Minister hits back at mines over safety issues and stoppages
Claims of a negative investment appetite and a lack of consultation over a new draft of the mining charter see tensions run high at the Mining Indaba
SA has advertised it is "open for business" at the Mining Indaba, the world’s largest annual mining conference, but industry players worry regulatory confusion could prevent the country from cashing in on the bull years that may lie ahead. After Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane told the Indaba in Cape Town that rising commodity prices marked the start of "a new spring", Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said that "the investment appetite is very negative". Analysts and miners have decried a regulatory environment that they say has hit investment and forced industry and government to slug it out in court. Sibanye is taking the government to court for about R26m ($1.9m) after one of its platinum mines was completely shut down following a fatal accident in September. Last year a court also said safety officers acted disproportionately when operations at an AngloGold Ashanti gold mine were suspended over violations in a single section of the mine. "When you end up closing an entire mi...
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