Mining Charter changes welcomed

Smaller scale surface miners breathed a sigh of relief with a recent High Court ruling that removes clauses from the Mining Charter 2018 that had required topping-up of BEE ownership to 2018 Charter levels and affect existing mining rights.

According to Nico Pienaar of surface mining industry association, ASPASA, two clauses dealing with the continuous consequences of BEE had caused a sticking point in the endorsement of the policy document and led to fears of disinvestment.

The High Court’s decision to remove the clauses will result in far wider acceptance of the Charter and dispel fears of constant watering-down of original shareholders stakes. This would have been particularly troublesome in smaller businesses where shares are often family-owned or held within the original founders’ circles.

Mining rights

“ASPASA remains committed to ongoing transformation in the industry and is concerned with the sustainability and profitability of its member operations. It is however our duty to protect our industry and member’s interests and the clauses in the Charter made it almost impossible for smaller operations to comply.

“We align ourselves with the Minerals Council which also welcomed the judgment removing the clauses that deal with renewals of existing mining rights and the transfers of mining rights. It also sets aside requirements around procurement of goods and services and supplier and enterprise development which the Minerals Council argued contained unachievable targets for mining companies to meet.

“It also sets aside provisions in the 2018 Charter related to the Diamonds Act and Precious Metals Act to impose targets set out in the Charter on licence holders under those Acts. The provisions in the 2018 Charter related to mining companies not complying with ownership and mine community development requirement and thus being in breach of the MPRDA, potentially having their mining rights suspended or cancelled was also removed in the judgment.”

Nico adds that ASPASA will continue to engage with its members and work closely with Government and The Minerals Council to engage stakeholder and work together towards fairer policies that are more likely to attract investment into the mining sector and the surface mining sector.