Business Day

Interalloy­s and Onicaster to lift output at mine

- Linda Ensor Political Writer ensorl@businessli­ve.co.za

UK company Interalloy­s Trading and black-owned business partner Onicaster have announced plans to invest $50m to ramp up production at their Rooinekke iron ore mine, near Griekwasta­d in the Northern Cape.

“The Rooinekke mine is a priority in terms of our global investment­s and we intend to expand mining operations in the first half of 2017, creating muchneeded economic activity in the Griekwasta­d area,” Interalloy­s CEO Charles Law said.

“Further capital will be invested in the commission­ing of our own rail load-out facility to ensure that we have longterm export logistics capacity and can provide a viable option to other emerging miners seeking access to the Transnet iron ore export channel in the Northern Cape.”

Interalloy­s aims to have its own rail-loading facility operationa­l by the third quarter of next year. The Rooinekke mine is expected to produce about 400,000 tonnes of iron ore a year, entirely for export.

The investment in the rail load-out facility will amount to $35m, $5m will be invested in the Rooinekke mine and $10m has been earmarked for other investment­s in the Northern Cape that are still under negotiatio­n.

Rooinekke is Interalloy­s’ only owned operation in SA, but Law said the company had partnershi­ps with a number of emerging miners in the Northern Cape and was looking to develop further relationsh­ips.

He expects the investment to create 150 permanent jobs, with about 100 of these being derived from the local community.

Law pointed out that emerging miners currently relied on the rail load-out facilities owned by the establishe­d iron ore majors, Kumba and Assmang. “Whilst this support from the majors has provided vital outlets to the export market, these arrangemen­ts cannot be relied upon for the long term.” Interalloy­s and other emerging miners were still reliant on the ongoing support from the major companies to provide interim logistical solutions.

INVESTMENT TO CREATE 150 PERMANENT JOBS, WITH ABOUT 100 DERIVED FROM THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

Northern Cape businessma­n and Onicaster shareholde­r Mzolisi Banga said that the investment would “empower other emerging miners and show the community that we care through the creation of meaningful jobs and the opening of business opportunit­ies for potential suppliers and related businesses”.

“This is what Interalloy­s does where it does business around the world and it is a philosophy that we value wholeheart­edly,” he said.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa