The business rescue practitioners of eight Gupta-owned mines — including Optimum, Brakfontein, Koornfontein and Shiva — have given hope that the mines can be made operational, Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said in Parliament on Wednesday. The minister made his first appearance before the portfolio committee on mineral resources, which is probing the situation at the mines. Workers at Optimum have been on strike recently over concern about nonpayment of salaries. Mantashe said he had spoken to the trade union at Optimum and would go to Optimum on Thursday to discuss the situation at the mine with workers. The minister had been assured by the business rescue practitioners that workers and creditors had been paid and that the mines were working. "They gave hope that the mines can be brought back into operation," he told MPs. Mantashe emphasised that mining was not for speculators and was a long-haul investment. "If you are in a hurry to get money … you are in the wrong plac...
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