Swiss commodities group Glencore is holding its cards close to its chest about a land claim it faces in SA.
The group, headed by SA business executive Gary Nagle, said in its sustainability report on Monday that it was contending with a land claim at one of its operations.
“There is one ongoing land claim related to an industrial asset in SA. The communities involved are engaged and the claim process is before the land claims commission, which is legally mandated to resolve the dispute,” it said.
When pressed to say which asset is involved, the company refused to shed more light.
“We are not commenting further than the disclosure in the report,” said spokesperson Charles Watenphul.
The group’s presence in SA dates back to 1974. It has four coal operations in Mpumalanga, and its ferroalloys assets are in North West and Limpopo.
The commodities giant has been under pressure to bring down its emissions. It said on Monday that since 2019 it has disinvested from three coal mines: La Jagua and Calenturitas in Colombia and Hlagisa in SA.
Hlagisa Colliery produces about 1.8-million tonnes a year for Eskom.
“We plan to close three more coal mines in the near term and at least six additional coal mines by the end of 2035. These mines comprise Cerrejón in Colombia, Liddell, Newlands, Integra, Clermont, Oaky North and Mangoola in Australia, and, in SA, iMpunzi, as well as Wonderfontein, an independently managed joint venture in which we hold a 24.3% equity interest,” the group said. The operations that will be closed are those reaching the end of their economic lives or lease expiry dates.
The group said that there was broad support among its shareholders for its climate strategy. It said more than 76% of shareholders voted for the group’s 2021 Climate Progress Report.
Wonderfontein, a surface coal mine in Mpumalanga, has a lifespan of up to 2030. Other shareholders in the venture, which has an output peak rate of 4.2-million tonnes a year, are Phembani Group and Lithemba Wonderfontein Coal.
The iMpunzi mine has a lifespan of up to 2031.
Old Mutual said in April it was engaging Glencore on its plans to reduce its emissions. Old Mutual said Glencore is in a position to co-ordinate a strong response to SA’s climate and energy crisis.
“Glencore has embedded their climate strategy to all operational aspects of the business decarbonisation strategy, and targets are now included in all life of mine strategies. Glencore is growing its ‘green’ metals/minerals portfolio, and executive compensation is intrinsically and explicitly linked to their transition strategy.”
Glencore, a major player in the production and trading of coal globally and in SA, reported record profits in March, after earnings growth of 60% in 2022, making a big chunk of the money from higher international coal prices and enabling it to shower investors with more than R120bn in cash dividend payouts and share buybacks.
The diversified miner and commodities marketer, which has a secondary listing on the JSE, increased coal output from its own mining activities 7% to 110-million tonnes.
Glencore, valued at more than R1.2-trillion on the JSE, also said it was in constant discussions with communities that live near its operations.
“For some years, Glencore and other mining peers operating in SA have experienced violent community protests in response to rising poverty levels. In some cases, industrial assets were stormed and vandalised resulting in extensive production losses,” it said.
“Our ferroalloys industrial assets worked with an external consultant to develop an approach to address local stakeholder discontent. The work began with our Eastern Limb operations with the identification and mapping of villages and their boundaries of 19 rural communities.”
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