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<p>South Africa&#8217;s mining production for has April increased by 116.5per cent year-on-year. This comes as the country increased by an annualized 4.6per cent in the first quarter of this year and business confidence also on the up. Henk Langenhoven, Chief Economist at Chamber of Mines joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


SA mining production up 116.5% y/y


<p>LUSAKA, Jan 3 (Reuters) &#8211; Mining companies operating in Zambia have failed to show how higher taxes introduced this year will affect their profitability despite objecting to the new framework, a senior government official said on Thursday.</p>



<p>The country, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, increased its sliding scale for royalties of 4 to 6 percent by 1.5 percentage points from Jan. 1 and introduced a new 10 percent tax when the price of copper exceeds $7,500 per tonne.</p>



<p>Zambia also plans to replace value-added tax with a sales tax by April to help bring down mounting public debt.</p>



<p>The Chamber of Mines said last month that as a result of the changes, more than 58 percent of Zambia’s copper producers would be loss-making at current prices.</p>



<p>Paul Chanda, permanent secretary for mines, said his ministry had asked individual mining companies to provide financial models by Friday last week on how the new taxes would impact them, but none had done so.</p>



<p>“We wanted them to show how the new taxes will affect production and profitability but so far we haven’t received anything,” Chanda told Reuters.</p>



<p>“Two mining companies have written to us asking us to give them more time but we haven’t heard anything from the others.”</p>



<p>Mining companies may lay off more than 21,000 workers because of reduced capital expenditure over the next three years resulting from the higher taxes, the Chamber of Mines said last month.</p>



<p>Mining accounts for more than 70 percent of Zambia’s foreign-exchange earnings. Companies operating in the southern African nation include First Quantum, Glencore, Barrick Gold Corp and Vedanta Resources. (Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Dale Hudson)</p>


As mines warn of job losses as higher taxes implemented, Zambia says they’ve failed to show impact, here’s why

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<p>Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater was at the 128th chamber of mines AGM which today rebranded, he urged mineral council to prioritise transformation in the mining industry.</p>


Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman on the need to prioritise transformation in mining

<p>VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe, May 18 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe needs up to $11 billion to modernise its mines and boost production to maximum capacity over the next five years, the head of the country’s Chamber of Mines said on Friday.</p>
<p>Foreign investor interest in the southern African nation is growing after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe following a de facto military coup last November but projects are still constrained by lack of funding.</p>
<p>Batirai Manhando, Chamber of Mines president, said with the exception of platinum producers, all other mines, including those of gold, nickel, cobalt and coal were operating below their installed capacity.</p>
<p>Mining generates more than half of Zimbabwe’s export receipts — last year it earned $2.8 billion — but industry executives say it has the potential to earn more with increased investment.</p>
<p>“The local mining industry is currently operating below capacity on the back of capital shortages,” Manhando told an annual meeting of the mining chamber.</p>
<p>“At the beginning of the year the capital intensive industry required $7 billion for both ramp-up and sustenance capital. The figure has lately been revised upwards to $11 billion with renewed interest in our sector,” Manhando said.</p>
<p>Zimbabwe holds the second largest deposits of platinum and chrome after South Africa and has lately seen increased interest from lithium investors, who however say funding still remains a hurdle.</p>
<p>Manhando said mining companies in Zimbabwe faced problems that included high costs of electricity, labour and royalty fees when compared to other jurisdictions. There had also been little exploration in the country since 2000, he added.</p>
<p>Equipment at most mines was more than 50 years old, severely undermining efficiency and cost effectiveness of the sector, said Manhando.</p>
<p>Mines Minister Winston Chitando said the government would announce a new “mining vision” at the end of June and projected that the output of gold could rise to 85 tonnes in five years.</p>
<p>Output of gold, the biggest mineral by earnings, is expected to rise to 30 tonnes this year from 23 tonnes in 2017, according to Ministry of Mines data. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe Editing by Keith Weir)</p>


