[miningmx.com] – SOUTH African mines minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, described the resolution of the five-month strike in the country’s platinum sector earlier this year as “nothing short of a miracle”.
Speaking to delegates at the Africa Down Under conference in Perth, Western Australia, Ramatlhodi added that President Jacob Zuma was leading an intervention aimed at establishing peace and sustainability in the sector which was “… indicative of the seriousness we attach to the mining industry in South Africa”.
Commenting on changes to the Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) in respect of supporting beneficiation in the industry, Ramatlhodi said that mining companies would not be asked to fabricate downstream materials.
“It is not the intention of the government to force mining companies to produce fabricated products,” he told delegates.
“We, however, expect them to leverage this national value proposition and augment their contribution to the development of the sector,” he said without providing further details.
