South32 expects to start rebuilding at Mozambique project after post-election hit
Earlier this month, the company retracted its output prediction for the Mozal aluminum smelter in Mozambique.
Shares in world number four platinum producer Aquarius Platinum [LON, JSE:AQP] shot up yesterday after British newspaper The Daily Mail reported that there are rumours of a major planning a takeover bid for the company at GBP0.70 per share.
Independent Onlinereports Anglo American and BHP Billiton could be potential bidders for the South African miner, but industry analysts quickly poured cold water on any such deal in the struggling sector.
One Johannesburg-based platinum sector analyst said, “The share price reacted to the report but it’s nonsense. There could be someone else interested in Aquarius but not Anglo or BHP.”
Aquarius also appointed a new CEO this week.
The besieged platinum sector in South Africa is slowly emerging from a period of labour unrest, violence and a deteriorating operating environment.
Aquarius hung onto yesterday’s gains on Tuesday at 42p, but the counter is still down more than 70% this year.
