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Dual-listed gold producer Gold Fields has reported a 22% year-on-year increase in its headline earnings to $890-millon, or $1 a share, for the year ended December 31.

Normalised earnings for the year were 6% higher at $929-million, and the miner reported a profit of $789-million, or $0.89 a share - a year-on-year increase of about 9%, despite “the high inflationary and Covid-impacted environment”, Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith noted in a conference call on February 17.

Production for 2021 increased by 5% year-on-year to 2.34-million ounces, despite pandemic-related challenges having impacted on performance at the South African and Peruvian operations, particularly during the first half of the year.

All-in costs (AIC) for 2021 reached $1 297/oz; higher than in 2020 as a result of the increased project capital expenditure at Salares Norte, but below the lower end of the guidance range of $1 310/oz to $1 350/oz.

Griffith explained that although costs had increased by 20%, if the higher Salares Norte capital costs were excluded and the costs were normalised in terms of the exchange rate differences for South Africa and Australia, “the year-on-year increase only amounted to 5%”.

Gold Fields generated cash flow from operating activities less net capital expenditure (capex), environmental payments, lease payments and redemption of Asanko preference shares of $463-million, with adjusted free cash flow, excluding project capital, amounting to $913-million.

CFO Paul Schmidt noted that the company had declared a final dividend of R2.60, with a total dividend for 2021 of R4.70. In dollar terms, the dividend increased from $0.29 to $0.32, which amounted to a 9% increase year-on-year.

He reproed a $100-million decrease in the net debt, with the company ending the year at $969-million net debt, and stated that the net debt to adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation ratio was “very healthy” at 0.40 times.

Further, he commented that the company’s share price performance for the year rose by 18% compared with the gold index, which was down about 8%. “It was a very solid performance for the year as we met all of our guidance, in terms of costs, production and capex.”

SOUTH DEEP

Gold Fields called South Deep the stand-out performer of 2021, with production exceeding the original guidance provided in February 2021.

Gold production increased by 29% to 9 102 kg, or 293 000 oz. Total AIC decreased by 1% to $1 379/oz, with the increased capital and cost inflation fully offset by the increased gold sales. AIC in dollar terms increased by 9% as a result of the strengthening of the rand.

Encouragingly, South Deep generated net cash of R1.4-billion in 2021, 157% higher than the R558-million generated in 2020.

Gold Fields has started construction on a R715-million solar power plant and taken the decision to increase its capacity from 40 MW to 50 MW. The plant is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.

Griffith noted that the company was also investigating other means of energy generation. There were ongoing efforts to determine whether the increase in wind at night might justify the inclusion of wind-based solutions to generate more power during the off-peak periods.

He added that the operation was at a “much more sustainable position” and that the company was planning a ramp-up over the next few years to between 360 000 oz and 380 000 oz, based on the notable and consistent improvement at South Deep.

SOLARES NORTE

Griffith noted that the Salares Norte project remained on track, with the project progressing from 27% to 63% completion at the end of the year. First gold was still expected by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Despite the project progress of 63% being behind plan (67%) by the end of 2021, all critical path items of the project have tracked the plan and the bulk of the equipment has been fabricated and delivered.

Prestripping of the pit and construction of the processing plant started during ...

State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will need at least R3-billion to upgrade its security infrastructure across all of its corridors, with about 80% of this to be funded through external means, TFR North Corridor managing executive Thozama Mokoena revealed to Engineering News & Mining Weekly on February 16.

She explained that TFR simply did not have the funds internally to roll out the desired and much-needed security upgrades, which would be rolled out in phases across strategic corridors.

“With regard to security, we have to acknowledge we're overwhelmed,” she stressed.

Mokoena said TFR had experienced an unprecedented 177% increase in criminal incidences and security breaches along its network nationwide over the past five years.

At its peak, more than 120 000 m of copper cable was stolen in November 2020 alone. These incidents contributed to a 343% loss in tonnage railed over the same five years.

