Solid Minerals
South Africa Plans Talks With Union to Resolve Platinum Strike
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s government and labor-union officials agreed in principle to meet tomorrow to resolve a strike that’s crippling output at the world’s three biggest producers of the metal.
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant is planning to lead negotiations between Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS), Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) and Lonmin Plc (LMI) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union at a meeting in Johannesburg tomorrow, said Musa Zondi, her spokesman.
The platinum companies should expect “marathon negotiations,” AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa said in a phone interview today. While the union has support from its members to engage in talks, it hasn’t yet agreed on a time, he said.
At least 70,000 employees began a strike at platinum mines today in South Africa, home to 70 percent of the world’s production of the metal, causing about $13.1 million of lost revenue daily. The police service stepped up safety measures as it seeks to avoid a repeat of labor unrest that claimed the lives of at least 44 workers near platinum mines in August 2012.
Platinum’s Deep Divide
The AMCU, which is the biggest representative of workers at the mines, says it will maintain the walkout until its demand that wages for the lowest-paid entry-level miners be more than doubled to 12,500 rand ($1,150) a month is met. South Africa’s inflation rate was 5.4 percent in December.
The rand declined 0.9 percent to 10.9755 per dollar by 3:43 p.m. in Johannesburg. The platinum producers incur most of their costs in rand, the currency that’s depreciated 23 percent against the dollar, in which platinum is priced, since the beginning of last year.
Wielding Weapons
Hundreds of striking employees wielding weapons such as fighting sticks and machetes and singing protest songs marched at Impala’s Rustenburg mines. Some wore green-collared AMCU shirts. National Union of Mineworkers members flocked to its offices for safety after being prevented from reporting for duty.
Sibanye Gold Ltd. (SGL) said a fire broke out at its Driefontein mine and employees were apprehended after they were found sabotaging a train line, derailing tramming equipment. The company will claim damages from unions should it be found that their members were the perpetrators, it said in a statement. The AMCU’s strike at gold mines has been delayed.
The union has displaced the NUM, which is affiliated to South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party, as the biggest labor representative at platinum mines.
Mitigate Intimidation
“Non-striking workers are encouraged to report for work on day shifts only” to mitigate “risks of possible intimidation and violence,” Johannesburg-based Impala, the second-biggest producer of the metal, said in a statement. About 10 percent of employees reported for duty at the company, which will lose about 2,800 ounces of platinum daily through the stoppage.
The strike will cause about 3,100 ounces of lost platinum output daily at Lonmin, the company said in a statement. Amplats, which hasn’t provided a figure, lost about 3,100 ounces a day during a similar strike in October. The 9,000 ounces of lost platinum between the three companies equates to about $13.1 million of revenue based on today’s spot price.
Platinum for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,457.37 an ounce at 3:46 p.m. in Johannesburg. Amplats gained 1.4 percent to 438 rand. Impala climbed 1.7 percent to 127.99 rand. Lonmin rose 0.7 percent to 323.2 pence in London. The metal is used in jewelry and catalytic converters that reduce harmful emissions from passenger cars.
Gold Delay
The AMCU’s plan to start a strike at South African gold mines today was delayed after the Johannesburg Labour Court postponed its ruling on whether the stoppage would be protected to Jan. 30. When strikes in the country have this status, workers can down tools without being fired or disciplined.
All gold mines operated normally today, Charmane Russell, a spokesman for the Johannesburg-based Chamber of Mines at Russell & Associates, which represents the gold companies, said by text message.
A gold strike by the AMCU would affect AngloGold Ashanti Ltd.’s (ANG) operations, Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HAR)’s Kusasalethu and Masimong mines, and Sibanye Gold Ltd.’s Driefontein.
The South African government wants to avoid a protracted strike, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Africa.
“If we have a difficult, long, damaging strike in the mining industry now, which is not what we want, it will have an impact of some sort,” Davies said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
– BLOOMBERG
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
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.
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.”
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