Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe on Wednesday officially handed over a 50% shareholding held by mining company Exxaro in the Arnot coal mine, in Middleburg, Mpumalanga, to former Arnot Coal employees.
In a statement, the Department of Mineral Resources highlighted the handover as an industry milestone towards the inclusion of workers as meaningful stakeholders, as enshrined in the Mining Charter which came into effect in 2018.
A Section 11 approval in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act was granted by the department last week and will result in 50% of the Arnot coal mine being owned by the former Exxaro employees.
The balance will be owned by Wescoal.
The former employees and mineworkers will reopen the mine and supply coal to power utility Eskom.