DRC sees copper concentrate ban in full force by July, August

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) expects its ban on the export of copper and cobalt concentrates to come into full force by July or August, as it presses mining companies to process and refine the metals within its borders, the Mines Minister...

AMCU threatens to bring South Africa to 'standstill'

The leader of South Africa's biggest platinum mining union on Friday threatened to bring Africa's top economy "to a standstill" and demanded a meeting with President Jacob Zuma, ramping up the rhetoric in an 18-month labour crisis. The rand, which...

BME increases in-house manufacture of mobile mining units

Increasing the in-house manufacturing of its mobile mining units (MMUs) is helping explosives supplier BME to further improve its client service levels and market penetration in Africa.

Company assisting semiliterate mineworkers to improve health and safety

Communication specialist for semiliterate audiences Jincom, says it aims to assist in improving the mining safety statistics in 2013 by educating and uplifting workers in South Africa’s mining industry. “Jincom’s communication solutions aim...

Company awarded JV contract for largest Namibian uranium project

Engineering, procurement and construction management services provider to the mining and minerals industry Tenova Bateman’s sub-Saharan Africa division was awarded a joint venture (JV) contract with engineering consulting and project management...

Drug-resistant TB threat among mineworkers

African mineworkers are at significant risk of becoming resistant to tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and those that are can be counted among the 650 000 cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) estimated worldwide, of which less than 10%...

Environmental group says marine phosphate mining cannot be sustained by Namibia

The Namibian marine environment cannot accommodate a viable fishing industry and the disruptive exercise of marine phosphate mining, says environmental lobby group Swakopmund Matters. “Either one or the other can thrive – not both,” says the...

Namibian industry set for growth – investment adviser

The Namibian mining industry is set to be worth about N$37.8-billion by 2017, says investment and development adviser Africa Practice. An initial study in October showed the industry would be worth about N$40-billion by 2016; the revised figures...

System helps curb illegal mining and improves safety

Illegal mining is problematic across Africa, with between 20 t to 40 t of the 100 t of gold mined on the continent each year by artisanal miners, extracted through illegal means, and possibly fuelling conflict on the continent, Rand Refinery CEO...

Union threatens Amplats with wildcat stoppage

Miners at South Africa's Anglo American Platinum operations will stop work from Thursday evening over proposed job cuts, an official for mineworkers union AMCU said, sending the company's shares and rand sharply lower. "The night shift today is...

Lonmin's strike ends, Amplats braced for trouble

A two-day wildcat strike at Lonmin's South African platinum mines ended on Thursday, but a union official said workers might walk out at larger rival Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) to protest company plans to axe thousands of jobs. Lonmin...

Ivanplats significantly adds to African projects’ resources

Africa-focused project developer Ivanplats on Wednesday said it had significantly increased the resources at two of its largest African projects and added that it was moving to finalise its mining-right application at the South African Platreef...