THE possible extension of electricity tariff discounts to sectors of the South African mining industry other than the ferrochrome producers will have to wait until after publication of a revised electricity pricing policy currently under preparation.
That’s according to Eskom CEO Dan Marokane answering questions after his presentation to the Coal and Energy Transition Day investment conference held in Johannesburg today.
Marokane said he was “encouraged” that the ministry which decides electricity pricing policy had decided there was a need to revise that policy.
“There will be published in a very short period of time – I think less than a month away – a revised energy policy that seeks to protect the poor; that seeks to support the strategic sectors of the economy, and also seeks to ensure that generators are sustainable,” he said.
Eskom has so far granted tariff relief to the ferrochrome smelters owned by the Merafe Glencore Venture and Samancor so saving several thousand jobs and is considering cutting its tariffs to manganese smelter Transalloys which is also threatened with closure.
Marokane commented: “We had to start somewhere and, of course, we started off in the ferrochrome industry because of the crisis they were facing. Those conversations were not easy.
“We understood what price they wanted to make them competitive and save a number of jobs in that sector and also to protect the country’s competitiveness when it comes to the chrome industry as a whole. We extended that to other sectors that are energy intensive but, unfortunately, we will not be able to do a ‘big bang’ approach.”
Marokane said that could not happen until the new energy policy was known and Eskom also had to make sure that it would survive the changes.
“We have to create rules that are common to everyone. We cannot have rules for one party and rules for others,” he said.
Among the other energy-intensive mining sector users are the country’s platinum producers which use large volumes of power to refine their ore concentrates into the various platinum group metals and base metals output.
Valterra Platinum CEO Craig Miller told Miningmx on July 6 that: “I recognise what needed to be done in the ferroalloy industry but two years ago I needed to reduce my headcount by 3,500 jobs because costs had increased so significantly.
“Prices were incredibly low and we needed to take costs out of the business in order to sustain the long- term. Where was our special tariff?”
Valterra chairman Norman Mbazima commented in the company’s 2025 annual report that “the absence of meaningful structural reform continues to weigh on the local mining industry with persistent cost pressures eroding South Africa’s competitive edge.
“Mining input costs such as labour compensation and administrative prices (particularly electricity) have consistently outpaced consumer inflation undermining the sector’s competitiveness.”
