[miningmx.com] – TALKS to stem retrenchments in South Africa’s mining sector and improve the government’s bureaucratic efficiencies were welcomed by the country’s Chamber of Mines which said the sector faced “a perfect storm”.
Commenting on the first day of a two-day emergency meeting with mines minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, the chamber CEO, Roger Baxter said a number of practical, short and medium term interventions had been agreed.
“The meeting was constructive and comes at a critical juncture as mining companies face a “perfect storm’ – weak commodity prices combined with spiralling costs,” said Baxter in a chamber statement.
“A number of task teams have been established to come up with practical short- and medium-term interventions, and these task teams will report back to the leadership group towards the end of next week,” he said.
The meeting was attended by chamber president, Mike Teke, Graham Briggs, CEO of Harmony Gold, Anglo American SA CEO Andile Sangqu and the CEO of Anglo American Platinum, Chris Griffith.
In addition to Ramatlhodi, the Department of Mineral Resources’ (DMR’s) director-general, Thibedi Ramontja attended the meeting along with union bosses and other DMR officials.
