Natalie Greve

https://staging1.creamermedia.com/

Natalie Greve

Natalie Greve is Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor Online for Engineering News and Mining Weekly.

Tel: +2711 622 3744

Email: natalie@engineeringnews.co.za

R&D partnership sees launch of new ‘morogo’-flavoured noodles

23rd October 2015 After three years of collaborative research and product development centered on the potential health benefits, nutraceutical and functional food applications of various indigenous South African edible plants, a new instant noodle product flavoured with local plant Amaranthus – popularly known as... →

Thabane Zulu appointed new DoE director-general

23rd October 2015 n a move welcomed by Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, former Human Settlements director-general Thabane Zulu has been appointed director-general of the Department of Energy (DoE). He replaces acting director-general Dr Wolsey Barnard. →

TNPA advances deepening of Port of Durban’s berths

23rd October 2015 Following Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA’s) ongoing efforts to address shallow spots exacerbated by the size of megaships now calling at the Port of Durban, harbour master Captain Alex Miya has reinstated a number of berths back to their original permissible draughts. “The vessels... →

Housing a vital market for consulting engineers amid infrastructure slowdown

23rd October 2015 While the pipeline of infrastructure projects promised under government’s National Development Plan remains largely elusive, the country’s housing and human settlements sector is emerging as a key market pillar of the consulting engineering sector, providing around 11% of the industry’s earnings... →

Jubilee receives R110.5m payout for Middelburg operations

23rd October 2015 Mine-to-metals company Jubilee Platinum has received the R110.5-million cash consideration from Siyanda Resources in relation to the disposal of Jubilee Smelting and Refining (JSR) and its 70% stake in Power Alt (PA). The remaining 15% was held in escrow, with a further 10% to be released from... →

Low zinc prices push Glencore to slash 500 000 t/y of production, shed jobs

23rd October 2015 Diversified major Glencore has revealed plans to cut back on its production of zinc across its portfolio in Australia, South America and Kazakhstan, saying a 500 000 t/y output reduction would preserve the value of its reserves in the ground at a time of low zinc and lead prices, which it... →

Firestone Diamonds, Tango extend payment date for Botswana deal

23rd October 2015 Aim-listed Firestone Diamonds has agreed to amend certain conditions of the conditional sale agreement (CSA) related to the disposal of the company's Botswana operations to Tango Mining for $8-million, as announced on July 9. The amended terms extended the date by which Tango was required to... →

Volatile commodity markets ‘business as usual’ for BHP, says Nasser

22nd October 2015 While observing that the last 12 months had been economically volatile and uncertain, BHP Billiton chairperson Jac Nasser has described the resources group as “robust and resilient”, remaining well positioned to ride out the inevitably cyclical nature of the commodity markets in which it remains... →

600 MW KiPower coal project given environmental go-ahead

22nd October 2015 The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has granted an integrated environmental authorisation (IEA) for the construction of the 600 MW KiPower coal-fired independent power plant near Delmas, Mpumalanga. This after the DEA initially rejected the final environmental-impact assessment report... →

Prepaid market pushes MTN S Africa subscriber base to 29.1m

22nd October 2015 Telecommunications group MTN has boosted its overall subscriber base by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter in the three months ended September 30, benefitting from a 2% growth in the South African market that emerged largely from the prepaid segment and pushed the domestic subscriber base to 29.1-million.... →

Platinum sector still pulling billions in investment, report shows

22nd October 2015 Despite multiyear low platinum prices and significant demand uncertainty in the key markets of autocatalysts, jewellery and investment, a sector report by investment banking firm Liberum has asserted that the “cash flow-destructive” South African platinum sector continues to attract bids and... →

Anglo lowers FY diamond output guidance as Q3 production falls 27%

22nd October 2015 Diversified miner Anglo American has lowered its forecast diamond production for the full year to 29-million carats. At the start of the year, it had expected diamond production of between 32-million and 34-million carats, following the 31.2-million and 32.6-million carats produced in 2013 and... →

Sibanye becomes latest gold producer to ink 3yr wage deal with unions

22nd October 2015 Gold producer Sibanye Gold has inked a three-year wage deal with labour unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and Uasa, which will see entry-level workers receiving increases of between 10% and 13% in basic wage in each of the three years of the agreement. This followed the... →

