gold mining equipment in Johannesburg, South Africa — MININGREVIEW.COM — 22 February 2012 – Impala Platinum ‒ the world’s second-largest platinum producer ‒ has expressed the hope that most of the workforce at its Rustenburg operations are being persuaded by union leaders to return to work.
A violent labour dispute at the world’s largest single platinum mine has already cost Implats at least 80,000 ounces in lost output as the rival Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union tries to recruit from a workforce that has traditionally been aligned with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
The dispute centered on a bonus offered to only part of the workforce, crushing plant for sale and has escalated into a violent struggle between competing unions.
Implats says it is hopeful that the workforce will return soon, and NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka Implats was also cautiously optimistic. “We are hopeful that developments are leading to the end of the protest action,” he said.
Illegal strike action at Rustenburg led Implats to fire over 17,000 workers. The company said the re-employment process was continuing with more than 8,000 people re-hired to date. These include 995 rock drill operators, but the company has said it needs at least 2,000 before it can start hauling platinum out of the ground again. crusher machine
In what is being regarded as the first major African mining play by a Chinese company, China’s Minmetals Resources succeeded Friday in closing its $1.3 billion bid for copper miner Anvil Mining. stone crusher exporter and supplier in India
Hong Kong-listed Minmetals was offering $8 a share for Anvil, whose key asset is the Kinsevere mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After the acquisition, Kinsevere is expected to produce 60,000 tonnes of copper cathode a year, from 16,000 tpa in 2010. The mine is expected to have about a 14-year life.
The deal between Minmetals and Anvil nearly unravelled back in November over contractual arrangements between Anvil and DRC state-owned mining body Gecamines, but Gecamines last week confirmed Anvil’s title to the Kinsevere and the Mutoshi copper and cobalt projects were valid and in good standing. gold mining equipments business plan
Minmetals had previously offered $6.3 billion for Vancouver-based Equinox Resources, which also mines copper in Africa, but was outbid by Barrick Gold in one of the biggest acquisitions of 2011.
“We bid for Equinox, now we’ve got Anvil, so we’re interested in that part of the world,” Minmetals CEO Andrew Michelmore said Friday. “We like that prospectivity.”
Richard Poplak, reporting in The Daily Maverick, comments on the significance of the Minmetals-Anvil takeover:
It represents Minmetals entry into the African market – and while fellow Chinese miner Jinchuan Group Co. outbid Brazil’s Vale for South Africa-listed Metorex Ltd last year, this is the deal that seems to signal the tipping point. The Chinese have, officially, arrived. kenyan crusher for sale
Indeed, Chinese companies have been anxious to secure copper supply anywhere the red metal is plentiful, including the central African copper belt. With the country consuming 40% of the world’s copper’s supply to feed an economy that, while coming off the boil recently, is still projected to grow 6-7% this year, it is not surprising to see Chinese companies in an acquiring mood.
Reuters reported Michelmore saying that Minmetals, a unit of China’as biggest metals trader, will continue to look for deposits of copper, zinc and nickel in Africa, North and South America, parts of Asia and Australia:
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“For something close to production in construction phase it’s that $1-$7 billion range,” he said, when asked how much Minmetals could spend on further acquisitions.