Platinum’s worst crisis in decades hits jobs in South Africa
South Africa’s platinum producers are in crisis, as slumping metal prices force jobs cuts and erode profits.
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Northam CEO says South African platinum miners facing worst crisis in decades
Northam Platinum’s CEO said on Friday that platinum mining companies in South Africa, the world’s top supplier of the metal, are facing “severe” market conditions and are caught up in the worst crisis in three decades as prices plummet.
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South African billionaire Wiese returns to his diamond-hunting roots
Christo Wiese, South Africa’s billionaire retail king, is going back to the future.
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South African platinum industry could shed up to 7,000 jobs to cut costs
Restructuring of South Africa’s platinum group metals (PGM) industry in response to rising costs and falling prices could result in between 4,000 and 7,000 job cuts, the country’s Minerals Council said on Monday.
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Platinum miners’ underground protest in South Africa goes on
Mining News Pro - Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. said an underground protest at one of its mines in South Africa is unresolved, with more than 2,000 workers still below surface.
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South African court denies class action against Anglo American
Mining News Pro - South Africa’s High Court has ruled that a class action lawsuit against miner Anglo American brought by victims of alleged historic lead poisoning in Zambia should not go ahead, lawyers for the claimants said on Saturday.
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Anglo consults South Africa on potential platinum, iron job cuts
Mining News Pro - The company has held talks with the government over the potential reduction in its workforce, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter hasn’t been made public. Senior government officials asked the company to consider delaying the cuts until after elections likely to take place around May, three of the people said.
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The Congress of South African Trade Unions said that Anglo has also spoken to one of its members, the National Union of Mineworkers, about the matter.
The job cuts would be another blow to the electoral prospects of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ruling African National Congress. Anglo is already in the midst of plans to slash corporate and head office jobs globally, with many of those positions in South Africa. The company joined other mining behemoths in posting a steep drop in first-half profit as China’s economic slowdown damped earnings.
Anglo American Platinum Ltd. — about 79% owned by London-based Anglo — is contending with a 14% fall in the price of platinum this year and a 41% plunge in palladium, a valuable byproduct. Rival Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. said in October that it may fire more than 4,000 platinum workers.
Kumba Iron Ore Ltd., owner of South Africa’s biggest iron ore mine and a 70% subsidiary of Anglo, said third-quarter iron ore sales fell 12% from the year earlier, largely because of the poor performance of state ports and freight rail company, Transnet SOC Ltd. The company is almost out of storage space for the ore it has mined and can’t rail it, one of the people said.
“It is no secret that the current operating environment is very tough for both macro and South Africa-specific reasons and we are playing a major role in working across business and with government to help resolve some of those South Africa constraints,” Anglo said in a response to queries. “Beyond that, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of our discussions.”
While a final decision on whether to fire workers and how many positions may be affected has not been taken, the job cuts may impact Anglo American Platinum first, the people familiar said. Those at Kumba may be deferred until later, they added.
The minerals department didn’t respond to a request for comment, while Gwede Mantashe, minerals and energy minister and chairman of the ANC, didn’t answer a call to his phone or respond to a text message.
PGM prices are falling because of global economic conditions, especially the weaker-than-expected recovery in China.
Kumba’s woes are directly related to the sub-standard performance of Transnet, whose inability to rail commodities to ports has also led to coal companies Seriti Resources Holdings Ltd. and Glencore Plc to start talks over job cuts. The plunge in rail performance has seen the amount of iron ore transported to ports fall to the lowest in a decade, while coal shipments by rail are at a 30-year low, according to a report prepared for Ramaphosa’s office.
In an Oct. 24 production report, Kumba said “ongoing rail and port challenges have increased our focus on cost optimization and initiatives to match production and optimize logistics capacity.” It said it had 9 million tons of iron ore in stock at the end of September, almost double the amount it had on site a year earlier.
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Nornickel to pay $18m to drop its stake in nickel JV in South Africa
Mining News Pro - Russia’s Nornickel will pay $18 million to pass its 50% stake in Nkomati nickel mine in South Africa to its partner African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), ARM said on Friday, ending years of Nornickel’s attempts to exit Africa.
