Draft Mining Charter 'only a proposal' – Zwane

CARLETONVILLE (miningweekly.com) – Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane on Friday sought to assure mining industry stakeholders concerned about certain provisions in the new broad-based black economic-empowerment Mining Charter that the draft was “just a proposal by government” and that “nothing has been cast in stone".

The Minister was visiting gold mining major AngloGold Ashanti’s TauTona mine, in western Gauteng, when questioned about the charter, which was released for public comment earlier this month.

Zwane noted that discussions with all the industry's stakeholders, including mining companies and labour unions, were scheduled to start on Monday, at a yet-to-be confirmed venue, to address concerns that all parties had about the new Mining Charter.

However, Zwane emphasised that transformation was a fundamental part of the South African Constitution and would be the guiding principle in any new industry charter.

"We have to ensure our people are represented throughout the mining industry. This is the only way to ensure we have a strong, united country rooted in social and economic  justice and fairness," he stated.

AngloGold CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat) said he was hopeful that the discussions scheduled for next week would produce constructive outcomes.

TAUTONA MINE
Meanwhile, Zwane told media on site at TauTona that he was impressed with developments at  the mine and that the Department of Mineral Resources was supportive of AngloGold's efforts to "drastically reduce mine fatalities in the industry and improve productivity levels".

Zwane was invited to visit the mine to see how the company's reef-boring technology initiative was progressing.

Over the past five years the gold miner had extracted over 13 000 oz of gold using the technology, which was still being used on a large-scale pilot-project basis.

Venkat noted that the company was challenging the status quo in terms of how mining was conducted in South Africa through its ultrahigh-strength backfill technology, which allowed for the mining of old shaft pillars and previously mined areas.

"We can never replace traditional mining methods; however, these technologies can add value to the sector by improving safety levels and extraction volumes," he said.