- Home
- Covid-19 News
- Latest News
- Sector News
- World News
- Magazine
- Video Reports
- Audio
- Research
- Press Office
- Electra Mining
- Announcements
- Topics
- What's On
- Jobs
- Tenders
- Mining Indaba
- Apps
- Product Portal
- About Us
- Legal Notice
- Comment Guidelines
- Marketing Videos
- Live Twitter Feed
Martin Creamer
Martin Creamer is Creamer Media Publishing Editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly.
Tel: +2711 622 3744
First Word
Steady hand on the tiller needed to steer South Africa through stormy waters
By: Martin Creamer 5th May 2017 South Africa is going through a dangerous period, with recent political developments putting into sharp focus the urgent need to reverse this country’s decline. At no time since the transition to democracy in 1994 has governance, confidence, justice, peace and stability been at such a low ebb. →
Platinum still in wrong direction, new rock crushing technology, revised charter fails to emerge
By: Martin Creamer 28th April 2017 The platinum price is still too low to keep the industry from inflicting damage to itself; a new rock crushing technology has been launched that is said to cut costs by 10% and increase uptime by the same percentage; and an adviser to the new Finance Minister reportedly tabled a blueprint that... →
Time to accelerate corporate action to alleviate South Africa’s nasty political downturn
By: Martin Creamer 21st April 2017 Listed South African companies are having a torrid time explaining to their foreign investors the implications of South Africa’s rapidly slumping political landscape. The CEOs of JSE-listed companies with significant foreign investors have had to spend an inordinate amount of time outlining the... →
Time for platinum industry to exercise supply discipline in oversupplied market
By: Martin Creamer 14th April 2017 It is difficult to see how some platinum-mining companies can be profitable at the current low dollar price of platinum in the $950/oz range. To continue to produce at current over-supplied levels is unsustainable. →
Mining modernisation a must to compete with global all-comers
By: Martin Creamer 7th April 2017 It does the economies of countries serious harm when government departments go off at administrative tangents, as the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is doing currently. This is a serious deviation from what was the case under previous DMR leadership, which promoted collective action from... →
It behoves all mines to adhere to new water reporting guide as important first step
By: Martin Creamer 31st March 2017 Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. By 2025, 1 800-million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity and two-thirds of the world population could be under water stress conditions. →
Mining’s role as economic transformation lever must be used to the full
By: Martin Creamer 24th March 2017 For the past century, the view of mining by the governments of Africa has been deficient as it prioritised rent maximisation and ignored mining's innate ability to function as a powerful lever for structural economic transformation. Rightfully, this point is being emphasised by the African... →
South Africa Inc must force government to repair damage its ineptitude is causing
By: Martin Creamer 17th March 2017 South Africa’s economic growth remains inadequate to drive the changes required for the country’s socioeconomic challenges and the continued delay in the promulgation of key minerals legislation is deterring the investment required to make South Africa’s mining industry fire on all cylinders.... →
Errant DMR failing to act in best interests of the people of South Africa
By: Martin Creamer 10th March 2017 The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is failing to act in the best economic interests of the people of South Africa by continually trying to organise a separate kingdom for itself. Those currently leading the DMR are painting themselves into a corner in a manner that is going to hurt this... →
Mining in sync with Budget’s growth, social equity aims, but surprise dividend tax rise sets cat among pigeons
By: Martin Creamer 3rd March 2017 The response of the Chamber of Mines to last week’s Budget shows that mining is largely in sync with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s aims of fostering competitive growth and greater social equity. But what the chamber sees as “potentially worrisome” is Gordhan’s surprise 33% hoisting of... →
Mining setting out to spread its benefits to maximum number of people
By: Martin Creamer 24th February 2017 There are many initiatives on the go at the moment that show the willingness of the mining sector to spread its benefits as far and as wide as possible for the benefit of a maximum number of people – and to hurt as few as possible Many mining visions are being enunciated to goad mining towards... →
New mining method needed, conditions for shared value, deglobalisation fears grow
By: Martin Creamer 17th February 2017 Latest estimates indicate that South Africa still has a colossal volume of hundreds of millions of tons of gold ore in the ground. In addition, there are tens of millions tons of high-grade ore locked in underground support pillars, accessible from current infrastructure and amenable to... →
Local fuel cell manufacturing launch good for platinum demand outlook
By: Martin Creamer 10th February 2017 The fuel cell plant launched this week has important potential demand implications for South Africa’s platinum-mining industry. With the Department of Trade and Industry, Isondo Precious Metals, headed by CEO Vinay Somera, has invested in a state-of-the-art German manufacturing plant technology... →
Digitisation momentum building up to boost mine productivity
By: Martin Creamer 3rd February 2017 The word ‘digitisation’ is on the lips of many at conferences and universities these days, with many outlining the notion of the total connectivity bringing significant productivity gains. Step one is said to be vertically integrating the supply chain from the mine stope to the boardroom and step... →
Mining majors use Davos to get their messages across
By: Martin Creamer 27th January 2017 Mining companies featured strongly in a multi-page feature in the edition of Time magazine that followed closely on the heels of the influential World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Mining majors like South Africa’s Anglo American, America’s Newmont and Canada’s Goldcorp got their messages... →
Errant DMR doing itself out of a job
By: Martin Creamer 20th January 2017 The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is evoking increasing disappointment. Instead of doing South Africa proud, it is destroying this country’s reputation as an investment destination.It appears to have scant insight into the importance of economic growth, the need for foreign direct... →
International mining council correct to step in with new slimes dam measures
By: Martin Creamer 16th December 2016 The Samarco disaster, which last year claimed the lives of 19 people in Brazil, destroyed homes, cut off water supplies and damaged landscapes, is a warning to mining companies that mismanagement of their environmental eyesores is going to be punished like never before, with monumental financial... →
