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RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0016
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0003
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 1733

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 JOHANNESBURG 000205 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS USGS, USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EMIN ENRG ECON ELAB SF ZI
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: MINERALS AND ENERGY NEWSLETTER"THE ASSAY" - 
ISSUE 5, MAY 2006 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000205  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
This cable is not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (U) Introduction:  The purpose of this monthly newsletter, 
initiated in January 2004, is to highlight minerals and energy 
developments in South Africa.  This includes trade and 
investment as well as supply.  South Africa hosts world-class 
deposits of gold, diamonds, platinum group metals, chromium, 
zinc, titanium, vanadium, iron, manganese, antimony, 
vermiculite, zircon, alumino-silicates, fluorspar and phosphate 
rock, and is a major exporter of steam coal.  South Africa is 
also a leading producer and exporter of ferroalloys of chromium, 
vanadium, and manganese.  The information contained in the 
newsletters is based on public sources and does not reflect the 
views of the United States Government.  End introduction. 
 
--- 
Key 
--- 
¶2. (U) Key to some of the terminology and abbreviations used is 
given to facilitate understanding. 
 
BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) - the scheme whereby the South 
African Government promotes black participation in business. 
 
t = tons, 
t/d = tons per day, 
c/l = cents per liter, 
t/m = tons per month, 
t/y = tons per year, 
oz = troy ounces (31.1 grams), 
cmg = centimeter grams, 
mcf = million cubic feet, 
tcf = trillion cubic feet, 
R = SA currency (rand), 
MW = megawatts, 
kt = thousand tons, 
bbl/d = barrels per day, 
MW = megawatts, 
PGM = platinum group metals. 
 
-------- 
HOT NEWS 
-------- 
New Mines Minister Appointed 
---------------------------- 
¶3. (U) On May 22, President Thabo Mbeki announced the 
appointment of Buyelwa Sonjica as the new Minister of Minerals 
and Energy.  The minor cabinet reshuffle was necessitated by the 
death of Stella Sigcau, Minister of Public Works, and involved 
four women ministers, indicative of the government's gender 
equality policy.  Both the incumbent minister and the deputy 
minister of Minerals and Energy were moved to new portfolios. 
The new minister is the third in eleven months and she succeeds 
Lindiwe Hendricks and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who was promoted to 
Deputy President last year.  The new deputy minister for 
minerals and energy was not announced.  The mining industry has 
held back on comments pending future meetings with the new 
minister, but did venture that they had previously had very 
positive and amicable dealings with Sonjica on matters relating 
to water matters.   The new minister was sworn in later in the 
week. 
 
Koeberg's Damaged Unit 1 Operational 
------------------------------------ 
¶4. (U) Unit One at the Koeberg nuclear power station in the 
Western Cape was successfully returned to service after being 
out of commission for some five months.  The generator was 
damaged in December 2005, resulting in both the rotor and stator 
requiring repair.  The stator was repaired at Koeberg, while a 
replacement rotor was obtained from the French utility EdF. 
Unit 1 reached full power at the end of May.  Over the same 
period, Unit 2 was shut down as scheduled for refueling and 
maintenance, and will remain out of service until August. 
According to Eskom's Chief Executive, Thulani Gcabshe, a 
shortfall of up to 400 MW may be experienced in the Western Cape 
during this period (winter).  Demand side management measures 
such as the issuing of five million Compact Fluorescent Lights 
(CFL's) to the Western Cape and the swapping out of two-plate 
electric stoves for two-plate gas stoves has begun to mitigate 
the potential for shortages.  So far only minimal load shedding 
has been necessary. 
 
Sasol Opens World-first Gas-to-Liquids Plant in Qatar 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶5. (U) June 6, marked the official opening of Sasol's (South 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000205  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
Africa's synthetic fuels- and petrochemicals-from-coal producer) 
world-first gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Doha, Qatar.  His 
Highness, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State 
of Qatar, officially inaugurated the $950 million Oryx GTL plant 
at Ras Laffan Industrial City.  The ceremony was attended by 
dignitaries and guests from Qatar and abroad.  Oryx GTL is a 
joint venture between state-owned Qatar Petroleum (51%) and 
Sasol (49%).  The facility is the pacesetter of the petroleum 
industry's focus to create a global GTL industry that is geared 
to unlock the world's vast natural gas resources for conversion 
into ultra-low emission diesel and other environmentally benign 
energy products. 
 
¶6. (U) The plant will be scaled up in the next few months to 
convert gas from the Gulf's North Field into 34,000 barrels per 
day (bpd) of liquid hydrocarbons.  It will produce mainly 
environmentally-friendly, high-performance diesel, using proven 
Sasol technology.  Oryx is the first low-temperature 
Fischer-Tropsch GTL facility outside South Africa that is 
dedicated to the production of new-generation GTL diesel.  In 
partnership with Sasol-Chevron and Qatar Petroleum, the 
intention is to triple the existing capacity of the plant to 
some 100,000 bpd and finally to 130,000 bpd.  This would bring 
Middle Eastern production to within 30,000 bpd of Sasol's 
Secunda plant, which produces 160,000 bpd of fuel from coal. 
 
¶7. (U) Sasol CE Pat Davies said that the Oryx plant would pave 
the way for the development of a substantial environmentally 
acceptable GTL capacity in Qatar and other gas-rich regions, 
including Nigeria (a GTL plant will be in operation by 2009) and 
Australia.  In markets such as Europe, the US, Japan and 
Australia, the statutory maximum permissible sulfur content in 
diesel is as low as 10 ppm.  Sasol's GTL diesel, developed 
entirely in South Africa, has a sulfur content of less than 5 
ppm.  Sasol-Chevron is a London-based joint venture between 
Sasol and the Chevron Corporation, and will start to market the 
GTL diesel in Europe later this year.  Davies said that Sasol's 
GTL plants would put a new source of fuel onto the market and 
would add value to the energy resources of the supplying 
country, prior to exportation. In South Africa, Sasol provides 
34% of the country's liquid-fuel, employs 170 000 people, adds 
$6-billion a year to the GDP and $4.5 billion a year in 
foreign-exchange savings. 
 
-------------- 
PLATINUM GROUP 
-------------- 
Impala Platinum to give 51 Million Ounces of Platinum Resources 
to Zimbabwe 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶8. (U) On May 31, Zimplats Holdings, Zimbabwe's major platinum 
producer, reached an agreement with the Zimbabwean government to 
give (relinquish) 51 million ounces or 36% of its platinum 
resource base in exchange for what it described as empowerment 
credits and cash.  This represented a compromise solution 
response to the GOZ proposed expropriation of 51% of all 
foreign-owned mines.  Implats, the world's second largest 
platinum producer, owns 87% of Zimplats, which holds virtually 
all of the Hartley Complex hosting about 85% of the total 
platinum group resources in the Great Dyke.  The Great Dyke is 
the world's second biggest resource of platinum group metals 
after South Africa's Bushveld Complex.  Implats said that the 
land to be given up did not fall within its long-term mine plan, 
which is to expand production from Zimbabwe to 1 million 
platinum ounces per year over a fifty year life of mine. 
 
¶9. (U) According to the latest Impala Annual Report the 
company's Zimbabwe resource contains 140.8 million ounces of 
platinum and has reserves of 14.1 million ounces.  These are 
strategically important to Implats as they make up more than 
half of the company's attributable reserves and resources of 
platinum group metals.  The market value of the released claims 
- estimated to host 99 million ounces of precious metals - is 
about $153 million and Zimplats expects to receive cash and 
empowerment credits to the full value of the claims.  The 
company stated that the agreement would give the board the 
confidence to go ahead with a $258 million expansion to its 
operations in Zimbabwe.  Ironically, while the deal was being 
signed at the mine site by President Mugabe, Impala offices in 
Harare were raided by government officials purportedly 
investigating currency exchange irregularities. 
 
Rhodium Hits Highest Level Since 1991 
------------------------------------- 
¶10. (U) South Africa produces more than 80% of the world's newly 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000205  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
mined rhodium, one of the minor platinum group metals but an 
essential component in most auto-catalytic converters.  The 
metal accounts for about 8% of platinum group metals mined in 
South Africa and, at present prices, contributes substantially 
to mine earnings.  During the second half of May, free market 
prices hit a fifteen-year high of nearly $6,500 an ounce, but 
have since fallen back to about $5,500 an ounce - compared with 
silver at $12, palladium at $340, gold at $630 and platinum at 
$1,230 per ounce.  Demand currently outstrips supply by about 
58,000 ounces per year, and supply is constrained as rhodium is 
a by-product of platinum mining and production cannot easily be 
expanded.  Prices for sister minor platinum group metals are 
also on the increase, with Ruthenium at about $180 an ounce from 
$40 at the start of 2004.  Iridium is at about $400 an ounce, 
the highest since February 2002. 
 