Why Zimbabwe wants $11bn for its mines

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<p>Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini has decried the high number of deaths at South Africa’s mines.</p>


SA’s mines have become a slaughter house for workers – Cosatu President

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<p>CNBC Africa’s Lubabalo Mashiqana spoke to National Union of Mineworkers President Thamsanqa Masota spoke to CNBC Africa about the safety of workers at SA’s mines.</p>


NUM stages a protest against SA mine deaths

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<p>Dr. Sizwe Phakathi, Head: Safety and Sustainable Development, Chamber of Mines spoke to CNBC Africa about safety of mine workers in the industry in the wake of seven mineworkers who perished at a Sibanye-Stillwater mine.</p>


We remain committed to safety of mine workers, says Chamber of Mines’ Sizwe Phakathi

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<p>South Africa&#8217;s mining production lifted in February, with growth rising to 3.1 per cent, after 2.9 per cent, in January. Henk Langenhoven, Chief Economist at the Chamber of Mines joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


SA mining production up 3.1% in February

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<p>New mines minister Gwede Mantashe says he won’t scrap the Mining Charter and warned mineworkers’ wages have to go up. Mantashe said it is important to review the mining charter more often.</p>


SA’s mining Charter won’t be scrapped but revised – Mines minister

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<p>The controversial amended Mining Charter – the document that guides black ownership in South Africa’s mining industry – has been put on hold to give negotiation one more chance.</p>


Ramaphosa persuades the Chamber of Mines to suspend court action

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<p>The controversial amended Mining Charter – the document that guides black ownership in South Africa’s mining industry &#8211; has been put on hold to give negotiation one more chance. True to his world in the State of the Nation Address new South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has intervened and persuaded the Chamber of Mines to suspend court action that was due to start in Pretoria this morning. CNBC Africa’s Avie Mitla spoke to mining community members to solicit their views on the postponement of the Mining Charter.</p>


Community members cry foul on being left out of mining decisions

<p>The first three months of 2018 will be crucial to the flickering fortunes of Africa’s most advanced mining industry. They are likely to be months littered with litigation argument and acrimony.</p>
<p>The resource rich industry of South Africa – once a world leader in mining employing a million people and producing more than half of the world’s gold –has seen more than two decades of decline. Corruption, falling productivity, rising costs and dithering over regulation have taken a heavy toll.</p>
<p>In 2016, according to Statistics South Africa the South African mining industry’s real GDP was 2.6% smaller than it was in 1994.The financial services sector grew by 168% over the same period. On top of this, the South African mining sector has slid, according to Fraser Institute Investment Attractiveness Index that measures best practice in policy, legislation, regulation and operating environment.</p>
<p>Hanging above all of this is a court result and a judicial hearing regarding a controversial rewrite of the <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/southern-africa/2017/06/15/chamber-mines-seek-legal-opinion-mining-charter/">Mining Charter</a> that has taken more than five years to get nowhere. It was released in April, after minimal consultation, to outrage from the Chamber of Mines. The mining companies objected to the increase of black ownership from 26% to 30% to be maintained at all times.</p>
<p>This is the issue that the Chamber of Mines took to the <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/southern-africa/2017/11/27/court-challenge-south-africa-mining-charter-postponed-february/">Gauteng High Court in November</a>. The mining companies argue that a “once empowered always empowered” principle should apply; in that once a mining company has borne the cost of transferring shares into black ownership it is deemed to have done its job regardless of any dilution of the stake. The Chamber of Mines hopes for a judgement in the first quarter of 2018-victory in court could send the Mining Charter back to the drawing board.</p>
<p>&#8220;A full bench of three judges heard this case. This is one reason why the decision is going to take a while. The three judges have to arrive at a majority decision and that takes time, but we are hoping to have a decision by the end of March. I think it was a difficult case and not easy to argue from a legal perspective. I am optimistic, but it will be a tough one,&#8221; says Elize Strydom, the head of legal for the Chamber of Mines.</p>
<p>The mining employers pin higher hopes on the judicial review of the amended Mining Charter, set for February 19 20 and 21, again at the Gauteng High Court, again before a full bench of three judges led by senior High Court Judge Dunstan Mlambo.</p>
<p>Observers believe this case, in particular, is likely to bring a lot of pressure down on Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane. In this judicial review, it will not merely be the mining employers against the Mining Charter, there will be seven organisations that number the unions, including the National Union of Mineworkers and Solidarity, plus Lawyers for Human Rights representing communities who live near the mines.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think the review is a lot easier for us because there are so many flaws and measures in the Mining Charter that are beyond the powers of the minister. For instance, the minister indicated that 2% of the proposed 5% skills levy is to go to an empowerment agency that he has yet to create. This is not in his power to do this &#8211; that is within the power of the minister of finance. What we hope is that the minister will have to start again from scratch. Then we can sit down with the unions and interested parties to come up with something that we can all work with,&#8221; Strydom said.</p>
<p>Whether minister Zwane will be there to negotiate is another question amid the uncertainty. Moves are growing apace to encourage President Zuma to resign early in a dignified exit that will mean the dissolving of cabinet.</p>
<p>A new broom could mean renewed confidence among foreign investors with president-elect Cyril Ramaphosa being painted as the mining-savvy, business-friendly, leader.</p>
<p>Whoever takes over, at least one political analyst believes the damage has been done more than a decade ago with the advent of the Minerals Resources and Petroleum Development Act. The legislation ushered in black empowerment and virtually nationalised the country&#8217;s mineral rights overnight.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think foreign investors have been fighting shy of South African since the mineral resources were taken over by the government in the early 2000s. I don&#8217;t think the removal of one man is going to suddenly make the mining investors in Toronto and London think we are a great place to invest. I think the country has to improve its economic fundamentals first. The country has massive unemployment, too much spending on welfare and this lingering political chaos,&#8221; says Moeletsi Mbeki, a political analyst.</p>
<p>If the Chamber of Mines carries the day at the judicial review it is likely judges will instruct that the Mining Charter be torn up.  That could trigger a rewrite process that could take even more years and with it bring even more uncertainty.</p>


2018 will be crucial to the flickering fortunes of Africa’s most advanced mining industry

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<p>The National Union of Mine Workers accuses the Chamber of Mines of negotiating in bad faith in the coal sector wage negotiations and has given the Chamber of Mines until Wednesday the 08th to reach a deal.</p>


NUM accuses Chamber of Mines of negotiating in bad faith

<p><em>By: Chamber of Mines</em></p>
<p>The Chamber of Mines advises that, following an approach by legal counsel representing Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, the Chamber has reached an agreement with him through his legal counsel in respect of the Chamber’s urgent interdict to prevent the implementation of the Reviewed Mining Charter, as published by the DMR on 15 June 2017. In terms of the agreement, the Minister of Mineral Resources has given a written undertaking that the Reviewed Mining Charter will not be implemented until judgment has been handed down in respect of the Chamber’s review application, which has rendered the granting of an interdict by the court not necessary at this stage. The Minister has also undertaken that if he makes any reference in public to the Reviewed Mining Charter, he will simultaneously make reference to his written undertaking and that the Chamber has brought review proceedings to set aside the Charter.</p>
<p>In the interests of expediting the review process, which is the industry’s primary focus, the Chamber has agreed that the matter be heard on 13 and 14 December 2017 by a full bench of judges. The Minister’s written undertaking will be presented to the High Court of Gauteng (Pretoria) on 14 September 2017 for noting.</p>


