Gold shares to outshine platinum shares, Zim central bank moots mining overhaul, manganese smelter to close for two months

South African gold shares are poised to outdo South African platinum shares in the first half of 2009, Royal Bank of Canada Europe analysts Leon Esterhuizen, Arnold van Graan and Yuen Low calculate.

Read on page 18 of this edition of Mining Weekly of their conclusion that there will be more downside risk to platinum earnings than to gold earnings.

The analysts sense a far better performance stretch from South African gold stocks, with gold-earnings increases being driven not only by price but also by increased production. In contrast, they expect South African platinum stocks to reflect the decline of the platinum price basket well into 2009.

Zimbabwe’s central bank has proposed sweeping changes to the troubled country’s mining sector. Read on page 8 of this edition of Mining Weekly that the changes are expected to leave the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation as the sole “explorer and discoverer” of minerals.

Included in the proposals are strict monitoring of the production, refining and valuing of precious metals on site and a ban on the export of unprocessed minerals such as gold, diamonds chrome and platinum-group metals. The document proposes a full-scale ‘randisation’ of the economy through the adoption of the South Africa currency.

Production at the Transalloys manganese smelting operation in Witbank is ceasing for two months because of the low current market demand for its products.

Read on page 10 of this edition of Mining Weekly of the silicomanganese and medium-carbon ferromanganese facility being part of the Renova group of companies, headed by Viktor Vekselberg, of Russia.