Cape Town, South Africa --- 22 May 2013 - South African finance minister Pravin Gordhan says that mining companies, the government and the labour unions need to end disputes that are halting mine operations and have pushed the rand to a four-year low to the dollar.

“This is going to require quite spectacular leadership from all sides, not just from the labour unions,” Gordhan said, reports Bloomberg News citing state-owned SAFM radio, after the world’s biggest platinum producer agreed to job talks. “It requires a shift, it requires bold leadership, it requires a give and take by everyone concerned, not in the interests of industry only, but also in the interests of the country.”

Companies in the country are struggling for profit as metal prices decline and costs outpace inflation, which was 5.9% last month. Union rivalry has led to the deaths of workers, disrupted mines and helped make the rand the worst performer among emerging-market currencies against the dollar this year. In the gold and coal industries, a union this week asked for wage increases of as much as 61% for entry-level miners.

“I expected demands to be steep but these demands are incredibly steep,” commented Elize Strydom, the chief negotiator for the Chamber of Mines.

Anglo American Platinum Limited will resume talks with unions and the government through a state mediator over job cuts on Friday May 24, after agreeing on steps to preserve employment, the minerals ministry said. On May 10, the company said it planned to eliminate about 6,000 jobs at mines in the nation, less than half the number proposed in January, as it seeks to idle three shafts and reduce annual platinum output by 350,000 ounces.

“Parties have agreed on measures and mitigation plans that will preserve jobs,” the Department of Mineral Resources said in an e-mailed statement. Talks with the CCMA will start later this week, it said.

Harare, Zimbabwe --- 22 May 2013 - The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe says tighter proposed state control over the sale of minerals would hit Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum Holdings  (Implats), slow down foreign investment and stunt growth in the Zimbabwean mining industry.

In March Zimbabwe's mines ministry produced a draft minerals policy which seeks to increase state participation in exploration, mining and the selling of metals and minerals.

Johannesburg, South Africa --- 22 May 2013

A tripartite agreement has been reached between Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the relevant trade unions on measures which will cut Amplats job losses below the 6,000 proposed by the company.

Maputo, Mozambique --- 22 May 2013’

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto ‒ which operates a large open cast coal mine at Benga, in the western Mozambican province of Tete ‒ has announced that it is laying off staff in its Mozambican operations due to losses in 2012. It has forecast further losses for this year.

Pretoria, South Africa --- 21 May 2013 - The Chamber of Mines of South Africa will meet with unions early next monthto discuss proposed wage demands for 2013, senior employment relations executive Elize Strydom has confirmed.

“The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) tabled a wage demand on Friday,” she added.

Perth, Australia --- 21 May 2013 - Slumping metals prices, and falling equity valuations, reflect serious uncertainty about the world economy, and this depressing scenario has had a knock-on effect over the minerals exploration sector.

Exploration activity has been trending down since the end of October 2011, and according to the latest ‘State of the Market’ report from IntierraRMG, there were drilling reports from only 355 prospects in March. Gold exploration has been particularly weak, with activity reported from just 172 prospects in March, compared with 382 in March 2012.

The figures for the next few months are unlikely to be better following the precious-metals price collapse in mid-April and a significant drop in recent exploration funding. If the exploration sector is looking for some comfort, it might come in the knowledge that the past six months of falling metals prices comes off historically high levels, the report adds.

The price of gold, for example, had risen seven-fold since 2001 to an all-time high in 2011 of over US$1,900/oz. Indeed, the last time the UK saw gold at over £1,000/oz, in real terms, was in 1489 when the Royal Mint issued sovereign coins valuing an ounce of gold at £2.

As indicated in the IntierraRMG report however, gold is still priced at well above the cash extraction cost of a large part of the world’s production. Even at the recent two-year low, fewer than 9% of the 235 gold mines monitored in the Raw Materials Group database (RMD) had average cash operating costs higher than the metal’s price.

Of the gold mines in RMD’s cash-cost module, 215 operations had average costs under US$1,350/oz in 2012. These mines produced a combined 1,268t (40.8Moz) last year at a weighted average operating cost of just US$693/oz. They produced 97% of the gold output from the monitored mines.

Johannesburg, South Africa --- 20 May 2013 - The prospect of fresh strikes in South Africa's already embattled mining sector resurfaced over the weekend after representatives of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said the union would seek pay rises of up to 60% from gold and coal producers.

