[miningmx.com] — THE spate of holidays in April inevitably caused a
slowdown in corporate announcements from the mining sector, yet for some directors
it was time to reflect on the new-found strength of their personal balance sheets.
Those directors who saw their wealth increase significantly were, not surprisingly,
also the ones who in recent times have steered their respective ships through the
rumble of volatile markets with the most attractive returns to shareholders. As
always, there were some exceptions.
One director who shouldn’t fear a shareholder revolt over his improved fortune is
Kumba Iron Ore CEO Chris Griffith. On the day before Easter, the company announced
Griffith had exercised options for 18,586 shares, with a strike price of R173.91, in
terms of a long-term incentive plan.
He sold these shares immediately for R522.04 in a R9.7m transaction, while becoming
the owner of another 7,328 shares, also at R173.91 each, as part of a Kumba bonus
share plan.
Similarly, company secretary Vusani Malie exercised an option to acquire 4,486 shares
at R173.91 each for R780,160. Malie also sold a portion, 1,799 shares at R518.98
each, in a R933,644 on-market transaction.
Kumba’s share price has increased by around 370% since the beginning of 2009, when
it traded at R140, while paying out R106.30/share in dividends over the same period.
The company’s immediate prospects continue to look up as the newly commissioned
9-Mtpa Kolomela iron ore mine ramps up to full production, complementing the
group’s growth strategy to produce 70 Mtpa by 2019.
At Exxaro Resources, various directors were offered options in terms of the company’s
long-term incentive and bonus share plans.
Financial Director Wim de Klerk, for instance, was allotted 22,954 shares in terms of
the long-term plan with a total value of R4.5m (average strike price of R197.77 per
share). General Manager Ernst Venter was allotted 30,220 shares with a total value of
R6.1m. The shares will vest in April 2015.
The coal division’s Mxolisi Mgojo was granted 27,536 shares at an average strike price
of R200.28 under the long term incentive plan, worth R5.51m. In other dealings
valued R517,944, he was granted 2,586 shares under a bonus plan scheme. All his
dealings would vest in three years.
The biggest director’s dealings transaction of the month, however, was that of former
African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) CEO Andre Wilkens, who now acts as Head of
Strategy for the group. On Thursday, before the start of the Human Rights long
weekend, Wilkens transferred 329,178 ARM shares with a market value of R58.18m to
a family trust. The shares were part of options granted to Wilkens in 2004 and 2005
at a collective offer price of R10.01m.
At Anglo American Platinum, which had seen its margins squeezed by operational and
market-related issues in recent times, CEO Neville Nicolau became the owner of
R6m’s worth of shares following the vesting of 11,802 shares in his favour in terms of
a bonus share plan of 2009.
As for share purchases, much maligned Great Basin Gold’s directors put their money
where their mouth is during the company’s recent fund raising, collectively buying
510,000 shares at C$0.75 each for R2.9m.
CEO Ferdi Dippenaar contributed R575,250 for 100,000 shares, while director Anu Dhir
spent R862,875 on 150,000 shares.
