[miningmx.com] – NEARLY two years after the Constitutional Court ruled against the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) – and in favour of Kumba Iron Ore (Kumba) – regarding the allocation of the residual 21.4% mining right to the group’s Sishen mine, the DMR is still haggling over the terms.
That’s the implication of a statement released today by Kumba which says the DMR has consented to the amendment of the Sishen Iron Ore Company (SIOC) mining right to include the residual 21.4%, but that its consent is subject to a number of conditions which are described by the DMR as ‘proposals.’
According to the statement: “Kumba and SIOC are currently considering the consent and the legal and practical implications of the proposed conditions on Kumba and SIOC.
“Once Kumba and SIOC have had an opportunity to engage fully with the DMR in this regard and to consider the precise meaning and scope of the proposed conditions, shareholders will be updated as appropriate.”
Kumba spokesperson Nikki Wetzlar declined to provide further details on the conditions proposed by the DMR. “We cannot disclose them because we are still considering the meaning and scope of the proposals,” she told Miningmx.
Asked about the length of time being taken to resolve the granting of the residual mining right to the mine, Wetzlar replied: “It’s a very long process and its on-going. The Constitutional Court in its ruling said the DMR could attach conditions to the granting of the right.We are still engaging with the DMR.”
The right was originally owned by Arcelor Mittal SA as its undivided 21.4% share of the old order mining rights to the Sishen mine, but the company failed to apply to convert it to a new order mining right when the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act was implemented in May 2005.
The DMR then allocated the right to Imperial Crown Trading (ICT) through a process which Kumba described as fraudulent and challenged in court triggering a legal battle with broader implications which were potentially highly negative for South Africa’s investment image.
Kumba won its actions in the High and Supreme courts but the DMR/ICT took the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal and, eventually, the Constitutional Court both of which also ruled in favour of Kumba.
The Constitutional Court handed down the final ruling in favour of Kumba on December 12, 2013.
