Bloomberg
A COMMUNITY located near mines operated by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) wanted as much as 30 percent of Union and three Rustenburg operations that the largest producer of the precious metal was selling, it said yesterday.
The Bakgatla Ba Kgafela community, which owns 15 percent of Union, held talks with its preferred bidder for the four mines about taking a shareholding in the operations as a black economic empowerment partner, Kgosi Nyalala Pilane, the chief of the community, said on Tuesday.
Pilane did not want to identify the bidder because Amplats may choose a different buyer for the mines.
“It will just be one company and that’s where we’ll also get 30 percent at the group level,” Pilane said, adding that the community would pursue talks with any party that won the bid.
“We have our own preference, but we’re still open.”
Amplats is selling the four deep-level platinum mines as it seeks to prioritise capital for expanding the mechanised Mogalakwena pit. The firm’s decision came after a five-month strike last year idled most of the mines owned by Amplats, Impala Platinum and Lonmin.
The Union and Rustenburg mines are together worth about R5 billion, according to Rene Hochreiter, an analyst at Noah Capital Markets.
Legislation requires that all mines are at least 26 percent held by black shareholders such as the Bakgatla Ba Kgafela people.
Shares rose 0.04 percent to close at R360.16 yesterday.