[miningmx.com] –KAZAKH metals producer, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC), which in 2010 bought a 12.2% stake in Northam Platinum, has requested it place a representative on the South African platinum company’s board.
Glyn Lewis, CEO of Northam Platinum, confirmed he had received a request that ENRC’s Jim Cochrane join the company’s board. “We recommended that this be put to shareholders,” Lewis told Miningmx.
Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvela Holdings and Afripalm Investments, owned by Lazarus Zim, comprise Northam’s largest shareholders. They will vote on the recommendation at Northam’s annual general meeting, scheduled for November 10.
The appointment suggests ENRC is contemplating a more active participation in Northam’s affairs. Instructively, Cochrane, who is 47 years old, is no makeweight as has been ENRC’s chief commercial director since 2010.
He was formerly marketing director at Samancor Chrome, and operations manager at Impala Platinum. He is currently an independent director for Jindal Steel, India’s largest producer of stainless steel.
“This has whipped up a bit of excitement,” said one analyst. It is generally thought that the highly acquisitive ENRC established a foothold in Northam Platinum because it was seeking to operate more broadly within the South African platinum sector.
However, after buying its initial stake in Northam for about R2.2bn, ENRC has remained somewhat low key, lifting its stake a mere 2% to 14%.
