JOHANNESBURG – (Reuters) – South Africa’s mines minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi said he was considering declaring certain minerals such as coal and iron ore as “strategic” for the country.
“We haven’t classified any, but it is provided for under the mineral bill, which is before the president. If that bill is signed into law, then it will give the minister the ability to declare certain minerals strategic for purposes of industrialisation in South Africa,” he said.
Under the bill, such minerals “will be sold for production costs excluding transportation. That is the mine-gate price. And the industry is comfortable with that, because they negotiated that formula,” he said.
He would not be drawn categorically on what he will declare strategic but said, “Iron ore is obvious and coal, because coal fires our power stations.”
He added, “There is coal for export and coal of a lesser quality, which stays in the country. That we would want to keep for our power stations.” Companies that could be affected include Kumba Iron Ore, which is a unit of Anglo American, and mining companies Exxaro and BHP Billiton.
Ramatlhodi dismissed reports that a forthcoming meeting between Russian and South African officials would lay the groundwork for an OPEC-style platinum cartel between the nations, which account for about 80 percent of global production of the precious metal.
He would rather see the industry and private sector find ways to support the platinum price, which recently hit five-year lows and is a major export earner, he said.
“How that is regulated I don’t think should be through the law, it should be through the industry, it needs to do certain things to protect itself. They must begin to collaborate in how they operate,” he said.
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