Gibb wraps up feasibility study for underground tunnel at OR Tambo

21st October 2015 Black-owned engineering consulting firm Gibb Engineering has completed a feasibility study (FS), commissioned by the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA), that investigates the construction and operational feasibility of connecting the existing Western Precinct and the Midfield Development at... →

Tribunal approves Tiso Blackstar, Robor merger

21st October 2015 The Competition Tribunal has approved, without conditions, a merger between investment holding company, the Tiso Blackstar group and welded tube and pipes manufacturer Robor, which lifts Tiso Blackstar’s shareholding from 19.4% to a majority 51% stake. Engineering News Online reported in July... →

Bass transfers A$300 000 to Stratmin in Mauritius deal

21st October 2015 ASX-listed Bass Metals has paid London-listed graphite producer StratMin Global Resources A$300 000 in two separate instalments as part of the Australia-based company’s £2-million earn-in agreement to acquire a 25% stake in StratMin’s Graphmada Mauritius subsidiary. StratMin noted in a statement... →

US govt funding organisation injects $400m into S Africa-based CSP plant

21st October 2015 As part of US State secretary John Kerry's Climate and Clean Energy Investment Forum, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has signed an agreement with US-based energy developer SolarReserve and independent project developer ACWA Power, recognising OPIC's $400-million commitment of... →

Operational hiccups at Tanzanian mines wound Acacia’s Q3 showing

21st October 2015 "Disappointing” operational performances at London-listed Acacia Mining’s Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi mines, in Tanzania, have driven a 14% year-on-year slump in the production of gold to 163 888 oz for the third quarter ended September 30, while sales volumes, at 16 116 oz for the three months,... →

Innovation key to sustaining manufacturing sector

21st October 2015 Noting that the South African manufacturing sector was going through a structural adjustment phase, rather than a cyclical downturn, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba has called for a rethink of South Africa’s approach to manufacturing,... →

S Africa lifts steel output 24.5% to 625 000 t in Sept

21st October 2015 South Africa’s crude steel production rallied 24.5% year-on-year to 625 000 t in September, bucking a global trend that saw global crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) dipping 3.7% to 131-million tons. Turkey registered the largest... →

Lonmin looks to shareholder for $400m parachute, maintains job cut plans

21st October 2015 Advancing its efforts to ride out the low platinum price environment, dual-listed platinum miner Lonmin has announced plans to raise $400-million through a rights issue and has reiterated plans to mothball the high-cost Newman and Hossy shafts and cut some 6 000 jobs. The company’s share price on... →

IPPs could have legal case for lack of grid access – Competition Commission

20th October 2015 Independent power producers (IPPs) active in South Africa could well have a legal case against energy utility Eskom, should the parastatal be found to have breached the ambits of the Competition Act by denying them access to the national electricity grid to distribute power to third parties, the... →

Shanta’s New Luika delivers record Q3 gold output

20th October 2015 East Africa-focused Shanta Gold has delivered record quarterly production of 24 522 oz of gold for the three months to September 30, benefiting from a 33% quarter-on-quarter lift in gold ore grade efficiencies and a 25% increase in tons milled over the quarter at is Tanzania-based New Luika gold... →

Aveng to repay A$112m advance for Queensland JV gas project

20th October 2015 The Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas (QCLNG) pipeline and facilities project has requested the repayment of the remaining A$112-million advance payment from construction and engineering major Aveng, whose Australasia and Asian business remained tied up in long-standing commercial claims... →

Competition Commission appoints new enforcement head

20th October 2015 Taking over from Junior Khumalo, who has resigned to take up a role at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Nompucuko Nontombana has been appointed as the Competition Commission’s enforcement and exemptions division’s manager, with effect from October 16. Nontombana has... →

Nzimande puts issue of tuition fee hikes squarely at universities’ door

20th October 2015 Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has called for calm amid growing student tensions on several of the country’s university campuses, but has diverted the responsibility for fee structures and yearly enrolment increases to the universities themselves, telling a media briefing in Pretoria... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande

‘Resilient’ S African SMEs facing funding, cash flow headwinds

19th October 2015 South African small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to show resilience in the face of lingering economic headwinds, funding shortfalls and delayed client payments, results from the 2015 National Small Business Survey released by the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) have shown.... →

