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Monday, April 19, 2010.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

South Africa's third-largest gold producer Harmony Gold announced that it had begun to close three underperforming shafts in the Free State province, which will put the jobs of 3 700 of its employees at risk.

Harmony CEO Graham Briggs said that the company had decided to close the Harmony 2, Merriespruit 1 and Merriespruit 3 shafts in Virginia after a performance review.

He said that these assets had no remaining payable reserves and their closure had begun.

He added that every effort would be made to mitigate the effects of closure on the 3 700 employees affected.

Steps that would be considered include the transfers of affected personnel to other Harmony operations, a programme to provide training in portable skills and the possibility of early retirement for those of the appropriate age.

ASX- and JSE-listed Platmin will acquire Barrick Gold Corporation's 10% interest in the Sedibelo platinum project, on the Western Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex, for 15-million-dollars.

The platinum miner said that it would also acquire a number of long-lead items required for the development of the project from Barrick for up to 45-million-dollars.

Barrick Gold senior vice-president Cassie Boggs said that the company had received a number of expressions of interest from parties wanting to buy its stake in the project.

She noted that, after due consideration, Barrick accepted the Platmin offer, and hopes the property will be developed to its full potential and for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Also making headlines:

Aim-listed Kopane Diamond Developments plans to restart its Lesotho diamond mine this year.
Seawater is converted to potable water for Areva's Namibian uranium mine.
Beacon Hill acquires a Mozambique coal mine.
And, India's JSW Energy buys a stake in South African Coal Mining Holdings.

That's a round up of news making headlines today.