The third Mining Charter, promised for June, will now be gazetted “in October or November”, once it has been ratified by Cabinet and finalised during a month-long extension to the public comment period to end-August, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe has announced. In the interim, AngloGold Ashanti chairperson Sipho Pityana has warned that South Africa risks driving away new investment and crippling its mining sector if “reckless” new rules are implemented, while Hogan Lovells partner and mining head Warren Beech is not distressed by the charter being finalised toward the latter part of the year because he regards it as a positive delay. He thinks that, to some extent, relationships have been built and that a different, more favourable scenario appears to be emerging.