South African Business 2024

OVERVIEW
Mining
Impala Platinum has gained control of Royal Bafokeng Platinum.
A
sale that was first mooted in 2021 was finally resolved
in June 2023 when Northam Platinum agreed to sell
its stake in Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) to Impala
Platinum (Implats).
That sale took Implats’ holding in RBPlat to 91% after it had bought
9.26% of the company from Public Investment Corporation (PIC) earlier
in the year to give it a majority holding. The RBPlat platinum group
metals (PGM) facility, which lies directly south of Sun City, is adjacent to
Implats Rustenburg’s land. The Impala Rustenburg operation comprises
a nine-shaft mining complex and concentrating and smelting plants.
The big sale coincided with a decline in the global prices of some of
the PGMs such as palladium and rhodium. Whereas platinum attracted a
price of $1 070 not long ago, in November 2023 it was trading at $869.
Although the prospects for PGMs are good in support of the nascent
hydrogen economy, a slowing Chinese economy and the expanded
market for electric vehicles are negative factors.
In July 2023, as scheduled, De Beers Group celebrated the
beginning of production at its Venetia Mine, pictured, in the northern
part of Limpopo Province. The long-term, $2.3-billion conversion
project of the diamond mine to an underground mine began in
2012 and will extend the life of the mine to 2045 or beyond. The
SECTOR INSIGHT
De Beers’ giant conversion
project has started
producing diamonds.
mechanised underground
operation will deliver up to
seven-million tons of kimberlite
ore per year to produce fourmillion
carats of diamonds.
Construction of the mine, which
employs 4 300 local people,
is now 70% complete. In the
Northern Cape, the Namakwa
Special Economic Zone in
Aggeneys is being envisioned
as an industrial cluster for
mining and agriculture
services, beneficiation and
manufacturing. The hub of this
SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2024
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PHOTO: De Beers Group