Triple whammy threatens SA’s mining sector
The mining industry is facing a triple whammy: rising costs and onerous regulatory requirements threaten to push many more mines into a loss-making position and wipe out thousands of jobs
There are three issues that keep Minerals Council SA CEO Roger Baxter awake at night: "the disaster that we call Eskom"; the continuous-consequences and local-content provisions in the mining charter; and the carbon tax, which comes into play on June 1. The most pressing issue for the mining industry, which, together with the mineral smelting and refining industries, absorbs 30% of Eskom’s output, is the lack of certainty over electricity supply and future pricing. "It is extremely difficult to make long-term investment decisions in a mine or smelter when you have no visibility on electricity pricing over the next five to 10 years, and no idea what government will do to allow private competition from other sources, including renewables," says Baxter. PODCAST: The growing power of class action lawsuits Subscribe: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Cast | Player.fm "If you want to develop new mines or deep-level mining you need guarantees of supply and pricing. We need much g...
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