Vandalised or stolen signalling equipment, overhead traction equipment, substations and telecommunications were all recorded in this time.

Among the technologies that Mokoena proposed to roll out nationally were distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) systems. Unlike traditional sensors that rely on discrete sensors measuring at predetermined points, distributed sensing uses optical fibre as a sensing element, which allows acoustic signals to be detected over large distances.

She explained that DAS would pick up any unauthorised intrusion on the network.

She also mentioned the possible implementation of roving eye technology she referred to as “Cat Eyes”, which provided a mobile 360° surveillance capability along the rail lines.

Increased closed circuit television monitoring infrastructure and intrusion detection technology were also proposed.

Moreover, a strategy of “target hardening” was proposed to prevent access to equipment. Target hardening involves having steel boxes and cages, for example, being placed over key infrastructure to prevent access by unauthorised persons.

Mokoena said she believed the rampant rise in infrastructure theft was owing to the increase in the unemployment levels since the outbreak of the pandemic, giving rise to desperation among large parts of the population.

“It caught us off guard a little bit. We really did not expect that things would turn out like this,” she said.

She called for tighter regulation and controls on the sale of copper and steel in South Africa to help curb the theft of copper cables and other infrastructure because much of what is stolen gets melted down and exported.

“With tighter controls, we have an opportunity to close that down. We have already closed down a number of illegal scrap yards and illegal exporting operations,” she said.

Mokoena said TFR had been partnering with the South African Police Service, the Hawks, affected communities, customers and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal to address the issue of security along the compromised network.

Some customers have had to supply their own security in the interim in the form of on-the-ground security guards and vehicles, as well as aerial support in the form of surveillance drones.

She said TFR had about four drones monitoring the coal lines but was too “cash-strapped” to deploy more. The private sector, therefore, contributed an additional eight drones and 60 vehicles to supplement Transnet’s capacity.

Mokoena said that, since partnering with customers to beef up security measures, there has been some reduction in security incidents, although much more was still required.

“We really need to roll out a more technological solution as a more sustainable solution to the security issue,” she said, noting that physical guarding was only partly effective because criminals would merely move to other less-guarded areas.

She said prevention would be critical going forward.

“This technology unfortunately costs a lot, so we are also looking to partner with our customers in this respect. We believe that if we can raise the funds, this ...

Surface gold recovery company DRDGold, which on Wednesday continued its uninterrupted 15-year run of dividend paying, highlighted its R100-milllion-plus half-year contribution to the fiscus in income tax as an important current underpin of social systems that are helping the country to avoid abject poverty.

DRDGold CEO Niël Pretorius described current government social expenditure as "one of the most important things that is happening in South Africa" to keep abject poverty at bay during these tough and changing economic times.

Pretorius described the healthy current social support as “one of the main things standing between us and abject poverty as a nation”, and spoke of the social grant system monies pleasingly finding their way back into DRDGold’s communities.

Cash-flush and debt-free DRDGold on Wednesday declared an interim dividend of 20c a share for the six months to the end of December, its strong finish attributed mainly to an increase in gold recoveries and a higher average gold price compared with the first three months of the company’s 2022 financial year.

DRDGold ended its half-year financial period with cash and cash equivalents of R2 239.1-million, after paying a cash dividend of R345.5-million in September 2021.

The Johannesburg- and New York-listed company is focusing a lot of its social effort on the development of the informal economy.

Flashed on to the screen during the presentation of results was the picture shown above, which reflects community members taking the next steps in small agricultural enterprise into something slightly bigger and on its way to becoming a sustainable enterprise.

Of that network, which is in excess of 4 000 families in and around Johannesburg and now also the Carletonville area, DRDGold is at the start of initiating a broad-based livelihoods project with the University of Pretoria’s enterprise research department. Participants in the broad-based livelihoods programme learn how to preserve their excess produce.

“They have come up with 41 different programmes aimed squarely not just at the quality of life but also on the development of the informal sector.

