A representative from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy's (DMRE's) Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office has confirmed that 70% of South Africa’s 64 IPPs have indicated they will participate in the department’s renewable energy project refinancing initiative. DMRE infrastructure finance head for the IPP Office Elsa Strydom notes that the refinancing initiative of the [...]

Business for South Africa (B4SA) released an economic recovery strategy paper on July 10 that includes a list of 12 priority initiatives, many infrastructure-related, which the formation argues could bolster gross domestic product (GDP) by R1-trillion, create up to 1.5-million jobs and increase yearly tax revenues by R100-billion in the coming three years. It also [...]

In a joint statement, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) have welcomed the dismissal, by the Labour Appeal Court, of the appeal by the Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) of South African Airways (SAA) against a Labour Court judgement in May. That judgment held that [...]

Pretoria-based technology company Foresight Security has installed a locally developed thermal scanning system at a mine in the Northern Cape to help detect any possible cases of Covid-19. The system is capable of scanning two rows of mineworkers walking at a normal pace without them having to stop to have their temperatures tested, says Foresight Security business development director [...]

Minerals Council South Africa health head Dr Thuthula Balfour on Thursday expressed deep sadness at the loss of 28 colleagues to Covid-19 and stated that research was being conducted to understand what made people particularly vulnerable to the pandemic and what could be done to prevent the deaths. “While the mortality rate in the mining [...]

South Africa’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, used the platform created by the International Energy Agency (IEA) Clean Energy Transitions Summit on July 9 to stress that South Africa’s shift form a high-carbon to a low-carbon needed to be both systematic and just. Speaking during the virtual event, which was opened by United [...]

Gas supplier Air Products, renewable energy developer ACWA Power and NEOM, have signed an agreement for a $5-billion world-scale green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility, powered by renewable energy. The project will produce green ammonia for export to global markets and be jointly owned by the three partners.

As the Covid-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on the global and domestic economies, South Africa’s top 50 most valuable brands could lose up to 15% of brand value cumulatively, a drop of more than R65-billion compared with the original valuation date of January 1, according to the latest 'South Africa 50' 2020 report from independent brand valuation consultancy [...]

The Western Cape High Court has ordered insurance company Guardrisk to pay the business interruption claims of Cape restaurant Cafe Chameleon. The ruling has been welcomed by specialist public loss adjustment firm Insurance Claims Africa (ICA). “This is a significant win for the tourism and hospitality sector,” highlighted ICA CEO Ryan Woolley. “While there is no [...]

The first batch of 1 100 foreign mineworkers was scheduled to cross back into South Africa on Tuesday, Mining Weekly can report. This is part of a total of 12 500 gold and platinum workers returning from Mozambique, Lesotho and Eswatini, formerly Swaziland.

Mining Weekly incorrectly reported on July 7 that ASX-listed Kogi Iron had received a large investment from European funds management company Torridon Investments Research to develop its Agbaja cast steel project, in Nigeria. However, Torridon, which is a European funds manager with billions of dollars of resources assets under management, had only expressed, in a [...]

While still in the process of reviewing the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s revised budget for the 2020/21 financial year, the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy has noted its revision to R7.8-billion, from R9.3-billion previously. The revised budget follows after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced a revised fiscal framework, taking into account [...]