Seeing no redemption in the current downturn, where the commodity prices are at an all-time low, some mining companies are seriously considering taking their mining rights back to the Department of Mineral Resources. The companies are in coal, platinum and chrome mining.
Revealing this during a visit to Harmony Gold’s Doornkop Mine in the West Rand, Johannesburg, the new mining minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, said he believed acquiring the assets back from industry was an opportunity for the department to fast-track transformation in mining. In terms of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Act (MPRDA), the state is the custodian of all mineral rights and can decide what to do with them.
The Department of Minerals has lamented mining companies’ low compliance with the Mining Charter. It remains to be seen what impact the current downturn will have on individual organisation’s commitment to compliance.