Chamber of Mines agrees to minister’s written undertaking

<p data-reactid="39">Amendments to South Africa’s mineral resources law are expected to be passed by December and provide greater investor certainty, Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Thursday.</p>
<p data-reactid="40">Changes to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act were initially passed by parliament three years ago but were then sent back to lawmakers by President Jacob Zuma in 2015 due to concerns over its constitutionality.</p>
<p data-reactid="41">“We are continuing to support the parliamentary processes towards our new target date of December 2017 for promulgation. This is not a Department of Mineral Resources goal, but a national one,” Zwane said in a speech to a conference in Australia.</p>
<p data-reactid="42">South Africa’s mining sector is slowly showing signs of recovery after being battered by a global commodities downturn that hit platinum, iron ore and coal exports, although regulatory uncertainty remains a concern, analysts said.</p>
<p data-reactid="43">Amendments to the MPRDA bill were first passed in 2014, but Zuma referred the bill back to parliament over concerns that it might infringe global trade obligations and was unconstitutional, partly because it elevated the country’s Mining Charter to the status of legislation.</p>
<p data-reactid="44">South Africa’s Chamber of Mines, which represents the industry, has taken the government to court to block the implementation of the new Mining Charter, which gives resource firms 12 months to meet a new 30 percent minimum for black ownership, up from 26 percent.</p>
<p data-reactid="45">“The 2017 Mining Charter is law, and all right-holders in South Africa are expected to implement it,” Zwane said.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="46">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="47">Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Joe Brock and Angus MacSwan</p>
</div>


South Africa aims to pass delayed mining law by December: minister

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<p>Mineral Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, says it&#8217;s time people stop using the phrase radical economic transformation without implementing crucial policies.</p>


Minister Zwane on radical economic transformation

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<p>Yesterday, the Chamber of Mines said it had approached the Pretoria High Court to review and set aside Zwane&#8217;s decision to effectively freeze issuing new mining licences and renewing existing ones until September. The Chamber said Zwane&#8217;s temporary ban is unlawful. Patrick Leyden, Director, Herbert Smith Freehills Africa practice joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Chamber of Mines

SA mining production up 116.5% y/y

As mines warn of job losses as higher taxes implemented, Zambia says they’ve failed to show impact, here’s why

Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman on the need to prioritise transformation in mining

Why Zimbabwe wants $11bn for its mines

SA’s mines have become a slaughter house for workers – Cosatu President

NUM stages a protest against SA mine deaths

We remain committed to safety of mine workers, says Chamber of Mines’ Sizwe Phakathi

SA mining production up 3.1% in February

SA’s mining Charter won’t be scrapped but revised – Mines minister

Ramaphosa persuades the Chamber of Mines to suspend court action

Community members cry foul on being left out of mining decisions

2018 will be crucial to the flickering fortunes of Africa’s most advanced mining industry

NUM accuses Chamber of Mines of negotiating in bad faith

Chamber of Mines agrees to minister’s written undertaking

South Africa aims to pass delayed mining law by December: minister

Minister Zwane on radical economic transformation

Minister Zwane’s mining charter deemed ‘unlawful, unconstitutional’

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Chamber of Mines

SA mining production up 116.5% y/y

As mines warn of job losses as higher taxes implemented, Zambia says they’ve failed to show impact, here’s why

Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman on the need to prioritise transformation in mining

Why Zimbabwe wants $11bn for its mines

SA’s mines have become a slaughter house for workers – Cosatu President

NUM stages a protest against SA mine deaths

We remain committed to safety of mine workers, says Chamber of Mines’ Sizwe Phakathi

SA mining production up 3.1% in February

SA’s mining Charter won’t be scrapped but revised – Mines minister

Ramaphosa persuades the Chamber of Mines to suspend court action

Community members cry foul on being left out of mining decisions

2018 will be crucial to the flickering fortunes of Africa’s most advanced mining industry

NUM accuses Chamber of Mines of negotiating in bad faith

Chamber of Mines agrees to minister’s written undertaking

South Africa aims to pass delayed mining law by December: minister

Minister Zwane on radical economic transformation

Minister Zwane’s mining charter deemed ‘unlawful, unconstitutional’

News Tips

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