The first of two legal showdowns between the Chamber of Mines and the Department of Mineral Resources starts in the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday over the interpretation of clauses around ownership in the first two mining charters. The chamber, whose members represent 90% of SA’s mineral production, is seeking a declaratory order on the "once empowered always empowered" principle, or the continuing consequences of historical empowerment transactions on companies meeting their 26% black ownership target set out in the first two charters. The department demands mining companies perpetually top up black ownership levels to maintain the 26% level. A full bench of three judges will hear arguments over two days. The second battle will be fought before a full bench of judges in mid-December when the chamber seeks to set aside the suspended third iteration of the charter introduced in June and which it claims is nonsensical, impractical and deeply damaging to the sector. In a study of ...
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