All of the electricity of the mining division of the London-listed Chile-based Antofagasta plc will from 2022 be from renewable sources at lower cost. This follows the signing by Antofagasta’s Centinela copper mine of a new power purchase agreement with Engie Energía Chile, effective from 2022 and extending to 2033.

Law firm Webber Wentzel says that, in light of the current restrictions of movement of people in South Africa to curb the spread of Covid-19, various timeframes around environmental applications and others have been extended. Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy on March 31 published new Disaster Management Act regulations. These regulations aim to [...]

South African ports remain open to all types of cargo, although essential goods should be prioritised where possible, the Department of Transport said in a notice shared by the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) on its website. The notice, dated March 31, contradicts communications from port authorities last week that showed South Africa's bulk [...]

Capital and liquidity requirements across all the markets in which it operates are continuing to be met, Standard Bank Group FD Dr Arno Daehnke said during an investor call. Daehnke disclosed that the bank was benefitting from building up increased capital levels over the last few years in line with Basel requirements. As at December 31, [...]

The South Africa-based Central and Southern Africa Office of Russian State-owned nuclear energy group Rosatom has assured that it is both complying with the 21-day lockdown now in force in South Africa (to counter the Covid-19 pandemic) and continuing to support its customers. In a statement issued on April 1, the office pointed out that [...]

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi announced on March 31 that applications for the National Disaster Covid-19 benefit, which had been put in place to mitigate the effects of lay-offs during the lockdown, would not be handled on an individual basis and would instead need to be submitted by sectoral associations and bargaining councils. Nxesi [...]

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted global diversified mining and marketing company Glencore to defer its proposed $2.6-billion distribution of cash and reinforce its $10.1- billion liquidity through the refinancing and extension of revolving credit facilities on the same commercial terms as its 2019 facilities. The London- and Johannesburg-listed company said on Tuesday that  with COVID-19 [...]

International commercial aviation representative body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) published a new analysis on March 31 that indicated that the world’s airlines would, during the second quarter of this year, suffer a total net loss of $39-billion. They would also expend $61-billion of their cash reserves over the same three-month period (ending on [...]

Since Cyril Ramaphosa declared a State of National Disaster on March 15, the Competition Commission has been flooded with complaints of retailers charging excessive prices for certain goods. This is despite regulations having been put in place by Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel to prohibit anticompetitive conduct aimed at profiteering during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a joint statement on March 31, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the South African Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) have blasted the government over its handling of the crisis in State-owned regional airline SA Express. Their response was to a statement on the airline issued by the Department of Public [...]

International banking group Standard Chartered will commit $1-billion in financing for companies that provide goods and services to help in the fight against Covid-19, and those planning the switch into making products that are in high demand to fight the worldwide pandemic, the bank announced on March 30. The bank intends to provide, at preferential [...]

South Africa’s diversified black-controlled mining and minerals company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) on Tuesday announced that its financial director Abigail Mukhuba would be stepping down with effect from the end of September to pursue a new career, and that ARM senior executive finance: corporate and tax Derrick King had been appointed acting finance director. King [...]