This comes, reports Fin24, as mining companies battle higher costs and falling prices in an already heated labour climate, and as the country hopes to avoid the 2012 wildcat strike action at platinum and gold mines that claimed the lives of 50 people and cost the industry and economy billions in lost revenue and production.

Mineworkers are mobilising to assert themselves, with the NUM fighting a challenge to its once near-monopoly in the shafts from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which has poached tens of thousands of platinum miners from it in a violent struggle for members.

The NUM said in a submission to the Chamber of Mines that it was seeking an entry-level minimum monthly wage of R7,000 for gold and coal surface workers and R8,000 for those underground.

Industrial relations advisor to the Chamber of Mines Elize Strydom said the minimum wage for surface workers was currently R4,700 and for underground miners it was about R5,000, so the demands were for up to 60%. NUM also said it wanted 15% increases for “all other wage categories”, or more experienced and skilled workers.

Sliding precious metals prices have raised the pressure on miners as they ready for pay talks.

Spot platinum on Friday closed at US$1,450 an ounce, down around 35% from a record high of US$2,240 hit in March 2008, and most South African shafts are losing money at this price.
Gold is down about 19% this year, losing its safe haven allure on concern that the U S central bank will end its extensive stimulus for its economy.

Mining companies have been awarding above-inflation wage rises over the past decade, but with labour now accounting for over half their costs in South Africa, they are reaching a point where this is no longer sustainable for their income statements, especially as power and other costs climb steeply.

But even increases above inflation do not go far for workers at the bottom end of the pay scale who on average have eight dependants and are mostly drawn from poor rural areas.
Inflation is currently running at just under 6% and looks set to accelerate given recent weakness in the rand, which investors have sold off because of concerns about labour unrest in the mining sector.

The NUM still represents most workers in the gold and coal sectors and to head off any challenge from AMCU in those shafts it will need to be seen taking a hard line with management.

AMCU has not yet submitted its wage demands to platinum producers, who negotiate with unions on a company-by-company basis, but they can ill afford to be generous given current prices for the precious metal.

Gold and coal producers negotiate through the Chamber of Mines, which represents companies like Africa's top bullion producer AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony and Sibanye. Coal producers include Anglo American and Exxaro.

Harare, Zimbabwe --- 20 May 2013 - The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, which represents companies including platinum giant Impala Platinum Holdings Limited, has rejected a proposal for the state to control mineral production and prices.

The proposal is “gritty and confrontational,” the Chamber said in a draft copy of its response obtained by Bloomberg News, which may be given to the government later this month. “Ideologically the policy seems to be at variance with the market-based national policy that the country has adopted,” it added.

Earlier this month, the country’s Ministry of Mines proposed the auctioning of mineral deposits; the restriction of production of commodities deemed strategic; and that the state sell the output from all mines. It is now seeking comment from mining companies before taking the proposed policy to parliament to have it passed into law.

Companies such as Impala and Rio Tinto Group are currently free to sell their own minerals. The policy proposals come after Impala and Anglo American Platinum agreed to comply with the existing indigenisation law to cede 51% stakes in their local assets to black Zimbabweans or the government.

“We will contribute effectively to the ongoing development of a new mining policy,” Chamber of Mines president Alex Mhembere told the body’s annual general meeting, held in north-eastern Zimbabwe at the weekend. “We do not regard our role as opposition to government but partners seeking the same national goal and aspiration.”

The chamber is due to meet the government on May 22 and again on May 29.

If implemented, the marketing policy will be a reversal of an earlier liberalisation of mineral sales, which formerly had been undertaken by the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe and, in the case of gold, a unit of the central bank. Under the proposal, gold and platinum group metals will be sold by a dealer authorised by the Ministry of Finance, and all other minerals will be sold by the MMCZ.

“This policy on minerals marketing is premised on the notion that the private sector cannot be trusted,” the Chamber of Mines said. “Throughout the world producers have the right to market their own minerals based on an approved marketing contract.”

Zimbabwe’s economy entered a recession around 2000 after a disputed election and the imposition of a land reform policy that involved the seizure of white-owned commercial farms. Over the next decade the government controlled prices and imports. Inflation rose to 500 billion percent, according to the International Monetary Fund, and the economy contracted by 40% between 2000 and 2007.

