Impala Platinum (Implats) CEO Nico Muller said yesterday that if Implats doesn't achieve control of Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat), a sensible option would be to sell into an offer from Northam Platinum, if one came about.
Muller was speaking at the 2023 Platinum Group Metals (PGM) industry day held in Auckland Park, Johannesburg.
He said: “If we are not in control, it makes no sense for us.”
Implats is involved in a bidding war with Northam for RBPlat. Implats is the biggest shareholder in RBPlat, with a 40.71% stake, while Northam owns almost 34.5% stake in RBPlat.
On Monday, Northam also said it would consider a joint venture with Implats.
Northam CEO Paul Dunne said: "We would like to gain control of the asset, and so would Implats. So both of those options are possibilities. If Impala and Northam remain as large shareholders of that asset, I think both companies have a lot of value to bring to bear on that ore body."
Muller said previously Implats was unlikely to agree to a joint venture in RBPlat with Northam as its investment goals were unlikely to be realised.
Muller said the drawn-out process to acquire the mine gave South Africa a bad reputation.
He said Implats was ready to move on, no matter which direction the transaction took.
However, the Public Investment Corporation, the government-owned asset manager, is yet to decide whether to sell its 9.9% stake in RBPlat into Implats’ offer. Muller has said the PIC’s decision was imminent.
RBPlat CEO Steve Phiri said RBPlat has 11 000 employees who rely on the company for their daily bread and butter, and when the employees hear different narratives about the transaction it creates uncertainty.
Speaking at the conference, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter said to unlock South Africa's long-term PGM, the focus was to realise the world’s largest PGM resource through developing markets that enabled the growth of the PGM mining sector.
“This would add about R8 trillion to South Africa’s economy by 2050, and about another 1 million direct and indirect jobs,” he said.
He said the strategy needed collaboration between the government and industry to tackle short-term challenges (electricity, security, rail, local government, local community development) while at the same time investing in demand creation and the long-term mining future.
“A concerted and co-ordinated effort by the public and private sector, supported by the framework of a national strategy, is essential to enhance the short-term and ensure that the future realises the promise,” he said.
Baxter said PGMs were already playing a crucial and growing role in the global energy transition to net zero.
“At least 30 countries have developed or are developing hydrogen strategies towards decarbonising their economies,” he said.
Baxter said the members of the Minerals Council were charting a strategy on how to use green hydrogen to create sustainable, cost-effective green energy, decarbonise their mining operations, address risks of global carbon border taxes for their products, take the pressure off the national electricity grid supplied by Eskom and create pollution-free work environments for employees by using hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and machines underground and on the surface.
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