------------ 
FERRO METALS 
------------ 
Russian Smoke and Mirrors with South African Manganese 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
¶11. (U) The Russian entrepreneur, Victor Vekselberg, through his 
company Renova has acquired manganese mining concessions over 
two sites in South Africa's Kalahari Manganese Field (KMF) in 
the Northern Cape Province.  South African manganese producers 
believe that, together with these concessions and the 
acquisition of rights and production in the Ukraine and Gabon, 
Vekselberg may be attempting to corner the producer market in 
manganese ore and alloys.  Another scenario is that Renova may 
be angling to consolidate and sell the SA concessions to local 
interests at a significant markup.  Renova told Mineweb (a 
publishing organization) that it planned to produce about two 
million tons of manganese ore per year and to process this into 
500,000 tons of alloys at a new plant to be located on the site 
of the Coega harbor, currently under construction in the Eastern 
Cape Province.  This "target" may be difficult to achieve as it 
exceeds the current ore output by Assmang (a major SA producer), 
is comparable to the alloy output by Samancor, and the Renova 
concessions contain relatively low grade ore.  Reports from 
adjacent mines indicate that Renova and its partners are not 
active on the sites. 
 
¶12. (U) South Africa hosts more than 80% of the world's known 
reserves of manganese ore and is the biggest producer of 
manganese alloys.  Ukrainian reserves of ore are estimated at 
520,000 tons, or about 10% of global reserves, Gabon trails with 
160,000 tons, followed by China, Brazil and Australia.  South 
Africa and Gabon are the leading producers followed by the 
Ukraine.  According to industry sources, Samancor is negotiating 
with the Renova group to buy their concessions (a market defense 
strategy).  Samancor is the world's leading producer of 
manganese alloys and is 60% owned by BHP-Billiton (BHP-B) and 
40% by Anglo American.  Industry speculation of a deal between 
Vekselberg and BHP-B grew when Renova recently announcement that 
it had acquired a major exploration and mining license for 
manganese in Gabon - a potential market-cornering strategy. 
Manganese is a strategic metal used almost exclusively for 
purifying and hardening steel. 
 
---------- 
CLEAN COAL 
---------- 
Anglo American and Shell Form Clean Coal Energy Alliance 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
¶13. (U) On May 25, Anglo American and Shell Gas & Power 
International (one of Shell's downstream businesses) announced 
the formation of an Alliance in the field of coal conversion to 
clean energy.  The aim of the two companies is to maximize the 
benefits from the emerging field of clean coal energy by 
selectively taking equity positions in coal conversion projects. 
 These projects would combine the extensive coal reserves and 
mining experience of Anglo American with Shell's leading-edge 
conversion technologies.  The objective is to extract, gasify 
and then convert coal into chemicals, hydrogen, power, liquid 
hydrocarbons and other uses.  Tony Trahar, Chief Executive of 
Anglo American, said that the ability of Anglo and Shell to form 
a clean coal energy alliance had the potential to develop 
multiple projects, which would give the Alliance a global 
sustainable competitive advantage. 
 
¶14. (U) Anglo is currently investigating the potential for 
incorporating its Australian Monash Energy Project into the 
Alliance.  This project is exploring technologies that produce 
liquid fuels from non-conventional sources, such as brown coal. 
The technologies chosen by Monash enable separation of a 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000205  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
concentrated stream of CO2 that can be transported to injection 
wells in deep underground geological formations for safe and 
secure storage.  Burning the synthesis gas generated by the 
gasification of coal emits significantly lower quantities of 
greenhouse gases and pollutants than traditional coal burning 
and is considered to be the cleanest way of harnessing the 
energy potential of coal, which is the world's dominant fuel 
source.  The project initially envisages a coal mine, drying and 
gasification plant, carbon dioxide capture and storage and a 
gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant with associated power generation. 
(Comment: this process differs from Sasol's in that it gasifies 
a lower rank (brown) coal and also separates out a CO2 stream 
for secure storage.  End Comment.) 
 
----------- 
ELECTRICITY 
----------- 
Energy Spending Could put a Brake on Growth 
------------------------------------------- 
¶15. (U) In recent testimony to Parliament, Eskom officials 
admitted that, in the light of greater than expected economic 
growth, the proposed spending on new generation capacity would 
be inadequate to meet expanded energy demand projections.  This 
could be a drag on the economy and also meant that its 
electrification program might fail to meet targets.  Brian 
Dames, a managing director at Eskom, said that the $13 billion 
capital expenditure plans were based on the expectation of a 4% 
economic growth rate.  This rate was calculated to increase 
electricity demand by 2.3%.  The South African government is now 
aiming for 6% economic growth which would mean an electricity 
demand growth rate of 4.4%.  At the World Economic Forum (WEF) 
in Cape Town, Steve Lennon, Eskom's Managing Director for 
Resources and Strategy, said that South Africa's target of 
universal electrification by 2012 could only be met if Eskom 
spent an additional $1.4 billion on the program.  From 1994 to 
2004, more than 3 million homes have been electrified. 
 
