[miningmx.com] — Merafe Resources said on Tuesday that the Xstrata-Merafe Chrome Venture’s mining operations would continue as planned while the company prepared to present its case to the Department of Mineral
Resources (DMR).
Like the platinum producers in the North West, the Xstrata-Merafe Chrome
Venture has been instructed by the DMR to review the Code of Practice applying to the bord-and-pillar mining method.
This would mean the company would have to limit mining by reducing the size of mineable rock panels and leaving bigger support pillars behind to improve safety.
Aquarius Platinum, whose shares were hardest hit following the directive,
described the DMR’s move as having “a detrimental economic effect” on those
Bushveld chromite and platinum mines that use the bord and pillar mining method.
But following an urgent meeting between the government and industry on
Monday, the DMR has agreed to assess mine safety measures on a case-by-case basis.
It was agreed that all mines affected by the directive would make individual
presentations to the DMR’s safety inspectorate.
“The Venture will therefore make a detailed presentation to the inspectorate after taking all recommendations into consideration,” Merafe said.
“The Venture’s mining operations will continue as planned in the interim,” it added.
At 09:50 shares in Merafe were 2.31% or 3c up at R1.33 on the JSE.