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South Africa president deploys army to tackle illegal mining
Mining News Pro - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorized the deployment of 3,300 army personnel to help combat illegal mining activities, Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
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South Africa president deploys army to tackle illegal mining
Mining News Pro - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorized the deployment of 3,300 army personnel to help combat illegal mining activities, Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
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South African mining profits slump by almost half
Mining News Pro - South African mining company profits have plunged by almost half this year, dropping almost 100 billion rand ($5.2 billion) because of the blows from lower commodity prices, crippling power cuts, rail network constraints and rising costs, Fin24 said, citing a report by PwC.
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South Africa says Kusile coal plant to revive capacity this year
Mining News Pro - South Africa said its state-owned power utility will add 2,400 megawatts of generating capacity to the country’s strained electricity grid before the end of the year.
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South African miners join race to buy Khoemacau copper mine
Mining News Pro - At least three South African miners are in the running to buy Botswana’s Khoemacau copper mine that is home to one of Africa’s largest copper deposits, several sources told Reuters, as growing demand for the metal ensures strong competition for the sought-after asset.
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Anglogold Ashanti shareholders approve South Africa exit
Mining News Pro - Anglogold Ashanti shareholders on Friday voted in favour of the miner’s plans to switch its primary listing from Johannesburg to New York, the company announced, clearing the way for its exit from South Africa.
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Anglogold Ashanti shareholders approve South Africa exit
Mining News Pro - Anglogold Ashanti shareholders on Friday voted in favour of the miner’s plans to switch its primary listing from Johannesburg to New York, the company announced, clearing the way for its exit from South Africa.
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Glencore, Anglo join South Africa in $1.5 billion water plan to supply mines and communities
Mining News Pro - Some of the world’s biggest mining companies are working with South Africa’s government on a 27 billion rand ($1.5 billion) water project to supply major platinum and chrome operations and several hundred thousand people with drinking water.
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South Africans call for UK to return diamonds set in crown jewels
Mining News Pro - Some South Africans are calling for Britain to return the world’s largest diamond, known as the Star of Africa, which is set in the royal sceptre that King Charles III will hold at his coronation on Saturday.
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South Africa pushes to delay coal plant closures
Mining News Pro - South Africa has told rich countries backing its $8.5 billion energy transition deal that it wants to delay the closure of some units at its coal-fired power plants, people familiar with the situation said.
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South Africa hit by investment strike
Mining News Pro - Investors have lost faith in South Africa’s government and have halted investment despite a wealth of opportunities, the head of the country’s biggest employer in the crucial mining industry said.
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South Africa’s blackouts threaten platinum supply in top miner
Mining News Pro - South Africa’s worst ever power blackouts are threatening platinum and palladium supplies in the top miner, both now and in the years ahead.
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Extortion ‘mafia’ hits South Africa’s $55 billion mining sector
Mining News Pro - Musa Ngqulunga, chairman of the Ulundi Business Forum, denied it had anything to do with the derailment, but said the group had been angered by contracts awarded to a business from outside the region, saying “we can’t be spectators in our area.”
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UK, South Africa seek deeper cooperation on critical minerals
Mining News Pro - South Africa is responsible for 60% of the global manganese supply, 75% of the platinum supply and 40% of the palladium supply. It also produces or has the potential to produce, vanadium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements.
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21 bodies found at mine in South Africa
Mining News Pro - Muridili said evidence found on the scene suggested the people did not die where their bodies were found but “no foul play” was suspected. The bodies would undergo autopsies, she said.
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Ivanhoe awarded new exploration rights next to Platreef project on South Africa’s Bushveld Complex
Mining News Pro - Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) has been granted three new highly prospective exploration rights covering total surface area of 80 square kilometres adjacent to the company’s Platreef project in Limpopo province, South Africa.
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South Africa mine dam wall collapses, killing one and injuring 40
Mining News Pro - Flooding caused by the collapse of a mine dam wall in South Africa’s Free State province swept away houses and cars on Sunday, the provincial government said, killing one person and injuring another 40.
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