Solid Minerals
South Africa Probes Illegal Mining Syndicates
JOHANNESBURG — Men rescued from an abandoned gold shaft near Johannesburg this week have spurred a larger investigation into the criminal syndicates that are profiting from illegal mining activities, police said Tuesday.
South African police spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloka said the illegal miners, mostly from Mozambique and aged between 20 and 40, have given the police information about “kingpins” in charge of the illegal mining.
Mr. Ramaloka said the men who came out from underground were arrested and have told police that there are still around 200 other illegal miners operating in the abandoned mine. The spokesman said they were on the trail of syndicate leaders, but wouldn’t give details of their whereabouts.
“We are not far behind from convicting the main men behind this now,” said Mr. Ramaloka.
As of Tuesday, a total of 25 illegal miners have emerged from an old ventilation shaft, police said. The men had been trapped underground since Saturday, only to be discovered Sunday after police on patrol heard their screams for help.
The men who came out through the shaft Tuesday told officials that they were the last of the group near the surface, said Grant Stuart, a spokesman for Gold One International Ltd. GLDZY +4.49% , which owns the land. The men told police that they had been too afraid to use other exit routes because of intimidation from rival gangs of illegal miners who are still underground.
The police said 22 men arrested as of Monday appeared in court Tuesday to face charges of illegal mining. They will remain in custody and could face a fine or jail term of three years or more, if convicted. Gold One sent paper messages in multiple languages through the shaft late Monday to warn those still underground that the abandoned ventilation shaft will be resealed with a cement slab in two weeks. Mr. Stuart of Gold One said there are dozens of other illegal entrances that the miners are using.
The miners such as those arrested Monday don’t have legal rights to explore or mine for gold. Much of the illegal activity takes place in mine shafts no longer in use but groups of men also sneak into operating mines run by official companies. The government has estimated there are thousands of people mining gold illegally in South Africa, many who come from outside the country, making small wages.
South Africa’s department of mineral resources said in 2010 that the country is losing around $500 million a year due to illegal mining activities. Minister Susan Shabangu said at the time that both domestic and international criminal syndicates smuggle the gold mined by the illegal workers, hurting South Africa’s economy and creating a dangerous criminal element around the country’s working and abandoned mines.
The last big accident involving illegal miners was in 2009, when 82 people died after a fire broke out at an unused Harmony Gold Mining Co. HAR.JO -2.13% mine. But illegal mining accidents on a smaller scale are common, says emergency rescue ER24 operations manager Faisal Binks. Mr. Binks said he’s called to two or three incidents a month where illegal miners need to be rescued.
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
Business
Nigeria set to boost Naira value and foreign reserve with local gold production, as Tinubu receives gold bar
IN a significant move to strengthen Nigeria’s economy, President Bola Tinubu received a symbolic gold bar on Sunday from the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake.
This gesture marks the commencement of the National Gold Purchase Program (NGPP), aimed at boosting the naira’s value and enhancing the country’s foreign reserves.
Minister Alake expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for his support of reforms in the solid minerals sector.
He highlighted that the NGPP, which involves sourcing gold from artisanal and small-scale miners and refining it to meet the London Bullion Market Association’s Good Delivery Standard, will substantially contribute to Nigeria’s economic stability.
Alake stated “This initiative will significantly increase our foreign reserves and strengthen the naira. The refined gold will be supplied to the Central Bank of Nigeria, marking a crucial step in our economic strategy.”
The presentation also underscored the first commercial transaction under the NGPP, establishing a centralized gold purchasing system that integrates small-scale miners, cooperatives, and production units across the nation.
This program is expected to provide a structured market for gold, fostering economic growth and stability.
He said, “The successful completion of the first commercial transaction clearly demonstrates the National Gold Purchase Program’s effectiveness. It has increased the nation’s foreign reserves assets and shown that using the Nigerian Naira to purchase a liquid asset traded in United States Dollars, such as gold, is a viable strategy. This transaction has also underscored the potential of the National Gold Purchase Program to enhance fiscal and monetary stability.”
Alake added that the initial commercial transaction under the program resulted in a +US$5 million boost in Nigeria’s foreign reserve assets.
The transaction involved refining over 70 kilograms of gold to meet the London Bullion Market quality standard and aggregating locally mined gold, thereby infusing approximately NGN6 billion into the rural economy.
President Tinubu expressed appreciation for the Ministry’s accomplishment in advancing the government’s goal of economic diversification by acknowledging and displaying the symbolic gold bar
Solid Minerals
FG Fingers Foreigners Sponsoring Banditry For Illegal Mining
The Nigerian Government has threatened to come down heavily on foreigners sponsoring bandictory as a way of sustaining illegal mining activities in parts of the country.
The warning was handed down in Abuja by Minister, Solid Minerals Development, Dr Oladele Alake, while receiving a delegation of the Nigeria-China Chamber of Mines led by its National President, Dr. Olugbenga Ajala.
Details of these were contained in a statement released by Head, Press & PR, Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Alaba Balogun over the weekend.
The statement cited, Dr Alake, thus, “The government will come down firmly on these unscrupulous foreign operators sponsoring banditry to perpetrate illegal mining: let me use this medium to appeal through you to tell those sponsors to desist or face the full wrath of the law.”
According to Dr Alake, the Ministry is committed to establishing a multi-agency task force that will end the activities of illegal miners and their collaborators.
The Minster made it clear that the FG had given illegal miners a 30-day-ultimatum to legitimise their businesses, quit Nigeria or incur the wrath of the law.
According to him, this will help “to streamline and structure the Small-Scale Artisanal Miners for maximum yield to the Federal Government.”
The delegation paid a courtesy call on the Minsiter at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
Energy
Fuel Scarcity: Govt Yet to Increase Pump Prices – NMDPRA
By Edozie Obasi-Eze
Amidst heightening uncertainties in the domestic petroleum products market characterised by scarcity and irregular pricing, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has declared that there’s no intention to review pump prices upwards.
This was contained in an advisory issued by General Manager, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Kimchi Apollo.
He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) had imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days.
In an attempt to address panic buying and speculations which have seen price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) oscillate between N180-N250 in the Lagos area, Apollo assured that there was enough quantity of the product in the country already.
He said, “Consequently, marketers and the general public are advised to avoid panic buying, diversion of products and hoarding.
“In keeping with the Authority’s responsibilities as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Authority assures the public that it would continue to monitor the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, especially during this holiday season.”