Miners head to South Africa but leave their chequebooks at home

Mining woes: Miner Bernice Motsieloa (right) briefs other miners on their daily duties at the Anglo American Bathopele Mine in Runstenburg, South Africa, some 170km from Johannesburg. A mix of shrinking reserves, rising labour costs, frequent stoppages and regulatory uncertainty has prompted major miners to rethink their presence in the country. – AFP

JOHANNESBURG: With its iconic mountain, beaches and vineyards, it’s easy to attract global mining bosses and fund managers to Cape Town. Yet as thousands of executives, shareholders and officials flock to South Africa for the annual Mining Indaba, the industry’s investments are flowing the opposite way.

A mix of shrinking reserves, rising labour costs, frequent stoppages and regulatory uncertainty has prompted major miners to rethink their presence in the country, home to the world’s largest platinum, chrome, and manganese reserves and the source of one-third of all gold ever mined.