Leandi Kolver

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Leandi Kolver

Leandi Kolver is Creamer Media Deputy Editor Features for Engineering News and Mining Weekly.

Tel: +2711 622 3744

Email: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za

Bokoni opencast ops suspended, SAPS deployed amid community violence

8th October 2014 The situation in the area surrounding platinum miner Atlatsa Resources’ Bokoni mine, in Limpopo, remained tense on Wednesday afternoon, with police having been deployed to the area, following the fatal injury of a community member in a blasting incident at the mine on Monday, spokesperson... →

SPC opens R70m HDPE pipe manufacturing facility

8th October 2014 Pipe manufacturer Southern Pipeline Contractors (SPC) on Wednesday officially opened its new R70-million high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe factory, on the East Rand, diversifying the company’s manufacturing capability. The facility, which became operational on August 28 following an... →

London Mining share price drops amid funding concerns

8th October 2014 Iron-ore explorer London Mining’s share price on the LSE fell 96% in early morning trade as the company updated the market on its financing challenges. The company’s share price fell to a low of 0.12p, compared with Tuesday’s close of 3.1p as the company said detailed discussions were ongoing... →

Marampa mine

Sanral planning huge capital projects, says user-pay principle necessary

7th October 2014 In light of South Africa’s need for well-maintained roads to promote the economy, social cohesion and a prosperous society, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has planned several huge capital projects for the 2014/15 financial year, CEO Nazir Alli said in a statement on... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Sanral CEO Nazir Alli

PPC partners with provinces to upgrade 82 km road

7th October 2014 Cement producer PPC, the Roads Agency Limpopo and the North West and Limpopo provincial governments have entered into a partnership to upgrade an 82 km secondary road between Koedoeskop and Dwaalboom, PPC announced on Tuesday. The cement producer said sections of this road, which linked Limpopo... →

Weatherly posts FY loss as lower copper prices impact on profitability

7th October 2014 Aim-listed Weatherly International posted a loss of $5.7-million for the financial year ended June 30, compared with a profit of $1.6-million during the prior financial year, as lower copper prices reduced the company’s gross profit to $600 000. The company noted that while its actual contained... →

South African economy, business confidence in ‘desperate position’ – Sacci

7th October 2014 Business confidence in South Africa remained at an undesirably low level in September, leaving the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) concerned about the lack of urgency in terms of how the business concerns reflected in its Business Confidence Index (BCI) was being addressed,... →

African countries urged to consider innovative infrastructure finance solutions

6th October 2014 African countries should consider innovative solutions to finance infrastructure development that would enable the continent to unlock quality growth, the Africa Progress Panel (APP) said on Monday. The organisation, which is chaired by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, pointed out that,... →

Jobs Fund has allocated R4.96bn to projects since inception – Nene

6th October 2014 Since its establishment by government in 2011, the Jobs Fund has allocated R4.96-billion to projects catalysing innovation and investment in activities which directly contributed to sustainable job creation initiatives and long-term employment creation, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said in a... →

White Rivers, Harmony Gold enter exploration JV

6th October 2014 Mineral explorer and developer White Rivers Exploration (WRE) and gold miner Harmony Gold have entered into a joint venture (JV) to explore and develop potential gold resources at WRE’s Beisa project and abutting exploration areas within Harmony’s adjacent operations in the Free State. Under the... →

Worldsteel lowers global demand forecast for 2014, 2015

6th October 2014 The World Steel Association (worldsteel) on Monday lowered its global steel demand growth forecast to 2% for 2014 and 2015, as the positive momentum seen during the second half of 2013 abated in 2014, with a weaker-than-expected performance in emerging and developing economies, worldsteel... →

New R1.2bn furnace boosts Nampak’s glass production capacity by 56%

3rd October 2014 Glass manufacturer Nampak Glass has increased its manufacturing capacity by 56% through the addition of a new R1.2-billion third furnace at its Germiston-based manufacturing facility. Nampak Glass CEO Andre de Ruyter said on Friday that the addition of the new furnace, which had the capacity to... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Nampak Glass CEO André de Ruyter

JSE launches African currency futures

3rd October 2014 The JSE on Friday launched three new currency futures contracts tracking the exchange rate between the rand and the Zambian kwacha, the Kenyan shilling and the Nigerian naira. These currency futures would allow investors, as well as importers and exporters to protect themselves against the... →

