Braemore Resources plc confirms the occurrence of an operational incident at a furnace at Mintek’s ConRoast smelting facility in Johannesburg, South Africa on Friday, 27 March. A full enquiry will be completed; however preliminary investigations suggest superficial damage to the plant and minimal impact on production. Safety procedures were strictly adhered to and no personnel [...]

One of our many business assumptions that changed after September was that China would fuel a 20 year global commodity boom, paid for by their manufactured exports at unbeatable prices.
What should the strategy for 2009 and the medium term be for South African companies? Today’s economy doesn’t mean going into hibernation and letting your competitors [...]

TEAL Exploration & Mining Incorporated (“TEAL”) is pleased to announce the completion of the previously announced plan of arrangement (the “Arrangement”) involving TEAL, African Rainbow Minerals Limited (“ARM”),  Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (“Vale”) and two wholly-owned subsidiaries of ARM,  42685 Yukon Inc. and 42696 Yukon Inc.
Upon completion of the arrangement, the holders of all [...]

Sadly, anyone who thinks South African industry is immune from the effects of stock-market and finance sector turmoil around the world is mistaken.  Even though astute government regulation effectively saved the SA banking sector from the ravages seen in the US and UK, the fact remains that our economy is largely driven by export industries [...]

The recent announcement by ArcelorMittal of its intention to increase the price of tinplate by approximately 70% from April 2009 will pose a severe threat to the future of the South African canning industry.

ArcelorMittal also makes reference to the fact that this increase is based on a formula comprised of a basket of prices from [...]

Shareholders of Braemore Resources plc are advised that the Company expects its earnings and headline earnings per share for the six months ended 31 December 2008 to show a 0.56p loss as opposed to the 0.15p loss for the corresponding period to 31 December 2007.
The Company has made significant positive progress on its projects and [...]

Diversified resources group Exxaro Resources Limited (Exxaro) today held a Safety Summit convened by chief executive officer Sipho Nkosi and involving its stakeholders to examine and prioritise safety improvement interventions and management systems to position the group to improve its safety performance.
“The summit sets a new momentum for safety initiatives within the group, with action [...]

Rio Tinto announces that Jan du Plessis will be appointed as Chairman of the Boards with effect from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of Rio Tinto Limited on 20 April 2009. He joined the Boards as a non executive director on 1 September 2008.
As previously announced, Rio Tinto’s current Chairman, Paul Skinner, will [...]

South African smelting and technology equipment specialists Metix is a rare beast, spending time actively seeking solutions that will enhance productivity and reduce downtime – usually long before clients have commissioned the upgrades.
 
Offering the full scope of EPCM services on smelter projects, detailed engineering of furnace-related infrastructure, in-house procurement, cost control systems, site construction, as [...]

While this article doesn’t deal directly with ferrous metls directly, I thought the insight from an industry expert in terms of what is happening in the diamond and jewellery market makes for interesting reading in terms of spend in the mining sector in general.
Give us your thoughts on what Uwe is saying:
Grave prospects lie ahead [...]