“We believe that the informal economy is the best and the surest way out of poverty. The formal economy, especially now with the industrial revolution and employment becoming so much harder, the formal economy is not going to be able to absorb the majority of employable individuals in South Africa and ultimately also in the world," said Pretorius at the results presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

“There will be more people unemployed at some point in the future than people that are employed. You will have large companies generating big revenues, paying income tax, and that income tax finding its way into social grants, which is what we call it, or the universal income, which will be the international notion. That will be the source of capital of the informal economy and that’s where we’re going to be busy over the next few years, in assisting communities and the informal sector towards becoming sustainable.

“The one thing we will not do is to participate in some sort of a false redistributive economy of taking work away from value-adding participants in the informal sector and just pretending to be empowering individuals or companies when in fact all you’re doing is just moving capital around and not really adding value. That seems to be an expectation that is emerging and we're not going to be part of any false economy in that regard,” Pretorius emphasised.

Meanwhile, the process of distributing the R152-million proceeds of the DRD Empowerment Trust’s sale of DRDGold's shares has begun.

In 2020, the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies rated DRDGold first, reflecting its strong dividend and invest-back momentum.

“We're still the best-performing gold company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and that's something that we're really proud of,” said Pretorius.

Driven by strong performances from its Africa, Middle East and Latin America regions, Barrick’s production in 2021 was in line with guidance for the third successive year. The company also more than replaced its gold reserves net of depletion at a better grade.

A dividend of $0.10 a share was declared for the fourth quarter of 2021 that will be paid to shareholders at the close of business on February 28.

This represents an increase of 11% on the previous base quarterly dividend of $0.09 a share.

A share buyback of up to $1-billion of outstanding common shares over the next 12 months has been authorised.

Announcing the annual results, the company said its reserve replenishment was attributable to continued brownfield exploration success and it was extending its drive for fresh discoveries into new prospective territories. Among other initiatives, it has set up a specialist Asia-Pacific team to identify and evaluate opportunities in that region.

Free cash flow from the operations remained robust and at the year’s end, net cash stood at $130-million after the record cash distribution of $1.4-billion to shareholders. The fourth-quarter dividend was increased by 11% to $0.10 a share. Under the company’s new dividend policy, a base dividend will in future be coupled to a performance dividend linked to the net cash on the balance sheet. The board also approved a share buyback programme of up to $1-billion, given its belief that the shares are trading in a price range that does not reflect the value of the company’s mining and financial assets and future business prospects.

In a sector feeling the pinch of dwindling reserves and resources, successful exploration continued to replenish the company’s asset base and target pipeline, securing its business plans well into the future, the company stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

In North America, gains were driven by the completion of the updated feasibility study of the Goldrush underground project, which increased Goldrush’s attributable proven and probable mineral reserves by 3.6-million ounces to 4.8-million ounces at 7.29 g/t. At the Turquoise Ridge complex, attributable proven and probable reserves increased by 1.4-million ounces before depletion, principally off the back of a revised geological model at Turquoise Ridge underground.

In Africa, Bulyanhulu completed an updated underground feasibility study on the Deep West portion of the orebody, allowing it to increase attributable proven and probable reserves by 0.77-million ounces before depletion through the conversion of inferred mineral resources. Staying in Tanzania, a fully optimised integrated mine plan at North Mara has increased attributable proven and probable reserves by 1.1-million ounces before depletion. Barrick’s tier-one mines in Africa also delivered strong results, with Kibali able to more than replace depletion of reserves and Loulo-Gounkoto replenishing 98% of depletion for the year.

The London Aim-quoted Chaarat Gold has an exceptionally good working relationship with the government of the Kyrgyz Republic, says CEO Mike Fraser, who is well known in South Africa as the former COO of South32.

Chaarat is developing two gold projects in the Kyrgyz Republic. The first is Tulkubash, a near-term opencast heap leach project, and the second is Kyzyltash, a potentially larger, higher-grade and longer-term underground project. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Chaarat, which operates the Kapan mine in Armenia, has close to ten-million ounces of Joint Ore Reserve Committee-compliant resources. With significant mill capacity, Kapan also processes third-party ore.

