Sibanye-Stillwater is readying itself for battle with the department of mineral resources & energy after being denied a mining right for the promising exploration project it acquired five years ago as part of its multibillion-rand Lonmin acquisition.
Sibanye, which mines gold and platinum group metals (PGMs), last year indicated that one of its key focuses was to advance the mining right application for Akanani, an advanced-stage exploration project on the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo.
“The necessary exploration activities to support the initial 20 years of mining have been concluded, and subject to the granting of the mining right, Akanani will become a strategic investment and development option,” the group said last year.
Sibanye, through its subsidiary Akanani Mining, held a prospecting right over the Akanani project area. The project was acquired by Sibanye-Stillwater in 2019 as part of the Lonmin transaction. The project is located between Ivanplats and Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) Mogalakwena mines.
Sibanye says the total attributable PGM resource at Akanani on December 31 2022 was about 27.5-million ounces.
Akanani Mining’s application in 2021 for the prospecting right to be converted to a mining right has been rejected, the company revealed on Friday. The denial relates to an interpretation of the expiry date of the prospecting right by the department.
Sibanye has since lodged an appeal with the department in accordance with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
It will seek legal recourse if its appeal fails, Sibanye, the world’s largest producer of PGMs, said on Friday.
“The internal appeal process is progressing within the prescripts of the [Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act]. The group will resort to court action to enforce its rights should the internal appeal not be successful,” the mining giant said.
A prospecting right entitles the holder to the exclusive right to prospect for prescribed minerals in a prescribed land area. The holder of a prospecting right also has the exclusive right to apply for, and be granted, a mining right regarding the minerals and land to which the prospecting right relates, the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act reads.
The minister is authorised to grant or refuse applications for rights under the act. However, provided an applicant meets all the requirements relating to the right for which the applicant has applied, the minister is obliged to grant the right.
Exploration drilling
Sibanye said that extensive exploration drilling has been conducted on the property, confirming there are significant mineral resources offering the potential for a long-life, low-cost operation.
The company has asked minister Gwede Mantashe to suspend the further processing of a third-party prospecting right application over the same area, pending the finalisation of the appeal.
“In a response to our objection to a third party’s prospecting right over the same area, the [department] confirmed that they would not process the third party’s prospecting right until the objection is decided,” Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted said. “We cannot predict the time with any certainty as the [act] is silent on the time within which appeals should be concluded.”
Mantashe said the expiration of an exploration licence is reason enough to reject a mining permit. “If Sibanye wants to go to court, they can do that. The law is clear if an exploration right expires, the process gets opened up for other companies who wish to mine that particular area to come forward and apply,” the minister told Business Day.
The Bushveld Complex contains 75%, 54% and 82% of global platinum, palladium, and rhodium resources, respectively, as well as vast reserves of chromium, vanadium, tin, nickel, copper and cobalt.
Mining rights
Amplats has three mining operations in the Bushveld Complex: Mogalakwena Mine; Amandelbult Complex (which includes the Dishaba and Tumela mines); and Mototolo Mine. The company also has mining rights over the Twickenham Project area, and Der Brochen, adjacent to Mototolo. Impala Platinum has three mining operations in the complex: Impala, Marula and Two Rivers.
According to the Geology for Investors website, at current rates of extraction the complex will not be mined out for the next 700 years.
Business Day reported two weeks ago that Mantashe’s department has finally taken steps to put in place a new system to enable exploration and has halved its backlog in processing mining and exploration licences, raising the prospect that SA could start to attract more investment in new mining projects.
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