Regulations cloud Sibanye projects

SOUTH Africa’s persistent regulatory uncertainty is causing mining projects to be put on hold, according to Neal Froneman, the chief executive of Sibanye Gold.

A lack of clarity over longterm regulations is hindering three of Sibanye’s projects: a waste treatment plan, its Burnstone mine and a platinum expansion, Froneman said at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town yesterday.

The company is South Africa’s biggest gold company by production. The government has been mulling new mining laws since last April, and has suggested that companies may be required to be 26 percent owned by black investors.

The government is committed to “radical economic transformation” Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said on Monday.

“It’s becoming very difficult to get shareholders’ support for growth projects in South Africa,” Froneman said. “Existing investors are saying ‘Hold on, give us clarity, because it’s difficult for us to allocate cash to long-term projects’.”

Sibanye agreed to buy Montana-based Stillwater Mining in December after considering several other companies in South Africa.

Still, the company wants to add platinum smelters and a refinery to its existing assets in the country.