AFRICAN Rainbow Minerals (ARM) announced its investment vehicle Assmang was putting the Beeshoek iron ore mine on care and maintenance resulting in the retrenchment of 622 permanent employees from end-November.
Beeshoek, which is situated in the Northern Cape province, has struggled following a decline in offtake from Arcelor Mittal South Africa (Amsa), a steelmaker. As of the end of June last year, when a supply contract was terminated, iron ore sales have been on a month-to-month basis.
Deliveries to Amsa finally ended in July. “No further sales to Amsa are expected for the remainder of the year,” said ARM. ARM owns its stake in Beeshoek through a 50% shareholding in Assmang. The balance of Assmang is owned by Assore, the privately-held resources investment firm.
The closure of Beeshoek comes on the same day Amsa confirmed the closure of its long steel production at its Newcastle plant. Most of its facilities have been placed under care and maintenance, having drawn down the full R1.683bn facility, according to a report by Moneyweb today. The Industrial Development Corporation had provided Amsa loan finance with a view to delaying the wind-down, the publication said.
ARM has had a difficult time of life in ferrous metal production lately. In July, it announced plans to restructure its manganese processing activities, also held through Assmang. In terms of this, it has closed the Cato Ridge ferromanganese smelter and sold the properties to Assore. In addition, Assmang’s stake in Sakura Ferroalloys has also been sold to Assore.
“Decisively addressing these business interests of Assmang has been an important strategic imperative for ARM,” said ARM at the time.
Commenting on the closure of Beeshoek today, ARM said Assmang had undertaken an “extensive assessment of potential alternatives to avoid a shutdown” which did not prove to be viable. “In the absence of a sustainable offtake arrangement, Beeshoek Mine is no longer economically feasible to operate,” it added. Mining at Beeshoek Mine stopped at the end of October 2025.
“In parallel with the care-and-maintenance process, Assmang is evaluating further options for Beeshoek Mine,” said ARM.
