PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Triple-listed spin-off South32 on Wednesday reported that its Samancor manganese joint venture (JV), in South Africa, would remain closed until the JV parties have completed an ongoing strategic review.
Production at Samancor was suspended on November 2, following a fatality at the Mamatwan mine, in the Northern Cape.
South32 noted that while production would be significantly impacted in the 2016 financial year, rail and customer commitments would be met by the drawing down of inventory.
The company noted that as a major employer in the region, the planned reconfiguration of the Samancor manganese mines was required to secure their long-term viability in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
South32 said it expected mining activities at the Samancor operations to restart in January next year.
A further update on the JV’s South African manganese mines and the Metalloys smelter would be provided upon the completion of the strategic update.
Samancor is a 60:40 JV between South32 and Anglo American.