Chaarat plans to increase its production of around 60 000 oz gold equivalent a year to around 450 000 oz gold equivalent a year within five years, dependent on the development of Tulkubash and Kyzyltash.

Fraser describes the Kyrgyz region as being very prospective: "It has not been well developed and has been very decentralised in terms of the development of projects in this region. We have a very good management team, which is able to operate in these regions, and so I'm quite excited about the possibility with Chaarat, to take it further on its development journey,” says Fraser, who spoke to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview.

Last year, Kapan exceeded its production guidance. With the support of prices, it had a 20% increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

Cost pressures are coming through, but also support from fairly strong and stable commodity prices, "which is going to help us to have another good year this year", says Fraser.

CENTERRA ISSUE

When Tulkubash’s bankable feasibility study was put out in May last year, the plan was to kickstart the project in January but this coincided with the Kyrgyz government taking control of the Kumtor mine from Centerra Resources, a Canada-based company.

“That created quite a lot of anxiety, as you can appreciate, amongst the multilaterals, as well as individual financiers, and put our project a little bit back.

“But we know that is very close to resolution. You will have seen Centerra put out an announcement a few weeks back and last week, Thursday, the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic came out and said that a resolution was imminent,” Fraser points out.

Feedback from multilaterals and private investors is that they will be willing to participate once the Centerra issue is settled.

Early works have commenced at Tulkubash, which are scheduled to be accelerated as soon as financing is in place.

At this stage, Tulkubash’s first gold is anticipated in 2024, at around 95 000 oz equivalent, which will be added to Chaarat’s production profile at that point.

VALUE DRIVERS

There are several key catalysts for Chaarat. First and foremost, it has to continue to run Kapan for value. Second is project financing for Tulkubash, and third is the completion of the feasibility study for Kyzyltash, the group’s potential long-life anchor.

“Then, we will continue to look at opportunities in the M&A space to see where there are opportunities to grow, potentially through mergers or acquisitions. But again, that's not something you necessarily plan for,” Fraser adds, against the background of Chaarat’s belief that the gold industry is ripe for further consolidation down the value chain.

But in the main, the company will “focus on the things that matter to us, that are in our control, and we believe those will be significantly value-adding and accretive for our shareholders,” Fraser emphasises.

2021 was a terrific year for the company, Glencore CEO Gary Nagle said on Tuesday, when the company reported record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of $21.3-billion, a record marketing performance Ebit of $3.7-bilion, and a record industrial business performance of $17.1-billion Ebitda.

As a result, net debt of $6-billion is now significantly below the London- and Johannesburg-listed company’s cap of $10-billion, which opened the way for a $4-billion distribution back to shareholders, made up of cash of $3.45-billion and a share buyback of $550-million. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

On the industrial side, Glencore reported strong demand across the world as countries emerged from Covid amidst a constrained supply environment, partly Covid, regulatory and geopolitically driven.

On top of that were low inventories across all commodities, across the world, resulting in very strong margins across the business.

“The market conditions remain favourable, we see dislocations in the market, we see arbitrage opportunities and hopefully a good result of 2022 as well,” Nagle said during an in-person and online results presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

CLIMATE-CHANGE STRATEGY

Glencore, which did not have a short-term target for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emission reductions going into 2021, now has a tight climate-change strategy: “By 2026, we will be down 15% across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions,” said Nagle.

The company’s former medium-term emission target of a 40% reduction by 2035 has now been lifted to 50% off its 2019 base year.

“On the social side, it’s very difficult to report but we have had four fatalities in our business during 2021 and that is four too many,” said Nagle.

“We continue to work very hard, day and night, Peter Freyberg and his team putting significant effort into our Safe Work programme. We’ve revised our Safe Work programme. Safe Work 2 is being rolled out. We are seeing some excellent results, but so far not good enough. We are not there. We do believe in zero harm in our business and we do believe we can get there,” Nagle added.

