This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BL Premium reports that Impala Platinum (Implats) CEO Nico Muller has ruled out the development of new platinum group metals (PGM) mines in SA, saying the long-term outlook for demand in electric vehicles has curtailed the desire to develop new assets in the sector.
“I think it is highly improbable that you’re going to see material investment in new PGM assets in SA – in particular if you don’t have beneficiation capacity,” Muller opined on Thursday. He added: “I don’t think our industry has ever had this long-term risk. For you to build a new mine you’re talking about 10 to 20 years. This is exactly the period where there is a long-term concern about electric vehicles. I am not convinced that any shareholder or company is going to see a clear and attractive shareholder return for development in new assets. If you have processing capacity, that helps. Or if you’re doing it as an add-on to an existing operation where you’re looking at purely marginal increase in cost, that is possible. But new fresh projects in my view are highly improbable.” Estimates are that platinum supply will outstrip demand on the back of a rise in demand for green metals in response to the emergence of battery electrical vehicles, which have been receiving huge government subsidies around the world. SA, the world’s biggest platinum producer, is bearing the brunt of a plunge in PGM prices over the past year. Producers have responded by increasingly focusing on cost-saving measures and cutting capital budgets as margins become tighter.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo & Jacqueline Mackenzie at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page