resources and the union will be consulting its members at 6pm on Monday regarding Kumba’s latest offer, NUM Kumba representative Jackie Tshimanegape said.
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.
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.
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.
The strike by trade union Solidarity’s members at petrochemicals group Sasol is set to enter a second day after a meeting held with the company did not lead to any resolution of the wage dispute and other issues, Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said on Tuesday.
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.
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.
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.
World number-five gold miner Harmony Gold is taking a fresh look at its business model in the light of the prevailing bull market in gold, which is creating a new generation of investors who are keen to invest in bullion, Harmony Gold CEO Bernard Swanepoel said on Friday.
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.
World number-four gold miner Gold Fields on Tuesday reported March quarter net earnings per share after exceptional items of 76 cents compared with 56 cents in the December 2005 quarter. March quarter net earnings were R483-million compared with R262-million in the December 2005 quarter.
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.
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,
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.
Africa’s largest steel group, Mittal Steel South Africa, on Wednesday expressed disappointment at the decision by Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa to scrap the 5% import tariff on steel. Mpahlwa announced the removal of the 5% import tariff on certain primary carbon and stainless steel products with immediate effect.
Junior platinum miner Eland Platinum made its debut on the JSE on Wednesday after raising R525-million via a private placing. The capital is to go towards building the Elandsfontein platinum project at a cost of R1,4-billion, with peak funding of one billion rand.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No image available
/ 24 February 2006
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.
No image available
/ 15 February 2006
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.
No image available
/ 10 February 2006
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.
No image available
/ 9 February 2006
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.
No image available
/ 3 February 2006
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.
No image available
/ 31 January 2006
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.
No image available
/ 30 January 2006
World number two Impala Platinum on Monday climbed to an all-time high ahead of the group’s latest interim results due in mid-February, the weaker rand and the platinum price, which is close to its all-time high, equities traders said.
No image available
/ 26 January 2006
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.
No image available
/ 24 January 2006
The supply-side response by the mining and resources industry to continued strong global demand for raw materials remains constrained by a shortage of people, equipment and supplies, BHP Billiton says. It also reported record half-year production of aluminium, copper, nickel and liquefied natural gas.
No image available
/ 20 January 2006
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.