Charlotte Mathews
3 October 2008
Johannesburg — THE minerals and energy department expects to make a decision as soon as possible on the empowerment credits due to Anglo Platinum on yesterday's announcement of a deal involving Impala Platinum, Northam Platinum and Mvela Resources.
The deal will see Implats buy 100% of Northam Platinum and Mvela Resources to secure the Booysendal platinum project.
Angloplat is involved because empowerment company Mvela Resources acquired Booysendal from Angloplat in one of the biggest empowerment transactions in the mining sector. Mvela injected Booysendal into Northam Platinum in return for an increased stake in Northam.
Department director-general Sandile Nogxina yesterday said although the department did not have to approve the R21bn deal, one of the conditions to it was that Angloplat did not lose the empowerment credits it accrued when it signed the deal with Mvela.
Angloplat needs to satisfy various empowerment and employment equity requirements in order to convert its "old order" mining licences into "new order" licences.
Nogxina said he could not say whether he was in favour of the deal as he did not wish to pre-empt any decisions made by the department.
Earlier, delivering the keynote address at the opening of the Braemore Resources and Mintek demonstration ConRoast smelter, Nogxina described SA's platinum sector as a "national treasure".
He said 82% of SA's platinum group metals were produced by Angloplat, Implats and Lonmin, who had their own smelting capacity and were expanding it. But junior and mid-tier producers had limited ability to develop their own smelting and refining facilities.
Changes in legislation that opened up the mining sector to new entrants had resulted in 30 new projects, but the junior companies had to enter into long-term agreements with the major producers to refine their product, he said. This took the industry back to the situation the government was trying to change, where the majority of South Africans were merely "purveyors of cheap labour" to the mines.
The ConRoast smelter would service the smaller producers and provide an opportunity to transform the industry, he said.
As market conditions were increasing the cost of debt and equity, the potential for consolidation in the industry was increasing, Nogxina said. Empowerment companies often lacked creditworthiness and it was better that they be allowed to exist within big established firms than be allowed to die.
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