The country exited recession in 2009 and ended a political stalemate after President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front formed a coalition government with the Movement For Democratic Change following the intervention of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community.

The proposals “will effectively close the country to private exploration,” the Chamber said. The government document “is based on socialist thinking, where the state has a strong hand over the affairs of mineral extraction. Zimbabwe has largely been a market-based economy.”

Johannesburg, South Africa --- 20 May 2013 - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) says it will be seeking pay hikes of up to 60% from the country's gold and coal producers in upcoming wage talks, which are expected to be among the toughest ever.

Fin24 reports that the NUM said in a submission to the Chamber of Mines that it was seeking an entry-level minimum monthly wage of R7,000 for surface workers and R8,000 for those underground.

Chamber of Mines industrial relations advisor Elize Strydom said the minimum wage for surface workers was currently R4,700 and for underground miners it was R5,000, so the demands for the latter were 60%.

The NUM also said it wanted 15% hikes for “all other wage categories”, which would refer to more experienced and skilled workers.

London, England --- 20 May 2013 - West African-focused gold miner Randgold Resources Limited has entered into a US$200 million unsecured revolving credit facility with HSBC and three other banks.

Revealing this in a release issued here, the company said the unsecured revolving credit facility would mature in May 2016 and was intended to be used for general corporate purposes.

“Funds from this corporate facility, combined with our strong operational cash flow will enhance our ability to implement our growth initiatives in line with the company’s strategic plan,” said Randgold Resources CEO Mark Bristow.

The terms of the credit facility are favourable to the company and consistent with current market conditions. The interest rate on the credit facility is LIBOR plus 1.50% at the lower end of the leverage grid. HSBC acted as the sole book-runner on the facility with the other members of the syndicate, who consist of the banking groups of Barclays, Citibank, and Standard Chartered, acting as mandated lead arrangers.

Harare, Zimbabwe --- 20 May 2013 - The government of Zimbabwe is facing criticism for a number of what is being referred to as ‘secretive mining deals being made without any consultation with communities and other stakeholders.

allAfrica.com reports that this includes an unconfirmed deal with a Chinese firm to exploit the uranium resources in the Kanyemba area. Local media reports, quoting different sources, have said that the extraction of uranium is set to begin soon, after the Chinese were granted 'special rights' by the Mines Ministry.

China Uranium Corporation (CUC), already registered in Zimbabwe, is said to be partnering with Zimbabwe's Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) on the project. It is understood that this same firm was granted a special explorative licence in 2009 and it is ready to begin full scale extraction soon.

The uranium site in Kanyemba has in recent years been the source of controversy, after Zimbabwe and Iran looked set to seal a deal on extracting the resource. In 2011 Zimbabwe earned the ire of Western nations, who accused the African country of supporting Iran's nuclear programme, after a leaked UN report said Iran was to be granted exclusive access to Zimbabwe uranium in return for fuel.

The deal did not come to fruition, but the Chinese appear to have muscled in instead.

Efforts to contact the Mines Ministry for clarification have been fruitless. However, Farai Maguwu from the Centre for Natural Resource Governance said there are many “secretive, opaque deals taking place.”

“Obviously if there are activities taking place I don't think the government is keen to make people aware, because that will create a crisis of expectation where people will start demanding to know where the revenues are going,” Maguwu told SW Radio Africa.

He claimed that “lots is happening in the extractive sector, whereby licenses are issued without consulting the communities, and the extraction begins.”

Johannesburg, South Africa --- 17 May 2013 - Some miners at Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS) plan to strike should the world’s biggest producer of the metal not drop by tomorrow a proposal to cut as many as 6,000 jobs. The shares fell to the lowest since August 2005.

“Workers will declare a strike at that time,” Gaddafi Mdoda, a spokesman for the workers’ committee and a member of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union
(AMCU), said by phone. The start of a potential walkout hasn’t been determined and  discussions are ongoing, he added, according to Bloomberg News.

Last week Amplats reduced job-cut proposals at its South African operations to 6,000 from as many as 14,000 announced in January to help return to profit. Producers are struggling with higher costs as strikes led to above-inflation wage gains as demand wanes.

The company, where the AMCU is the biggest representative of workers at 41%, will take the revised plan to unions, CEO Chris Griffith said.
The company hasn’t received any demands or a notice to strike, said Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole by phone today. “We encourage workers to address concerns through management,” she added. “We are advising against illegal work stoppages.”

