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PLAYER AND REFEREE
By: Darlene Creamer 1st March 2019 African Rainbow Energy & Power (AREP) chairperson Patrice Motsepe has acknowledged that his company has a serious perception problem – one that will persist for as long as his brothers-in-law, Cyril Ramaphosa and Jeff Radebe, occupied the positions of President and Energy Minister respectively.... →
PARALLEL JUDGEMENTS:
By: Martin Creamer 22nd February 2019 Mining must take place with a strong focus on the interests of those who live in mining areas, says Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Manthashe, a standpoint that supports the notion that a mining right and a land right can co-exist, without pleasing one party at the expense of the other. But the... →
POWER SHOWDOWN
By: Darlene Creamer 22nd February 2019 Government has promised to consult meaningfully with labour over a plan to split Eskom into three independent businesses of generation, transmission and distribution. The unbundling is important for creating transparency, but will not succeed without buy-in from labour. President Cyril Ramaphosa... →
TWO-FACED IRON-ORE MINING:
By: Martin Creamer 15th February 2019 TWO-FACED IRON-ORE MINING: Brazilian mining company Vale’s Brumadinho tailings dam collapse killed 150 died and left 182 missing; Vale-BHP’s Samarco dam collapse killed 19. What evokes great sadness is Vale’s payment of no less than seven cash dividends to shareholders between October 2015 and... →
TWO-FACED IRON-ORE MINING:
By: Martin Creamer 15th February 2019 Brazilian mining company Vale’s Brumadinho tailings dam collapse killed 150 died and left 182 missing; Vale-BHP’s Samarco dam collapse killed 19. What evokes great sadness is Vale’s payment of no less than seven cash dividends to shareholders between October 2015 and September 2018. Vale... →
PULLING THE PLUG
By: Darlene Creamer 15th February 2019 Nedbank has confirmed that it will no longer participate in the funding of two coal-fired power stations to be built by independent power producers. Other domestic and local banks are more reticent in showing their hands, but are under increasing pressure not to support more domestic coal... →
RUSHING IN:
By: Martin Creamer 8th February 2019 Zimbabwe President Emerson Mnangagwa’s visit to Russia has reportedly unlocked funds for platinum mining at Darwendale, in Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, and marked the return to the country of Russia’s state diamond company Alrosa. Bloomberg reports that the Kremlin is “ready to do everything that... →
FAILING BIG
By: Darlene Creamer 8th February 2019 Various politicians and commentators have expressed the sentiment that Eskom is too big to fail. But failing it is. Without decisive action, the electricity utility poses a real threat to South Africa’s still fragile economic recovery. →
GOLD'S CONSOLIDATION:
By: Martin Creamer 1st February 2019 Gold-mining CEOs have for long enunciated the merits of greater consolidation of the gold-mining industry, which needs to at least replace every ounce of gold that it mines with another ounce of unmined gold. The merging of very large and fairly large companies brings about consolidation far more... →
DIFFICULT START
By: Darlene Creamer 1st February 2019 Former Bosasa executive Angelo Agrizzi’s sordid testimony before the Zondo Commission was more than enough to wipe the gloss off the first month of 2019. Sadly, it was no the only disheartening event of January. Besides the unacceptable segregation of learners at a North West primary school,... →
COMMUNITY CLOUT:
By: Martin Creamer 25th January 2019 COMMUNITY CLOUT: Recent court judgements have placed occupiers of land in the driving seat of mining decision-making. Dictating the way forward are the Constitutional Court’s overturning of the eviction of 37 members of the Lesetlheng community of the North West province; the Pretoria High... →
BURNING ISSUE
By: Darlene Creamer 25th January 2019 Youth unemployment is emerging as biggest threat to the future stability of South Africa. For many aged between 15 and 34 the prospect of securing permanent employment is dim and getting dimmer. Our young citizens are not only being let down by an economy that is shedding jobs consistently, but... →
CHEAPER AND HEALTHIER:
By: Martin Creamer 18th January 2019 CHEAPER AND HEALTHIER: South Africa’s endowment of hot sun and top-tier wind makes a compelling case for investment in renewable energy that protects the environment. This clean power combination is compelling, not only because it is healthy but that it has become the lowest cost option. It has... →
