Mining Weekly

Company Announcement - Maintaining momentum of fiscal prudence and freeing up working capital, South Africa's mines continue to proactively dispose of redundant assets. With an increasing amount of mines adopting the online auction platform as a means to dispose of such assets, more such auctions are anticipated for the months ahead. Assets that are making their way to the auction floor include surplus, aged, retired or simply incorrectly purchased line items and plant equipment. Comments Ariella Kuper of South Africa’s leading online mining auctioneering company, Clear Asset, ‘’The range on offer is often broad and commands attention from a variety of buyers bringing economic opportunity to smaller end-players as well as larger traders.’’

The next such auction is scheduled to end on 27 November. Items onoffer include stainless steel, copper components and railway wagons, entirescrap dealers and JCB Tele Handlers, Komatsu WA320-5, CAT D6 dozers and major cranes (P&H TR500 - 50 ton mobile crane, Rough Terrain RT518) which have recently been in short supply. A Metso Crusher, Ingersol drill and a CAT 140 grader will also be offered. Adds Kuper, ‘’Digital auction platforms have gained significant momentum in the last two years as decision makers prefer to view items online at their leisure, and inspect physically if deemed necessary.

Clear Asset, a dedicated online auction with equity ownership by Hasso Plattner Ventures (Germany), focuses primarily in the mining sector and today represents 80% of South Africa’s major mines within their disposal programmes. Their next auction closes Thursday 27 November at 15h00 and includes stock from Sibanye Gold, Glencore (Optimum), Afrimat, Shaft Sinkers and Lonmin. The added value of participating online allows cross-country participation, transparent bidding and removes the need for timely travel by bidders, often an impediment to broad base participation.