Africa Mining – Page 125 – Republic of Mining

Zimbabwe court allows firm to return to diamond fields after government ban (Reuters U.S. – March 1, 2016)

March 1, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

A Zimbabwean court has allowed the largest diamond mine in the Marange fields to return and assume control of all assets after challenging government’s decision to stop mining operations.

Zimbabwe’s mines minister on Feb. 22 ordered all nine companies operating in the diamond fields in the east of the southern African country near Mozambique to stop mining and leave because their license had expired.

Mbada Diamonds, a 50/50 venture between the government and Mauritius-registered Grandwell Holdings, on Monday won a reprieve from the High Court, which ruled that Mbada should have full control of its assets.

Fraser Institute News Release: Australia top spot for mining investment; Nevada and Alaska ranked best in U.S. [Saskatchewan and Quebec first/second in Canada]

March 1, 2016

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/

Click here for the mining survey: http://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/survey-of-mining-companies-2015.pdf

TORONTO—Australia is the world’s most attractive region for mining investment, according to an annual global survey of mining executives released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian policy think-tank.

“Despite a global downturn of commodity prices, governments worldwide can offer competitive, transparent, and stable mining policies to encourage exploration and investment,” said Kenneth Green, Fraser Institute senior director of energy and natural resources and director of the Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies, 2015.

The annual survey rates 109 jurisdictions around the world based on geologic attractiveness and the extent government policies encourage or deter exploration and investment.

NUM says more than 36,000 mining jobs are under threat in next three months – by Karl Gernetzky (Business Day – February 29, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.bdlive.co.za/

THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Monday more than 36,000 jobs were under threat in the embattled mining sector over next three months.

At the same time, the union is eyeing the construction sector and gearing up to go back to the platinum sector to regain lost membership.

The union estimated on Monday that a further 100,000 jobs could be at risk in a sector beset by low commodity prices and consistently increasing costs. That total includes contract jobs and the possible effect of Anglo-American’s move to dispose of assets.

China’s African retreat: How a once-celebrated relationship turned cold – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – February 27, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The vast sprawling machinery of South Africa’s second-biggest steel factory is sitting idle these days. After decades of noise and dust and smoke, the factory quietly shut its doors this month, sending its last 1,800 workers home.

The once-busy highway outside the factory is now silent and empty, aside from a few prostitutes who patrol the road, raising their skirts desperately to the occasional passing motorist.

Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium, one of the world’s 15 biggest steel makers less than a decade ago, has fallen victim to a flood of cheap Chinese steel imports and a slowdown in demand from the Chinese economy. The entire South African steel industry has plunged into a deep crisis, with an estimated 50,000 jobs in jeopardy, despite last-ditch government efforts to protect the industry by imposing tariffs on cheap Chinese imports.

Whether it’s Mexico’s gold or Zimbabwe’s diamonds, mining is riven with violence and business is complicit – by Michael Gibb (The Guardian – February 29, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://www.theguardian.com/

Along Central African Republic’s (CAR) eastern rivers small groups of independent miners are searching for diamonds and gold. As with many miners, they have to pay for a licence. Their licence, however, is not issued by any government. Violent armed groups control these rivers, and they are the primary beneficiaries of their hidden wealth.

They are not the only armed groups or oppressive forces benefitting from mining’s bounty. The pattern is repeated in many countries stalked by conflict and instability.

There are diamonds in CAR and Zimbabwe, precious stones in Afghanistan and Myanmar. There is tungsten in Colombia and gold in Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is also rich in tantalum, tungsten and cobalt.

Zimbabwe: Gem Miners Leave Marange Worse Off – by Obey Manayiti (All Africa.com – February 28, 2016)

February 29, 2016

http://allafrica.com/

VILLAGERS in areas surrounding the diamond-rich Marange area say mining companies destroyed their livelihoods and left them in poverty that has been worsened by the El Niño-induced drought ravaging the country.

Marange and its surroundings areas are in natural region five, which is characterised by low rainfall and only a few drought resistant crops can survive the extreme weather conditions.

The plight of the communities has been worsened by unsustainable mining operations by diamond companies, which have largely contributed to serious water pollution in Save and other small rivers.

Diamond firm plans to sue Zimbabwean govt over gem mining ban – by MacDonald Dzirutwe (Reuters U.S. – February 24, 2016)

February 26, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

HARARE, Feb 24 Zimbabwe’s Diamond Mining Company (DMC) plans to sue the government for breach of contract after the Southern African nation banned gem mining in the east of the country, a company official said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe’s mines minister on Monday ordered nine companies operating in the Marange fields to stop all mining activities and leave immediately because their licences had expired.

DMC general manager Ramzi Malik said that its joint venture contract stipulates that renewing licences was the responsibility of the government, through its state mining arm Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

Gold Miner Bets on Platinum’s Comeback – by Alexandra Wexler (Wall Street Journal – February 25, 2016)

February 26, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/

South Africa’s Sibanye is buying platinum deposits on the cheap, trying to replicate a strategy that paid off with gold

JOHANNESBURG— Sibanye Gold Ltd. is buying many of South Africa’s aging platinum deposits on the cheap, betting it can replicate a strategy that helped turn a handful of struggling old mines into one of the world’s top gold producers.

Platinum prices recently trawled near seven-year lows, making Sibanye’s pivot from gold to the white metal counterintuitive for an industry in the teeth of a jarring metamorphosis. If it succeeds, it could set a precedent for other miners to diversify beyond their core commodities at a time when assets can be snapped up for a pittance.