A task force has been set up to promote diversity and inclusion, which is being driven through the business.

On the governance side, Glencore has what Nagle described as a best-in-class ethics and compliance programme.

“I truly believe it is a best-in-class programme and it’s not a standing-still product. We continue to work at it day in, day out to ensure that we’re a responsible and ethical operator,” he said.

As previously disclosed, Glencore is subject to a number of investigations by regulatory and enforcement authorities including the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the UK Serious Fraud Office and the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor’s office.

“As announced this morning, we also expect to resolve the US, UK and Brazilian investigations during the course of 2022 and we’ve recorded a provision for these costs in our accounts,” Nagle said.

FINANCIAL DETAILS

The 84% increase in Ebitda translated into free cash flow of $13-billion – “that’s the key number ultimately within any business. That’s what derives your debt reduction, your capacity to make distributions and payouts to one’s shareholders,” said Glencore CFO Steve Kalmin.

“The real kicker from H1 into H2 was in the coal business,” said Kalmin.

The coal Ebitda margin in 2021 was $50.6/t on 3% lower production compared with $11/t in 2020. Coal production of 103.3-million tonnes was 2.9-million tonnes lower.

“We’ve got a higher 12% annualised tailwind even going into 2022 at current macros,” added Kalmin.

Copper and cobalt contributed meaningfully, along with zinc, nickel and the ferroalloys business.

“Ferro itself is almost into a podium position. They had a great result from our South African business during the year, both in production and margins,” said Kalmin.

Earlier this month, Glencore reported 43% higher ferrochrome production in 2021, wi...

Industry organisation Minerals Council South Africa has recommitted to zero tolerance of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), sexism, racism and bullying in the mining industry, after noting the release of a report by diversified global miner Rio Tinto exposing these problems across its operations.

The ‘Report into Workplace Culture’ at Rio Tinto gave the Minerals Council and its members reason to reflect and recommit to their efforts to address GBVF, sexism, racism and bullying at South African mining operations, the organisation says.

It notes it as an opportunity to contemplate the efficacy of the studies, guidelines, policies and interventions undertaken by the industry to resolve these problems.

“South African mining operations reflect the communities from which they draw their employees. The country has worrying levels of societal problems, including GBVF, sexism, racism and violence, with the world’s fourth-highest femicide rate. A fifth of women are assaulted by their partners, while half of reported assaults of women are perpetrated by close friends, family or spouses,” the council notes.

“There is no silver bullet to address the challenges faced by women in the mining industry, but we believe that, with continued targeted, highly focused work on the objectives set by the Minerals Council, and with the continued support of our member companies and their respective leaders, and our social partners, we will make a difference,” says Minerals Council president and Women in Mining Leadership Forum chair Nolitha Fakude.

The council says it, and its members, continue to acknowledge and address these entrenched, ingrained societal issues that manifest in their mines to make them safe, non-threatening places of work.

Women have been legally allowed to work underground in South Africa since 1996. As of September 2021, 64 500, or 14%, of the industry’s 455 200 employees are women.

The council and its members have set stretch targets to at least double the percentage of women in mining by 2025 and, ultimately, to work towards 30% to 40% women representation across the industry and 50% in management over the next decade.

This makes zero tolerance of GBVF and sexism imperative, the council emphasises.

An independent data-driven research project into GBVF at South Africa’s mines on behalf of the Minerals Council was conducted in 2021 across all race groups, sexes and ages of working adults.

The outcomes will form the base from which to implement effective interventions to decrease GBVF at mining operations.

The survey captured data from 2 054 respondents (58% women and 42% men) working in all major commodities, and it included 15 mining companies in seven provinces.

The survey found that, while the majority of those surveyed in the mining industry responded in a way that GBVF was not a concern for each of the assertions being tested, there was a consistent 30% who had concerns that it was.

The survey also found that there was mistrust of the reporting mechanisms.

