Though rising tensions between the mineral resources department and the SA mining industry dominated some corners of this week’s Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, in other corners junior miners were dusting off mothballed projects in the hope that rising prices would attract funding. In a vague and stumbling speech opening the conference, mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane said the long-awaited amendments to the Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) are being finalised “urgently” and should be completed by June. Government will also gazette the new mining charter for the industry (the original draft of which has alarmed companies) by March, he said. Zwane insisted at a media conference that his department consulted at least 60 different stakeholders on the new charter and held six sessions with the chamber of mines. The chamber is not the only stakeholder that matters, he said. “At the end of the day government will take a decision and gazette ...

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