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Thursday, July 2, 2009.
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Amy Witherden.
Making headlines today:
The ruling African National Congress party has dismissed a call from the party's youth wing to nationalise the country's mining and manufacturing industries in the wake of the global financial crisis.
The ANC's secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says that nationalising mineral assets is not on the party's agenda, after Youth League leader Julius Malema was quoted as pressing for State ownership.
Mantashe, a former mineworkers leader who chairs the ANC's Communist Party ally, says that nationalisation is not likely.

Harmony Gold is in a position to give the provisionally liquidated Pamodzi Gold Free State a life of more than ten years, says Harmony CEO Graham Briggs.
What is needed in the Welkom area, he says, is a long-term profitable operation, and Harmony, which has already been selected as the preferred bidder for the stricken Pamodzi Gold Free State assets, is without doubt the company able to do that in a manner that national patrimony demands.
Briggs adds that Harmony is ideally positioned to take full advantage of the resuscitation of the President Steyn gold mine, because its own Free State assets surround those of Pamdozi Gold Free State, which is why they can be used to unlock all the synergies optimally.

Also making headlines:

Diversified exploration company Thabex sells its stake in Angel Diamonds to a UK firm.
Gold Auro moves to protect its interest in a Brazilian exploration project.
Labour union Solidarity says that fluorspar producer Sallies' Witkop closure could affect 300 workers.
And, Caledonia Mining says that Mitsubishi has withdrawn from its South African exploration projects.

That's a roundup of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories, please visit miningweekly.com.