Anglo, Impala, ENRC Submit Plans to Zimbabwe Panel on Rules
May 10, 2011, 1:26 PM EDTBy Renee Bonorchis and Brian Latham
(Updates with Anglo from first paragraph.)
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Anglo American Platinum Ltd. and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the largest miners of the metal, submitted proposals on meeting Zimbabwe’s demands to give local people majority stakes in the companies’ assets in the country.
“We’re currently in ongoing engagement with the government on our submission,” Anglo American Plc’s platinum unit, based in Johannesburg, said by e-mail today. The unit is “confident that it will be in a strong position to meet Zimbabwe’s empowerment requirements based on this experience.”
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-largest mining company by sales, Mwana Africa Plc and Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. are among those that may be affected by laws seeking to boost black ownership. The Indigenization and Empowerment Act gives foreign companies and other investors that aren’t considered “indigenous,” and who own more than $500,000 in assets, until June 2 to say how they will cede 51 percent holdings.
“We await a response,” Bob Gilmour, a spokesman for Johannesburg-based Impala, said by mobile phone today. ENRC has submitted proposals to the government, Charlotte Kirkham, a London-based spokeswoman, said by phone, without elaborating.
“The major mining companies are mainly cooperating,” Saviour Kasukuwere, indigenization minister, said in a telephone interview from Harare today. “We will evaluate the substance of their proposals to see if they meet our expectations.”
Ian Middleton, a spokesman for Mwana, declined to comment and Illtud Harri at Rio wasn’t immediately able to respond.
--With assistance from Firat Kayakiran in London and Carli Lourens in Johannesburg. Editors: Tony Barrett, Amanda Jordan
To contact the reporter on this story: Renee Bonorchis in Johannesburg at rbonorchis@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vernon Wessels at vwessels@bloomberg.net
