JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - The Chamber of Mines (CoM) is set to present its legal argument to the High Court, in Pretoria, on Tuesday, to have the interpretation of certain ownership aspects of the Mining Charter clarified, particularly around the continuous consequences of previous black economic-empowerment (BEE) deals.
The CoM last year approached the High Court for a declaratory order to provide guidance on the correct interpretation of the Charter obligation on the holder of a mining right to continuously restore the level of ownership by historically disadvantaged persons to 26%.
The CoM noted that two-thirds of its members would be impacted, while one-third could potentially fall below the threshold if the current interpretation was maintained.
Some R205-billion in empowerment deals were undertaken between 2000 and 2014.
Concerns over never-ending dilution and whether unreasonable lock-in clauses constituted a form of empowerment were highlighted.
The application was initially due to be a joint approach by the CoM and the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR); however, the DMR stepped back after it had become clear that the legal mechanism available to the parties necessitated a clear applicant and respondent, with an identifiable and clear point of dispute.
Meanwhile, the CoM did not expect an application lodged by legal firm Malan Scholes in February to impact its undertaking.
The law firm was attempting to have the Mining Charter declared unconstitutional and void, as well as consolidate the CoM’s court application for declaratory orders relating to aspects of interpretation regarding the Mining Charter with its own.
The CoM did not believe the two applications could be consolidated as they were pursuing two different outcomes.
The CoM fully supported the transformation objectives of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and remained committed to achieving them, it assured.