---- 
GOLD 
---- 
Anglo American to Concentrate on non-Gold Mining 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
¶16. (U) Further to an earlier announcement by Anglo American 
that it intended to concentrate on its core mining activities 
and sell off "non-core" assets, the company confirmed that it 
would also sell its remaining 42% stake in gold producer 
AngloGold Ashanti.  The company would then concentrate its 
attention on its core mining interests, including platinum, base 
metals, iron ore, diamonds (through De Beers), coal, and 
industrial minerals.  At Anglo's 2006 Annual General Meeting 
Tony Trahar (CEO) said that the reasoning behind the proposed 
disposal of AngloGold Ashanti was that gold contributed less 
than 3% to the company's total revenues and that gold assets 
tended to be followed by a distinct investor group compared with 
those that followed diversified mining companies.  As a result, 
the value of the AngloGold Ashanti had not been fully reflected 
in Anglo's overall market capitalization. 
 
Gold Theft at SA Mines 
---------------------- 
¶17. (U) South Africa's gold mining sector estimates that up to 
5% or more of the total output from mines might have been stolen 
last year.  Chamber of Mines executive director Frans Barker 
said that the theft of gold at mines was "quite a big issue". 
He singled out mines in the Free State Province as especially 
affected.  Although between 1% and 2% of total gold output had 
been reported stolen in 2005, there was evidence that the figure 
was double that.  According to information from an ongoing study 
commissioned by the Chamber of Mines - the first study of its 
kind since 1998 - industry losses amounted to around $310 
million or 12% of total gold output for the year.  Older mines 
with more entry points were seen as more vulnerable to theft. 
 
-------- 
DIAMONDS 
-------- 
De Beers Wins 25 Years for Botswana Diamond Mining 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶18. (U) On May 23, after almost seventeen months, the world's 
biggest diamond producer, De Beers, and the Government of 
Botswana finally signed a suit of agreements to strengthen their 
partnership and renew De Beers' Jwaneng Diamond Mine lease for a 
further 25 years.  Jwaneng is one of the richest diamond mines 
in the world.  Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals, 
Energy and Water Resources, Dr. Akolang Tombale signed on behalf 
 
JOHANNESBU 00000205  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
of the GOB.  The Jwaneng mine lease, which had expired in 2004, 
had to be renegotiated and renewed.  At the conclusion of 
negotiations last year, the Orapa and Letlhakane mine leases 
were revoked and lumped with that of Jwaneng.  The new lease has 
given De Beers 25 years of uninterrupted mining and control of 
Botswana's entire diamond production.  However, Tombale said 
that the broad nature of the lease meant that some details were 
still to be finalized. 
 
¶19. (U) A mining consultant, Todd Majaye, said the Jwaneng lease 
agreement was linked to other issues such as the relocation of 
some of the De Beers London-based Diamond Trading Company (DTC) 
functions to Botswana.  DTC is the marketing arm of the De Beers 
Group and is responsible for: aggregating and sorting rough 
diamonds from its global operations; diamond purchases; and 
evaluating, marketing and selling diamonds to their sight 
holders (a selected group of clients with the financial ability 
to market/promote diamonds).  The most pressing issue, according 
to Majaye, was that of diamond beneficiation or adding value to 
rough diamonds before export.  Under the new agreement only 10% 
of Botswana's diamond production of 32 million carats - valued 
at about $2.7 billion - will be cut and polished in the country. 
 Majaye said that this was not sufficient and that the GOB 
should have more pronounced beneficiation plans. 
 
----- 
LABOR 
------------------------------ 
One-Day Strike Hits Mines Hard 
------------------------------ 
¶20. (U) The mining industry was the most affected by the May 18 
nationwide strike against poverty and unemployment that was 
called by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). 
Analysts said that although the effect of the strike on the 
overall economy was likely to be minimal it was would portray 
South Africa in a negative light to potential international 
investors.  According to Absa Bank economist Monale Ratsoma, one 
of the inhibiting factors to foreign direct investment - needed 
to finance the current account deficit resulting from strong 
economic growth - was the country's restrictive labor laws, and 
the strength and political influence of the trade unions. 
Ratsoma estimated that the monetary loss caused by the strike 
was about $300 million.  The Chamber of Mines spokeswoman said 
that some mines suffered up to 100% absenteeism due to the 
strike and that about half of all mineworkers took part in the 
protest action. 
COFFMAN