New confidence in thermal coal, zinc, nickel, copper, cobalt as demand lifts
By: Martin Creamer 9th December 2016 Mining companies need to be marketing companies as well. A major lesson of the downturn since 2008 is that mining companies need to be right up there with the top trading brains if they are to optimise their businesses and the economies of the countries in which they operate. →
Shared future backed by new social compact is pursuit of business leaders the world over
By: Martin Creamer 2nd December 2016 Earlier this year, Chamber of Mines of South Africa VP Neal Froneman chose the Joburg Indaba to I appeal to each and every mining industry leader to engage with one another on an equal, open and transparent footing whether they be from business, labour r government. He made this utterance against... →
Discredited DMR turns dictator as it makes ill-considered, unattainable demands on struggling industry
By: Martin Creamer 25th November 2016 The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has turned into a little dictator that is making ill-considered demands that do not have a snowball’s hope of being met. Instead of following the continent’s African Mining Vision and Zambesi Protocol, the DMR is going to find itself up the creek without... →
Business, labour need to engage on equal, open footing to develop new mining compact
By: Martin Creamer 18th November 2016 The point has been made that mining business and mining labour have never been closer than now and that they need to make use of this window opportunity to establish better foundation between themselves that can shame the government into moving mining forward for the benefit of all South... →
Department of Mineral Resources needs to be challenged, regulatory framework must be derisked, governance has to be provided
By: Martin Creamer 11th November 2016 Business and labour need to combine to shame the government into introducing good governnance into South Africa's regulatory framework for the minerals industry. →
Samarco, Merriespruit, Aberfan mine disasters need to weigh heavily on mining’s conscience to ensure that there is no recurrence
By: Martin Creamer 4th November 2016 Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the horrendous Samarco mining disaster in Brazil, which resulted in the death of 19 people, the displacement of hundreds and the halting of water supply to 260 000 in what has been condemned as an "environmental catastrophe" →
African Mining Vision, Zambezi Protocol taking centre stage as South African mining companies espouse new insights
By: Martin Creamer 28th October 2016 Chamber of Mines of South Africa VP Neal Froneman has raised the Africa Mining Vision, Zambesi Protocol and possible Mining Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a means to ending the mining crisis in South Africa and the continent. →
Engendering trust among mining sector stakeholders essential for economic growth and employment
By: Martin Creamer 14th October 2016 Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman delivered a bombshell speech at the Joburg Indaba, which would change the face of economic prospects on the African content with mining as the catalyst →
Gold discovery lagging badly with little hope of catch-up
By: Martin Creamer 7th October 2016 Gold is being discovered at a fraction of the rate needed to replenish reserves. →
Fall-of-ground accident study, commodity improvement, local continuous miner debuts
By: Martin Creamer 30th September 2016 Risk-based support design methodology is being imparted to rock engineering practitioners in the platinum sector; a better commodity environment is being discerned; and a new local continuous miner for trhe coal industry is being introduced. →
Mine land, water should be used for community development through agriculture
By: Martin Creamer 23rd September 2016 The calls made for mine land and mine water to be used for community development through agriculture need to be heeded. →
Sparing mine heritage sites has payoff potential for the South African economy
By: Martin Creamer 16th September 2016 Johannesburg should do more to flaunt its gold heritage, which will be good for South AFrica's tourist economy and also boost mining's battered image. →
Modernisation of South Africa’s mines crucial to extending precious metals mining
By: Martin Creamer 9th September 2016 That South Africa’s deep precious-metals mining methods have to change is now being spoken from the rooftops. The CSIR’s May Hermanus last week set out a scenario of platinum and gold mining having very short life horizons without the introduction of continuous mining. →
Supply beginning to tighten, safety dominating mining, top Electra Mining forums
By: Martin Creamer 2nd September 2016 Glencore beleive that tightening supply should bode well for commodity prices; safety trumps profits at Sibanye presentation; high-impact forums are on offer at this month's Electra Mining Africa show →
Gold road ahead, ‘capture’ concerns, technology needed
By: Martin Creamer 26th August 2016 Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland concerned about decline in exploration spend; application of Section 54 safety notices queried; and the development of new mining equipment progressing. →
Constitutional Court decision placing new spotlight on pending mining legislation
By: Martin Creamer 19th August 2016 Fresh emphasisis is being placed on the need for considerably more discussion on pending legal matters crucial to mining. →
Mine community money, chrome price outlook, corporate patriotism
By: Martin Creamer 12th August 2016 Steps must be taken to ensure that mine royalty proceeds are not squandered; the lift in the fortunes of the chrome value chain spell good news for the South African deconomy; and the corporate patriotism being shown by a top gold mining company needs to be emulated →
Important fuel cell data, reckless iron-ore output, Unctad’s false allegations
By: Martin Creamer 5th August 2016 New enlightening information on platinum group metal use in hybrid electric cars; what a mess the giants have made of the iron-ore industry; and Unctad needs to correct its false report on South African underinvoicing. →
AngloGold breaking into profit, Gold Fields moving forward, DRDGold market cap well up
By: Martin Creamer 29th July 2016 Gold mining companies that were in the red are moving quickly into the black, with some seeing a deficit of physical gold on the horizon. →
Taxman muddies water on eve of Davis Committee’s expected royalty reform
By: Martin Creamer 22nd July 2016 The new Taxation Laws Amendment Bill contains two surprise amendments that muddy the mineral royalty taxation waters just as clarity was beckoning. →
Gabon’s mining education move, Sibanye supporting education, new mining research thrust
By: Martin Creamer 15th July 2016 Strong support for mining education is under way as mining research and development gain new momentum locally. →
News This Week
Cartoon
Photo of the week
Mining Personality
Mine Profile
