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Mines may remain closed next week Posted: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 [miningmx.com] -- GOLD and platinum mines in South Africa could remain closed until well into next week while industry and government discussed ways of reducing power, the minerals and energy department (DME) said. This follows a meeting between the mining industry, labour representatives and government ministers today (January 26) in which a "joint industry and government task team was formed" to tackle the severe energy crisis. On January 25, it emerged that Eskom, the South African energy utility, had told mining bosses it could not guarantee the supply of electricity. Mining firms were effectively forced to stop mining, mostly on the grounds of safety. This comes amid almost four weeks of rolling blackouts by Eskom throughout South Africa as it struggles to supply power amid refurbishment of old facilities and bad weather which has interrupted the supply of coal to the power stations. The effect has been to harm business and dent South Africa's reputation as an attractive investment destination. Government said industry had to seriously reduce its energy consumption as Eskom's lack of reserve capacity had become a "national emergency". The task team will meet again on January 27, but a further meeting, this time involving all industry deemed heavy power consumers, has been scheduled for Tuesday, 29 January. It's only at this meeting that a schedule for reopening mines might be agreed, said Bontle Mafuna, spokesperson for the DME. "It could be sooner, but it's likely that only from Tuesday will the industry know when they can start mining again," said Mafuna. Harmony Gold estimated that it would lose R60m a day in lost revenue while its mines remained idle; make that R300m by Tuesday. The opportunity losses for Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti, which produce more gold, would be heavier. However, the DME said in a statement that government had agreed mines should have power to prepare for the resumption of mining: "The Ministers also agreed to an industry request that there would be sufficient power supply to enable employees to continue with essential underground operations, particularly in deep level gold mines, to ensure the safety of the workplace for mineworkers." Roger Baxter, a senior economist for the Chamber of Mines of South Africa described the meeting today as "very constructive". He said a lot more guidance would be provided to the industry at Sunday's meeting. "I wouldn't want to comment any more than that," he said. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
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