Diversified miner South32 plans to increase black equity ownership in its South African coal mines over time, more for strategic reasons than to meet the 30% requirement of the Mining Charter or Eskom’s 50% plus one, CEO Graham Kerr said on Thursday. Black people own 8% of South32’s coal mines, excluding historical deals, and 26% of its manganese operations. With credits for past deals, black ownership in the coal mines was above 40%, Kerr said. South32’s current black economic empowerment partner is a consortium led by Pembani and it would be the first that South32 would talk to. In the year to June, South32’s revenue rose 20%, to $6.95bn, boosted by higher commodity prices, while 2016’s underlying earnings of $138m soared to $1.15bn. Free cash flow from operations grew by $888m to $1.5bn, while return on capital employed was 11.4%, from 1.7%. A final dividend of 6.4 US cents was declared, taking the full-year’s distribution to 10 US cents. Although underlying earnings were slightl...
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