African Potash adds Oxford alum, EY partner to board

19th October 2015 Aim-listed explorer African Potash has appointed professional services firm EY senior partner and oil & gas leader for Africa Elias Pungong as nonexecutive director, following the exit of board member Ed Marlow. Pungong would support the company in its growth strategy as it sought to realise... →

Richland delivers 156 000 ct in Q3 ramp-up of Capricorn mine

19th October 2015 London-listed Richland Resources has delivered 156 000 ct in the three months to September 30 as part of the production start-up and ramp-up process at its Capricorn sapphire operation, in Australia, mining and processing 21 628 t of sapphire-bearing alluvials over the three months, it said on... →

Sub-Saharan Africa M&A deal value rises to $23.4bn

19th October 2015 The value of announced merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions with any sub-Saharan African involvement reached $23.4-billion in the first nine months of 2015 – 12% more than the value registered during the same period in 2014, Thomson Reuters Africa MD Sneha Shah has revealed. “Sub-Saharan... →

Absence of long-term Eskom contracts to drive 70% slip in Wescoal H1 earnings

16th October 2015 Coal producer Wescoal is readying for an up to 70% decrease in earnings a share for the six months ended September 30 to 4.56c and 5.62c, blaming the weaker half-year performance on the erosion of the global mining industry over the past 12 months and global thermal coal prices, which are at... →

Saice lauds M&R, slams govt skills deficit in wake of bridge collapse

16th October 2015 The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) on Friday added its voice to those offering condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and those injured in the collapse of temporary steel scaffolding across the M1 highway earlier this week, describing it as one of the... →

Commission extends completion date of healthcare market inquiry by a year

16th October 2015 The Competition Commission has extended the date by which it plans to complete a market enquiry into the private healthcare industry from November 30, 2015, to December 15, 2016, citing delays in accessing information from certain stakeholders. According to the new timetable published in the... →

Necsa rubbishes media claims of internal financial crisis

16th October 2015 The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has publicly disputed media allegations implying that a delay in the publication of its annual report is attributable to a financial crisis facing the company. The organisation said on Friday that it had informed a scheduled meeting of... →

Debt-heavy Rockwell juggles operating costs, repayment obligations in Q2

16th October 2015 After suspending its finance-raising efforts at the end of August amid the downturn in global commodity and equity markets, diamond explorer Rockwell Diamonds has described the ongoing challenge of balancing its working capital requirements with its debt obligations, which now stood at... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Rockwell Diamonds CEO James Campbell

PRASA launches high-tech Gauteng ‘nerve centre’

16th October 2015 Consolidating the province’s eight existing passenger train control rooms into a single, high-tech “super” control centre that will act as Gauteng’s passenger signalling hub, State-owned rail group, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), on Monday officially launched the Gauteng Rail... →

Namibia punts strategic shipping position as it targets new investors

16th October 2015 While acknowledging that its compact population size of 2.1-million offered limited market scope for potential investors, Namibia continues to punt its strategic location along a key transatlantic shipping route and proximity to the frontier markets of Zambia, Angola and Zimbabwe as a rationale... →

York Timbers outlines plan for R1.4bn biomass power plant

16th October 2015 Local timber group York Timbers has fleshed out ambitious plans to establish a R1.4-billion electrical biomass power plant at its timber plant, in Mpumalanga, which will deliver 25 MW into the national grid and allow the company to generate energy income from what would otherwise be discarded... →

Siemens eyeing emerging brewery markets for automation offering

16th October 2015 International technology group Siemens has placed the emerging growth markets of Africa, South America and Asia at the centre of its strategy to encourage the early adoption of automation and digitalisation in the beer brewing industry, contending that brewery automation solutions assist... →

‘Extraordinary’ interventions urged as business confidence drops to 22-year low

16th October 2015 After rallying to 87.9 in July and dipping to 84.3 in August, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Sacci’s) business confidence index (BCI) lost another 2.7 index points in September to hit 81.6, dropping to its lowest level since July 1993 and demonstrating stubborn domestic... →

10% drop in coal sales hurts Hwange Colliery’s financial performance

16th October 2015 A 10% year-on-year decline in Zimbabwe-based Hwange Colliery’s coal sales to 685 759 t has dented the company’s profitability and widened its operating loss from $7.6-million in the interim period to June 2014 to $19.5-million in the six months ended June 30. On the back of lower coal sales,... →

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