The National Union of Mineworkers said an Amplats workers’ committee had asked it to support a wildcat strike at the company. The committees at the Johannesburg-based producer and other mining companies consist of both union members and staff who aren’t affiliated to labour groups.

“They have asked us to join, but we can’t do something like that,” NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said. Workers in South Africa may strike legally, with their jobs protected, if an independent mediator agrees to a stoppage and after talks between unions and companies fail.

A wildcat strike at  Lonmin plc’s Marikana mine in Rustenburg, 120km north-west of Johannesburg, ended as workers reported for yesterday’s night shift, the company said today.

Amplats shares declined for a fifth day, losing 4.2% to R286 in Johannesburg. It is the lowest closing level since August 2005.

Amplats’ plan would reduce output by as many as 350,000 ounces annually, starting with 250,000 ounces this year. The producer had 56,379 employees by the end of December, according to its annual report.

Maputo, Mozambique --- 17 May 213 - Brazilian multinational diversified metals and mining corporation Vale SA ‒ the world’s biggest iron-ore producer and second-largest mining company ‒ says it has recommenced the transport of coal from its Moatize mine in the north-western province of Tete in Mozambique.

Bloomberg News reports that the Sena rail line’s operations were disrupted twice this month by a group of potters who wanted to claim further compensation after leaving their homes for the mine’s development.

“Since 6:30 a.m. today the coal mine in Moatize Vale has been unlocked, allowing normal movement of workers to the mine, and restoring the coal flow through the Sena line,” the company’s local office here said in an e-mailed statement.

People working at 60 potteries that in April last year resettled in Cateme, 60 km away from the Moatize area, are striking for payments for the time they had to halt work. Vale paid US$1,980 per oven and doesn’t need to make further payments, it said. The potters withdrew after Vale promised to negotiate, said their leader, Refo Agostinho Estanislau.

Vale is spending US$4.4 billion on rail and port facilities in Mozambique to export coal from Moatize, having exhausted existing capacity.

Johannesburg, South Africa --- 17 May 2013  - Plans for a strike over retrenchments at Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) have been suspended, according to the workers' committee, and miners reported for duty this morning despite earlier calls for a strike by some union leaders.

“We decided to wait until Friday to see how the company responds to the issue,” Fin24 quotes spokesperson Evans Ramokga as saying.

The committee, which led a strike in September, had said earlier that the strike would begin on Thursday night.

Ramokga said the company was not backing down on retrenchments, and workers had taken it upon themselves to fight. “Unions have done their part and negotiated on our behalf. Now the workers have decided to lead their cause. No one is happy about the retrenchments.”

After mass meetings at different shafts, workers had decided to go on strike.

“Workers are saying if Amplats cannot run the mines they must leave and surrender the mines to another company that will save jobs.”

Amplats spokesperson Mpumi Sithole said management was aware of the issues which had been raised by employees through the media.

“We encourage our employees to utilise the existing channels in place to address any labour issues and advise against illegal work stoppages, as these may lead to disciplinary action,” she added.

Sithole said all workers had reported for the morning shift  today and there had been no trouble.  

Johannesburg, South Africa --- 17 May 2013 - TSX and JSE-listed Rockwell Diamonds Incorporated ‒ focused on creating a growth-oriented, mid-tier diamond mining and development company ‒ says its Wouterspan mine in South Africa has indicated positive economics ‒ sufficient to take the project to the detailed design stage.

A company statement released here says the economic model estimates a capital cost of US$42 million to re-open the mine, which has a net present value for the base case of US$91.71 million.

The Wouterspan alluvial diamond property ‒ which is on the banks of the Orange River in the Middle Orange River region of the Northern Cape in South Africa ‒ would yield a project payback period of 2.3 years from the start of construction, or approximately 1.3 years from commencement of production. The operation is expected to employ 300 people.

A key element of Rockwell's strategy is to process 500,000m3 per month of high quality gravels from the Middle Orange River region. “Our Saxendrift and Saxendrift Hill complex will collectively process 250,000m3 per month,” says Rockwell CEO James Campbell. “We recently announced our plans to bring the Niewejaarskraal mine into production at a processing capacity of 115,000m3. Now we are considering taking the Wouterspan property to the next step. This will enable us to achieve our full strategy in the Middle Orange,” he adds.