The council resolved to conduct further qualitative research to unpack and understand the drivers of GBVF to address the concerns raised by the 30% of respondents, which included both women and men.

An assessment to be conducted early this year of mining infrastructure like change houses, underground ablution facilities, lighting and conveyances, will generate recommendations on how to make these safer for women.

Awareness campaigns and initiatives will be run to create trust and higher use of mining companies’ GBVF reporting mechanisms after the survey found a third of women are too afraid to speak up about GBVF or to report incidents for fear of being judged.

Red tape is delaying investment worth R90-billion in ready-to-go mining-related projects, at a time when the South African economy is in desperate need of such projects proceeding, to create jobs and to stimulate economic growth.

Projects worth R30-billion would be able to proceed if the 4 000-plus mining and prospecting rights backlog could be eliminated, and R60-billion worth of renewable energy projects could release 3 900 MW into the energy space if inhibiting bureaucracy were removed, Minerals Council South Africa has revealed in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation address (SoNA).

Against the background of the President appointing stalwart Sipho Nkosi to remove red tape, Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter stated in a release to Mining Weekly: “We need to do things completely differently to get economic growth back to 5% per annum. The government should be the chief enabler and the private sector the chief doer," said Baxter, who cited the mining sector’s full and partial Covid-19 vaccination of 74% of its 450 000 employees with the assistance of the Department of Health as an example of the private sector’s ability to assist government.

The SoNA has opened the door for partnerships with the State to reverse the economic slump the government cannot address on its own.

Such partnerships could also extend to companies that mine iron-ore, coal, chrome, and manganese. These companies have experienced increasingly severe disruptions to their export logistics because of the inability of Transnet to provide a reliable rail and port service, owing to rampant crime on its railways and unavailability of locomotives. As a result, South Africa had lost at least R35-billion in potential exports in 2021, the council estimated.

Moreover, problems at Richards Bay had resulted in chrome exporters sending their products by road to Mozambique’s Maputo harbour. Since 2019, R2.9-billion worth of South African chrome has been exported through Maputo, which meant less revenue for Richards Bay and its owner Transnet Port Terminals. Ferrochrome and coal exports were also increasingly being sent through Maputo because of the inefficiencies of Transnet rail and ports.

The Minerals Council described Ramaphosa’s comments about bringing private investors into the Durban and Ngqura container terminals and private train operators on the container railway line between Durban and Johannesburg as a step in the right direction, “but for the mining industry the railways and ports servicing companies exporting bulk minerals need urgent attention and private sector participation to deliver efficiencies and productivity”.

On the energy front, the renewable energy project plans of Minerals Council member companies can substantially contribute to bridging the large electricity supply deficit in the country, diversify the country’s supply, reduce the sector’s carbon footprint, and stabilise costs.

“Bureaucratic and red tape delays have meant these projects cannot assist in easing South Africa’s energy deficit. An unbundling of Eskom by end-2022 is a key structural reform, while amendments to the Energy Regulation Act to create a competitive electricity generation market and the establishment of an independent state-owned electricity transmission company underpins that reform,” the council stated.

CRIME A PRESSING PROBLEM

“One of the most pressing problems the government must address immediately is crime, which has destroyed the country’s rail infrastructure, damaged investor confidence and has affected lives and livelihoods across the country,” the council stated.

“President Ramaphosa’s commitment to expedite legal action against those named in the Zondo State Capture reports, and the inclusion of the private sector to assist in these actions, will send a clear message to all South Africans about the government’s bona fides in ending corruption if guilty high-level politicians and business people are prosecuted and jailed.

“President Ramap...

After seven months of deadlocked wage negotiations with metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and Uasa will be holding a joint mass meeting on February 13 to address their members regarding the latest developments.

The mass meeting will take place at the Masizakhele Stadium in Driefontein, Carletonville.

The purpose of the upcoming meeting is to get a new, collective mandate from all members of the four trade unions.

All workers at Sibanye’s Kloof, Cooke, Burnstone, Beatrix and Driefontein operations have been invited to attend the mass meeting.