Alecto appoints new executive chairperson

3rd October 2014 Aim-listed West and East Africa-focused mineral exploration company Alecto Minerals on Friday announced the appointment of Mark Wellesley-Wood as nonexecutive chairperson with immediate effect. Wellesley-Wood, who was until recently a director within the corporate finance division of Investec... →

Mintails CEO resigns

3rd October 2014 ASX-listed Mintails on Friday announced that its CEO Anthony Ehlers had resigned with effect from October 1. Executive director Bukhosi Ndimande and nonexecutive director Mark Brune would, in the interim, share responsibility for the functions of the CEO role. →

Savannah on track to define Jorc-compliant Jangamo resource by end-2014

2nd October 2014 Aim-listed Savannah Resources on Thursday said that it was on track to define a potential Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (Jorc-) compliant mineral resource for its 180 km2 Jangamo heavy mineral sands (HMS) project, in Mozambique, late this year. The company noted that it had now completed the... →

Old Mutual decreases Lonmin voting rights

2nd October 2014 Investment group Old Mutual on Thursday decreased its voting rights in platinum miner Lonmin to below 7%. Following the transaction, Old Mutual held 39.37-million, or 6.9%, voting rights in the platinum miner. →

Q2 domestic cement sales down 5.1%

2nd October 2014 Domestic cement sales declined by 5.1% year-on-year to 3.04-million tons during the three months ended June 30, cement producer PPC announced on Thursday. The second-quarter sales were, however, higher than the 2.48-million tons sold during the first quarter, which reflected a 5.4% year-on-year... →

Gauteng Transport Month addressing public transport as pillar of economic development

2nd October 2014 Through its October Transport Month campaign theme of ‘Transport Moving the Economy Forward’ the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport was responding to Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s call for the modernisation of public transport infrastructure as one of the ten pillars of the... →

TNPA appoints new Durban port manager

2nd October 2014 Transnet National Ports Authority on Thursday announced the appointment of Transnet Port Terminals head of strategy Moshe Motlohi as the new Durban port manager. Motlohi, who had previously held various positions in the ports sector, would succeed current Durban ports manager Thami Ntshingila,... →

Newly appointed Port of Durban manager Moshe Motlohi

Firestone to conclude Botswana asset disposal in 2015, to focus on Liqhobong

2nd October 2014 Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds plans to conclude its Botswana asset disposal process next year, allowing the company’s management team to focus their attention on the successful completion of the Liqhobong mine development project, in Lesotho, the company said on Thursday. Firestone started the... →

Tulu Kapi cost estimates below global average

1st October 2014 Aim-listed Kefi Minerals on Wednesday announced that the total operating costs for its Tulu Kapi gold project, in Ethiopia, had been estimated at $626/oz, with all-in costs being estimated at $844/oz including royalties. The company said this all-in cost was well below global industry averages. →

Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation shortlist announced

1st October 2014 The shortlist of innovations in the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation was announced on Wednesday, comprising 12 new innovations from seven African countries. The shortlist announced by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) included innovations in agriculture, nanotechnology,... →

Cement production at Aganang to start this month

1st October 2014 Cement production at Sephaku Holdings subsidiary Sephaku Cement’s (SepCem’s) Aganang integrated plant, in the North West, was scheduled to start this month, following the successful start of clinker production in August, the company announced on Wednesday. Further, during the first week of... →

Village earnings drop as restructuring continues

1st October 2014 Gold producer Village Main Reef on Wednesday reported a 34.7% decline in headline earnings a share from continuing operations to 26.12c for the financial year ended June 30. Earnings a share from continuing operations also declined by 34.9% to 22.4c and operating profit from continuing operations... →

IFM, Portnex to acquire Australian coking coal retort assets

1st October 2014 London-listed International Ferro Metals (IFM), in conjunction with mining and commodities trading company Portnex International, has made an offer to acquire the assets owned by Australia-based Pacific Carbon and Modderriver Minerals on Kooragang Island, in Newcastle, Australia. IFM and Portnex... →

