South African diversified miner Exxaro faced a number of “significant challenges” over the past year, but CEO Sipho Nkosi stated that the group was looking forward to growth in 2010/11.

Speaking at a media lunch in Johannesburg, he said that the company had to deal with challenges such as the coal price dropping from a high of $150/t to below $60/t.

However, over the past couple of months, commodity prices had started to improve and the company was predicting a coal 
price of between $70/t and $75/t in 2010.

Exxarro head of mineral sands and base metals Trevor Arran told Mining Weekly that zircon 
prices would range in the mid-$800/t for the remainder of the year, and added that titanium dioxide feedstock prices had also stabilised, with a solid improvement in prices expected by 2011.

Meanwhile, Nkosi noted that, as South Africa’s largest black-controlled and diversified mining company, Exxarro’s ability to grow domestically was significantly enhanced, while its existing operational interests in Namibia, Australia and China provided a base for growth in international markets.

“The increase in demand for commodities, driven primarily by China and the Far East, together 
with the prospects for India, augur well for Exxaro’s chosen commodities.

“The company’s diverse portfolio, including coal, mineral sands, zinc, ferrosilicon and dolomite, together with emerging opportunities in ferroalloys, bode well for growth going into the future,” Nkosi concluded.

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