Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane held a constructive bilateral engagement with diversified miner Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani in London last month, as part of the Minister’s stakeholder engagement initiative to secure the participation of key local and international mining companies in South Africa’s mining industry.

Last month’s meeting was followed by a meeting held between the minister and Cutifani in February this year, during which the Anglo CEO indicated the company’s intention to restructure its current portfolio globally. During the meeting in February, Anglo American reaffirmed its commitment to participate in the local mining sector.

Anglo’s debt was downgraded to junk status by ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service in February, citing a deterioration in commodities market conditions and doubts over how long Anglo American would take to reduce debt levels as the reasons.

Moody’s downgraded the company from (P)Baa3 to (P)Ba3 and said the outlook on the ratings was negative.

At the time of the February engagement between the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and Anglo American, Zwane stressed the need for ongoing engagement between all parties.

Engagements are expected to continue to ensure a seamless transition, which takes into account, among other things, the need to retain as many jobs as possible.

Anglo American announced in December that it would sell three-fifths of its assets and cut tens of thousands of jobs to mitigate the consequences of the slump.

The DMR highlighted in a media statement that the visit to London came at a time when commodity prices were depressed and several mining companies had announced their intentions to sell some of their local assets. Further, it noted that engagements and roadshows undertaken by the Minister served an “important role of promoting the mining industry, which remains important for the South African economy, as well as providing a platform to clarify policy and regulatory issues in the mining and upstream petroleum sectors”.

It highlighted that the Minister would continue to engage with key local and international mining companies as part of his open-door policy and proactive engagement with key stakeholders in the industry.

“Given the nature of such discussions, with some of the investors being listed companies, the details of these meetings, which may be commercially sensitive, are confidential,” the DMR concluded.