“The mining of platinum is not too different to gold,” said Neal Froneman, the South African company’s chief executive. “Of course it can go lower and it has gone lower since we made our move, but we do not believe that these low prices will continue.”

Eritrea looks to build mining sector to kick-start economy – by Edmund Blair (Reuters U.S. – February 26, 2016)

February 26, 2016

http://www.reuters.com/

ASMARA – Eritrea expects to have four mines in operation by 2018 producing gold, copper, zinc and potash as one of Africa’s poorest nations looks to build an industry that can kick-start its economy, a top mining official told Reuters.

Eritrea’s artisanal miners have long scratched for gold nuggets on deposits that stretch along the Red Sea, a geological formation known as the Arabian Nubian Shield, but the country currently has just one working commercial mine.

The industry is growing, however. A new gold mine, a joint venture with a Chinese firm, will start commercial production by the end of March, the director-general of the Department of Mines told Reuters.

Conflict-Free Mineral Exports on the Rise-Enough Project – by Robbie Whelan (Wall Street Journal – February 23, 2016)

February 24, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/

Companies are buying more conflict-free tin, tungsten and tantalum as they face stricter reporting requirements about the source of their minerals

Companies are buying fewer minerals connected to militia groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Enough Project, a human rights group.

Enough found that armed groups control less of the trade in tin, tungsten and tantalum in the DRC than they did five or 10 years ago. That means more of the metals – used in everything from wedding rings to soup cans to cell phones – can be considered conflict free, the group said in a report released Tuesday.

How to create black industrialists — emulate a white scientist – by Prince Mashelle (Rand Daily Mail – February 23, 2016)

February 23, 2016

http://www.rdm.co.za/

Bleloch became a world-famous scientist because he was driven by a scientific passion, not because he wanted to drive a BMW

“As for Dr Bleloch, he has achieved world fame and fortune. But the reward he prizes most is the knowledge that from his work has sprung a new expert industry.”

This is what AP Cartwright wrote in his book, Golden Age. He was describing a renowned South African metallurgist few people know today — Dr William Bleloch, the pioneer of the stainless steel industry in South Africa.

In the early 1950s, mining companies on the Witwatersrand wondered why South Africa’s huge deposits of chrome had to be beneficiated outside the country. Dr Bleloch told the companies that he had a scientific formula that could turn South Africa’s low-grade chrome into ferrochrome.

‘A CITY LOST IN THE DESERT’: A visit to the Sahara’s uranium capital – by Armin Rosen (Business Insider India – February 23, 2016)

February 23, 2016

http://www.businessinsider.in/

In May 2013, a car bomb detonated near the Somair uranium mine in Arlit, in northern Niger, killing one person. Moments earlier, in Agadez, some 150 miles south, Al Qaeda-affiliated militants waged an assault on Nigerien army positions that killed over 20 people.

That same year, Niger’s two uranium mines produced 4,238 tons of uranium, down from 4,572 the year before – but up from 4,159 tons in 2011. The mines didn’t miss their production targets. Extraction continued as if the bombing had barely even happened.

The Somair mine is one of two uranium sites in Arlit that are largely owned and operated by Areva, a majority state-owned French nuclear-services company.

Zimbabwe orders diamond mines shut, says not nationalising – by MacDonald Dzirutwe (Reuters Africa – February 22, 2016)

February 22, 2016

http://af.reuters.com/

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe ordered diamond mining firms to stop operations immediately on Monday and leave the Marange fields as their licences have expired but denied the government was seizing the mines.

The diamond fields in the east of Zimbabwe near Mozambique are mined by nine firms. Eight, including two Chinese-run companies, are joint ventures 50 percent owned by the government and the other one is wholly owned by the state.

“The JV companies neglected or failed to renew the special (mining) grants. Some expired as far back as 2010 and others in 2013,” Mines Minister Walter Chidhakwa told reporters and executives from the mines in question.

Africa’s costly missing rail links – by Gavin du Venage (The National – February 20, 2016)

February 22, 2016

http://www.thenational.ae/

CAPE TOWN // Transporters moving goods across Africa put up with a lot: bandits armed with AK-47s, elephants using a fender to ease an itch and thieves who run alongside slow moving vehicles to siphon diesel out of the tank into Coca Cola bottles.

Then there are border posts, police checkpoints and various other forms of bureaucracy that can hold up lorries for days. Often, bribes and spurious fines also need to be paid before cargo can move.

It is hardly surprising that according to the African Development Bank it costs twice as much to transport goods across many countries on the continent than it does anywhere else in the developing world.

South Africa Wants `Black Champion’ to Fill Anglo Mines Void – by Andre Janse Van Vuuren and Michael Cohen (Bloomberg News – February 18, 2016)

February 19, 2016

http://www.bloomberg.com/

As Anglo American Plc scales back its operations in South Africa, the government is coaxing black investors to fill the void in mining left by a conglomerate that once dominated industries from coal mining to paper, banking and sugar.

Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said Anglo American’s announcement on Tuesday that it may exit its 69.7 percent stake in Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. could encourage the emergence of “new black economic empowerment champions.” The minister and his predecessor Ngoako Ramatlhodi have both called for the creation of a leading black-owned mining company.

The push for black citizens to increase their ownership of the mining industry, which once formed the bedrock of the economy, comes as South Africa grapples with addressing racial disparities that have persisted since the end of white minority rule in 1994.