Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
South Africa’sImpala Platinum (Implats) is seeking tenders to build a tailings or waste storage facility at its Marula mine in a positive sign for a site recovering from community protests that sent its shares higher.
The company posted an advertisement on Friday in the local Mail & Guardian newspaper seeking tenders for the project. Bidders are required to “use 100 percent unskilled local labour” and “maximise the use of local sub-contractors”.
Impala shares were up more than 4 percent by mid-morning trade in Johannesburg.
Implats said last month that Marula was rebounding strongly and ramping up production and is one of the company’s few assets in South Africa that is not losing money.
Marula was on the brink of closing last year after a nearby chrome project Implats had set up with a tribal council collapsed, triggering protests from local residents excluded from its revenue flows – part of a wider pattern of such deals coming unstuck and fanning unrest.
