Tensions high as industry meets over Lonmin
SA’s mining industry has formally begun with damage control following a week
during which countless replays of dying mineworkers had the country making
news for all the wrong reasons.
‘Winner takes all’ is tinder to Amcu, the NUM
The way unions are organised at mines is not the immediate cause of the tragedy at Lonmin's Marikana mine, but distributing representation may take the fire out of tensions.
NUM no innocent victim in Lonmin violence
There seems to be a great desire among some established players in the mining
industry, none more so than the National Union of Mineworkers, to get rid of
the new trouble-stirring trade union Amcu.
De Beers US strategy focuses on clients
Sightholders are expected to make the trip to Botswana 10 times a year but De
Beers DTC is planning fresh visits of its own, for the first time.
CoAL slide underpins logic of Exxaro takeover
Thermal coal prices have dealt Coal of Africa a difficult card at a time when it’s
mid-stride between strategies, raising the prospect that it needs the balance
sheet of a major investor.
SA platinum sweats amid cash-flow crunch
Amplats could be cash-flow negative to the tune of R4.5bn by year-end, while
Aquarius has just over a year of cash; a sure sign of the troubles the once cash-
flush industry is now in.
Eskom, and its staff, deserve a break
Chicken-like thinking is the reason why Eskom will remain the black sheep of
public opinion until SA eventually again has enough electricity to keep the lights
on in empty buildings.
Coal debate must focus on commerce, not politics
Declaring coal a strategic mineral seems a rather blunt way of securing energy
supply when surgical precision, based on commerce, would do better.
Heads may roll in platinum revamp
Company valuations, shafts and blue collar workers will not be the only
casualties in the scramble to keep platinum mines afloat.
Nationalisation is dead, until next time
The ANC’s national elective conference in December will bring still less certainty
over right of tenure for the mining industry.