Independent consultants Dan Moagi and John Bristow make crucial points in their six-point plan to President Cyril Ramaphosa, which is aimed at reviving and transforming mining through incentivised rand-for-rand exploration to feasibility stage.

Both are well versed in diamond mining particularly and their intention to foster genuine black ownership is key.

Standing in the way, however, is a serious lack of transparency at the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), which insists on carrying on with a cadastre system that has not met with approval.

Full openness is a must for the opacity-loving DMR, which lifts application costs sky high.
Strong appeals are also being directed towards new Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, whom the Chamber of Mines of South Africa describes as a man of integrity, as can be read on pages 8 and 9 of this edition of Mining Weekly.

Business Leadership South Africa has pointed to Mantashe’s mining knowledge and negotiation skills standing him in good stead.

Interestingly, Mantashe spent time at Prieska Copper Mines, now being revived by the Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed Orion Minerals, a company engaged in widespread exploration in the area using modern technology.

Nedbank CIB mining analysts Leon Esterhuizen and Arnold van Graan make important points in calculating that only structural change can save South Africa’s labour-intensive mining model from becoming extinct. The analysts point to ongoing above-inflation increases in labour costs being the prime cause of profit collapse, along with politics. They believe that multi- stakeholder development agreements are now necessary to steer labour-based underground mining away from its looming tipping point, as can be read on pages 8 and 9 of this edition of Mining Weekly.

Halting investment in the development of shafts and mining out what is left of the reserves are being implemented by some as a way of rendering mining profitable in the short term. Read on pages 12 and 13 of this edition of Mining Weekly of Impala Platinum (Implats) putting its 1 Shaft, 9 Shaft and 12 Shaft into ‘harvest’ mode at its 40 000-employee Impala Rustenburg mine, in the North West, as part of a process to cut costs by R1-billion.

The mine’s 4 Shaft has been already deteriorated beyond ‘harvesting’ mode into closure, and a Section 189 restructuring process that follows hot on the heels of the company’s shedding of 1 400 jobs in the second half of last year.

Implats has appointed Mark Munroe to take on the challenge of its Impala Rustenburg mine, where the focus is on leading employees to a higher level of efficiency to get more value out of the business.

The fatality rate at mines is again on the rise, which points to the need for stronger action towards the long-held target of zero harm, which is proving very elusive. Management alone cannot make the difference that is required and a massive joint effort by government, labour and business is essential.