Positive legacy becoming important part of responsible mining

1st October 2014 Leaving behind a positive legacy was increasingly becoming an important component of responsible mining, University of the Witwatersrand Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry director Professor Caroline Digby said on Wednesday at the opening session of the Mine Closure 2014 conference,... →

Gijima to raise R100m to underpin next stage of turnaround

30th September 2014 Information and communication technology services group Gijima on Tuesday announced that it would undertake a rights offer and restructure its existing trade receivables securitisation funding programme to ensure that it had sufficient working capital to underpin the next stage of its turnaround... →

BlueRock to start commercial mining at Kareevlei

30th September 2014 Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has reached the end of its trial mining period at its Kareevlei tenements, in the Northern Cape, and was ready to move on to commercial production, executive chairperson Paul Beck said on Tuesday. BlueRock had also completed the transfer of the Kareevlei tenements to... →

Namib project development still priority for North River

30th September 2014 Aim-listed North River Resources will continue to prioritise the development of its 1.25-million tons Namib lead/zinc/silver project, in Namibia, North River MD Martin French said on Tuesday. French pointed out that the asset had the potential to generate meaningful revenues in the near term as... →

Sacci survey shows e-toll service still poor

30th September 2014 A recent study by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) has shown that the service quality of the South African National Roads Agency Limited’s (Sanral’s) e-toll system was mostly poor regardless of the level of interaction or the user’s willingness to pay. Sacci CEO Neren... →

York Timbers earnings down 53%

30th September 2014 Forestry and forest products group York Timber Holdings on Tuesday reported earnings of R49.76-million for the year ended June 30, down 53% from the R106.86-million achieved during the prior year, with the decline mainly the result of reduced sawmill profitability and lower margins achieved by... →

Employment up 1.5% in Q2, employment stats sampling being reassessed

29th September 2014 The number of people employed in the formal, nonagricultural sector of the South African economy increased by about 155 000 people, or 1.8%, from March to an estimated 8.67-million employees in June, Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA’s) latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) survey has... →

Q2 turnover of all industries in SA economy down 0.5%

29th September 2014 During the three months ended June 30, the total turnover of all industries in the South African economy, excluding agriculture, financial intermediation, insurance and government institutions, declined by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter to R1.86-trillion, with the mining and manufacturing sectors having... →

Municipal electricity purchases up 27.8% quarter-on-quarter

29th September 2014 Purchases of electricity by municipalities increased by 27.8% quarter-on-quarter for the three months ended June 30, to R15.26-billion, while purchases of water increased by 1.4% over the period, data released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Monday, has shown. Stats SA said the increase... →

Redistribution to combat water interruptions, situation to be ‘normalised’ within two weeks – Mokonyane

26th September 2014 State-owned water utility Rand Water has resolved to use load shifting to correct current imbalances in water supply around areas in Gauteng, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) said on Friday. According to Rand Water, the water shortages, which first started in the west of Johannesburg... →

Stakeholders have until Oct 31 to submit comments in LPG enquiry

26th September 2014 The Competition Commission has made a call for submissions in terms of its enquiry into the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry, giving stakeholders until October 31 to submit their comments. The aims and rationale of the three-phase market inquiry – of which the commission expected to... →

Coca-Cola, BT offering free Internet access to impoverished communities

26th September 2014 Beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola South Africa, its bottling partner Coca-Cola Fortune and information and communication technology provider BT Global Services have partnered to provide impoverished communities with free WiFi through Coca-Cola vending machines. Coca-Cola was responsible for... →

Kibo prioritising fast-track development at Imweru

26th September 2014 Given the potential of mineral asset explorer and developer Kibo Mining’s flagship 550 000 oz Imweru project, in Tanzania, to generate early cash flows, Kibo said on Friday that it had decided to prioritise the implementation of fast-track development at the mine. The London Aim- and Johannesburg... →

Mokonyane, Portfolio Committee meet with Rand Water management

26th September 2014 Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane on Friday morning visited the control room of State-owned water utility Rand Water to inspect the flow of water levels at its reservoirs, and was scheduled to meet with the Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s Coordinating Forum on Friday afternoon to... →

New unit is key to addressing mismanagement of State property portfolio

26th September 2014 The Department of Public Works (DPW) was aiming to have the Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE) established as a government component and “up and running” by November this, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi reported this month, adding that the DPW also planned to have appointed top-level... →

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