“Unity of workers is non-negotiable,” the NUM said in a statement on February 10.

The union leaders will report on developments regarding the conditional offer on wages and other conditions of employment tabled by Sibanye during the wage discussions that took place at the Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre, in Gauteng, on February 4.

On February 7, Mining Weekly reported that Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis believed an agreement might be “within reach” after what he called a “marathon negotiation session” between Sibanye and the unions the previous Friday, adding that Solidarity would encourage its members to consider the new offer favourably.

Sibanye previously was prepared to pay miners, artisans and officials represented by Solidarity a 4.1% increase for the first year; a 4.7% increase for the second year; and a 4.7% increase for the third year.

At the February 4 meeting, the offer was revised upwards to a 5% increase for three years running.

The 5% offer is above the average inflation rate for 2021. It is also higher than the South African Reserve Bank and National Treasury average inflation forecasts for 2022 and 2023. The revised offer follows a pattern of several years of above-inflation increases.

For category 4 to 8 employees, Sibanye previously offered an increase of R520 for year one; a R610 increase for year two; and a R640 increase for year three. Under the revised offer, this has been amended to an increase of R800 for all three years.

The revised offer was made after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration issued a certificate of non-resolution.

The certificate permitted the unions to initiate a strike within 12 months. It also permitted Sibanye to implement a lock-out within the same period. Both parties, however, were required to give 48-hour notice to the other before enacting their rights in this regard.

So far, neither party has initiated either a lock-out or a strike, in the hopes that the matter could still be resolved through diplomacy.

Over the past year, the South African government has built on its successful hydrogen strategy to make major strides in positioning the country as a global leader in the green hydrogen market, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated during his State of the Nation Address (SoNA).

This positioning included the development of a hydrogen society roadmap for the next ten years as well as a green hydrogen strategy for the Northern Cape, supporting the development of a green hydrogen pipeline worth around R270-billion.

The president said that in the last year, South Africa had made important strides in the fight against climate change, while at the same time securing the country’s economic competitiveness.

For the first time, South Africa’s climate targets were, he said, compatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C.

Such limiting is the goal that all countries agreed to, as part of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Ramaphosa described the prevention of the worst effects of climate change as being essential.

Since he established the Presidential Climate Commission a little more than a year ago, it had done much work to support a just transition to a sustainable, inclusive, resilient and low-carbon economy, he said.

At the international climate conference in Glasgow last November, South Africa struck a historic R131-billion deal with the European Union, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States.

“This first-of-its-kind partnership will involve repurposing and repowering some of the coal plants that are reaching the end of their lives, and creating new livelihoods for workers and communities most impacted by this change,” he said.

To ensure that South Africa was able to derive the full benefit of this and other partnerships, the President has appointed former Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele as head of the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team to lead the mobilisation of funds for the just transition.

The president said that investments in green hydrogen and electric vehicles would equip South Africa to meet the global clean energy future.

“We will be able to expand our mining industry in strategic minerals that are crucial for clean energy, like platinum, vanadium, cobalt, copper, manganese and lithium.

“We also have a unique opportunity in green hydrogen, given our world-class solar and wind resources and local technology and expertise.

“All of these measures – from structural reforms to support for SMMEs, investments in infrastructure and the emergence of new sectors – will drive a turnaround in economic growth driven by the private sector growth over the coming years,” Ramaphosa said.

“Properly managed, the energy transition will benefit all. Renewable energy production will make electricity cheaper and more dependable, and will allow our industries to remain globally competitive,” he added.

The President’s comments received widespread applause, particularly on LinkedIn, where Invest In Africa Services GM Garth Arthur described them as being “great first steps towards South Africa’s hydrogen economy. Let’s hope we can all pull together and make it the best success that it can possible be.”

Supporting remarks were also made by HySA Infrastructure Competence Centre, Professor Dmitri Bessarabov, Dr Bruno Pollet, president of the green hydrogen division at the International Association for Hydrogen Energy, and several academics.