Archie Palane & Fred Arendse
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NUM bigwig crosses floor
David McKay
Posted: Fri, 27 Oct 2006

[miningmx.com] -- FORMER National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) deputy general-secretary Archie Palane has taken up the cudgels for the private sector, accepting a directorship on the board of mining contractor Deilmann-Haniel SA (DHSA), a subsidiary of the German firm.

That was after the start-up firm he chairs and shares with former Anglo Platinum executive Fred Arendse – Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (SSC) – took a 26% stake in DHSA. The strategy is that SSC will use the investment in the mining contractor to become a mineral producer in its own right.

Arendse – previously responsible for transformation at Anglo Platinum – has five deals in mind: after three, the company wants to broaden its shareholder base to include broad-based empowerment. After five deals, it’s a listing. Arendse says he’s too embarrassed to mention an even greater ambition for SSC. Suffice to say it seems to involve Anglo Platinum.

Meanwhile, having sunk their houses, pensions and reputations in SSC, neither Palane nor Arendse wants to shoulder much debt. They also decline to disclose the terms of the investment in DHSA, but it may involve funding the 26% stake from future cash flow.
Arendse has 5 deals in mind
Certainly having SSC as a shareholder makes good business sense for DHSA, currently sinking a shaft on the Kroondal Platinum mine for Aquarius Platinum. Palane and Arendse are plugged in to new SA mining opportunities and want to use their association with DHSA to prove they can also bring operational skills as well as political points to future investments. “While the intention is to become a minerals producer you can’t own a mine unless you can mine,” says Arendse. It also helps that they both have consulted mining firms concerning applying for new mining licences and other aspects of minerals legislation. In other words, they know their way around. Says Arendse: “We’ve been approaching quite a number of sectors. We’ve had discussions but they’re still at the infancy stage.”

Having already stated its intention to grow through more empowerment transactions, Aquarius Platinum is an obvious candidate, not least because DHSA is already working there. Watch this space.