ELECTION WAVE
By: Darlene Creamer 18th January 2019 Most South African business people will not look back on 2018 with any great fondness. It proved to be yet another difficult year, with the economy dipping back into recession and with the political climate remaining volatile and, at times, hostile. Many of us will be feeling somewhat... →
WILD COAST'S WILD CARD:
By: Martin Creamer 14th December 2018 The mining industry has been dealt a wild card by the Wild Coast, where the community has said no to the mining of titanium. It is the community of Umgungundlovu, a portion of Xolobeni, and it has been given the right to say no by the High Court of Pretoria. The full consent of informal land... →
NO ESCAPING 2018
By: Darlene Creamer 14th December 2018 he year stated well enough. Hope soared after Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as the new leader of the African National Congress, which resulted in Jacob Zuma’s long-overdue resignation. Those expectations were soon proved unrealistic, however. As 2018 unfolded, it became clear that the damage... →
NEW MINERAL MASTERS:
By: Martin Creamer 7th December 2018 The Mineral Resources Minister will have to obtain the full and formal consent of the Xolobeni community prior to granting anyone the right to mine titanium at Umgungundlovu on the Wild Coast. South Africa’s Gulliver-size mineral wealth, which provides taxes, royalties, jobs, foreign investment... →
RED ALERT
By: Darlene Creamer 7th December 2018 The attacks by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on individual journalists, as well as media organisations, have once again highlighted the party’s disdain for the Constitution and the rights enshrined therein. The outrageous utterances are not only dangerous for safety of journalists, but also... →
UNCERTAIN CERTAINTY:
By: Martin Creamer 30th November 2018 Despite the third iteration of the Mining Charter being gazetted and the starter’s gun fired, discussion still under way between the Mineral Resources Ministry and Minerals Council South Africa has fired enough holes in the cloud that still hovers above new mining investment and greenfield... →
POWER SCROOGE
By: Darlene Creamer 30th November 2018 The threat of load-shedding will hover like a fabled Dickensian ghost over the December holiday period and into the New Year. State-owned electricity utility Eskom has also warned that the risk of rotational cuts will rise further should there be persistent rain in the Mpumalanga region, where... →
NO PANACEA:
By: Martin Creamer 23rd November 2018 Driving electric cars will not make a dent in global carbon emissions, and may even increase pollution levels, say the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest World Energy Outlook. It bases this premise on any reduction in emissions from electric vehicles being offset by the increased use... →
RUSSIA-SIZED HOLE
By: Darlene Creamer 23rd November 2018 he International Energy Agency is cautioning of damaging price spikes in the 2020s if the current weak investment in new oil supply is left unchecked. The agency states that the average level of new conventional crude oil project approvals over the last three years is only half the amount... →
EXPLORATION STILL ON VACATION:
By: Martin Creamer 16th November 2018 South Africa’s $2.5-trillion minerals treasure chest will remain locked until enabling government policy unlocks it. Government has awakened to the massive potential of such an unlocking, but needs to clearly annunciate improved minerals policy to arouse the required investor interest. South... →
WORSENING MAELSTROM
By: Darlene Creamer 16th November 2018 Concern is growing again about the position of many of South Africa’s State-owned companies. Corruption and maladministration are important causes for their current distress. However, the sustainability of many of these enterprises is also threatened by their business models, which, in many... →
INVESTMENT PLEDGES:
By: Martin Creamer 9th November 2018 INVESTMENT PLEDGES: It was wonderful that many mining-related investments were confirmed at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s investment conference in Johannesburg. The diversified mining company Anglo American pledged R70-billion. Vedanta Zinc International pledged R21.4-billion additional possible... →
BREWING CONFIDENCE
By: Darlene Creamer 9th November 2018 President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent Investment Conference was noteworthy not for the R290-billion in investments unveiled, many of which having already been in the pipeline, but for the atmosphere of renewed hope that surrounded the gathering. The event brimmed to overflowing with high-level... →
CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT
By: Martin Creamer 2nd November 2018 The constructive engagement that is under way to fix the growth-negative aspects of Mining Charter Three is commendable. The wise rapprochement between Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe and Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter has nullified the destructive non-collaboration that separated these two... →
HERE WE GO AGAIN
By: Darlene Creamer 2nd November 2018 South Africans would have experienced a collective sense of déjà vu when Eskom confirmed that it is applying for hikes of 15% a year for the coming three-year tariff period, over-and above what it has already been granted through Regulatory Clearing Account applications. This pattern has been... →
LET'S PULL OURSELVES UP BY OUR OWN BOOTSTRAPS:
By: Martin Creamer 26th October 2018 The current very low contribution of only 4% to gross domestic product (GDP) by the South African mining sector needs to be firmly uplifted for the good of the South African people. Advisory firm Eunomix CEO Claude Baissac rightly describes the 4% contribution as being ridiculously low. Mineral... →
WOOING INVESTORS
By: Darlene Creamer 26th October 2018 President Cyril Ramaphosa has rightly concluded that South Africa will not be able to extract itself from its current low-growth trap in the absence of far higher levels of investment. He has, thus, set a goal of attracting $100-billion-worth of domestic and foreign investment over the coming... →
END THE EXPLORATION VACATION:
By: Martin Creamer 19th October 2018 It is good that government is freeing mineral exploration from the regulatory burdens of the mining industry as a whole, because a massive amount of catch-up has to take place for the country to keep its mining at a critical mass. Against the backdrop of its exceptional mineral endowment, the... →
THE RIGHT ROAD
By: Darlene Creamer 19th October 2018 South Africa’s super confident new Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni, is unlikely to be intimidated by the prospect of having to present a Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement less than a month into the job. Nevertheless, he will be expected to demonstrate clearly how he plans to remain on the road... →
RESTORE THE GLEAM:
By: Martin Creamer 12th October 2018 Gold mining has lost its investment glitter and needs to, in the words of the Economist magazine of London, restore its gleam. To do this, gold-mining companies Barrick and Randgold Resources want their shareholders to allow them to present an improved investment case as a merged entity. The plan... →
UPWARD PRESSURE
By: Darlene Creamer 12th October 2018 South Africans have been forced to endure, and absorb, some devastating fuel-price news since the start of 2018. And the bad news could keep flowing. This was the unhappy message contained in statement released by the South African Petroleum Industry Association following the Department of... →
CONSOLIDATING GOLD MINING:
By: Martin Creamer 5th October 2018 When Mining Weekly reported last month that African gold mining company Randgold Resources was looking across the Atlantic, the last merger target in mind was gold mining company Barrick. It was the northern edge of South America that effectively hosts the same geology as West Africa that we... →
POIGNANT REMINDER
By: Darlene Creamer 5th October 2018 It was more than ironic that the United Nations (UN) unveiled a new statue of Nelson Mandela at its New York headquarters ahead of a General Assembly at which US President Donald Trump urged world leaders to “reject globalism”. Mandela, by contrast, valued both international solidarity and the UN... →
CARBON TAX OWN GOAL:
By: Martin Creamer 28th September 2018 South Africa’s Treasury will be scoring a spectacular own goal if it insists on imposing carbon tax next year; the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) renders carbon tax superfluous and all its imposition will do is risk smelter closure and the exportation of South African jobs when the country needs... →
SERIOUS SHORTFALL
By: Darlene Creamer 28th September 2018 Electricity utility Eskom has made it clear that it is indeed having problems in addressing the coal-stock shortages at some power stations. It attributed the problem partly to the fact that Gupta-family’s Tegeta has entered business rescue. However, it also reflects some bad decisions regarding... →
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