RICHARDS Bay Minerals, a Rio Tinto subsidiary, is restarting operations following the stabilisation of security around the mine, an agreement with host communities and traditional authorities, as well as government support.
Rio Tinto Minerals’s chief executive Sinead Kaufman said yesterday: “The safety and security of our people has been our priority throughout, and we recognise the collaboration and constructive dialogue we have had with all stakeholders to get us into a position where we can restart operations and resume contributing to the host communities, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.”
The company said operations would be ramped up to capacity as soon as possible. The overall impact of the suspension of operations, including the shutdown of furnace number 4 as announced on July 21, was still to be assessed.
“At this time, the force majeure declared on customer contracts remains in place,” said the group.
Richards Bay Minerals declared force majeure and halted production at the end of June amid civil unrest shortly after the assassination of general manager of operations Nico Swart.
At the time, the company also said the Zulti South Project had remained on full suspension since the security and community issues in 2019.
Yesterday, Richards Bay Minerals announced it had reached an agreement with community stakeholders to support enhanced governance and controls of community trusts, together with greater transparency.
It said following the signing of the agreement, it had released more than R130 million to the community trusts established for each of the communities surrounding the mining and smelter operation.
The managing director of the operation, Werner Duvenhage, said the agreement was a major milestone.
“The contribution Richards Bay Minerals makes to the communities through these funds will be put to achieving its intended purpose, which is to directly support local economic development in the communities,” said Duvenage.
In 2009, as part of its black economic empowerment transaction, Richards Bay Minerals established community trusts for its four host communities to receive dividend payments for the purpose of supporting broad-based community upliftment.
The company has previously said that in 2020, Richards Bay Minerals’s direct economic contribution to the country was R8 billion, including salaries and wages for more than 5 000 employees, and mining royalties and taxes paid to local and national governments, which helped to provide essential services and critical infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, hospitals and schools.
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