Modern Mining Marchh 2017

MINING CONTRACTING

The winners of the Investment Battlefield Competition at the recent Mining Indaba were an- nounced by Harry Chapman (left), Director of Content for the Mining Indaba, and Nthabi Led- waba, Investment Committee Member, JSS Empowerment Mining Fund (photo: Mining Indaba).

entered into an alliance agreement enabling them to offer comprehen- sive turnkey solutions for any type of mining project. The JSS Empowerment Mining Fund was launched in February this year in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. The Fund had a high profile at the recent Mining Indaba and co-sponsored the new Junior Miners Pavilion, including the associated Investment Battlefield Competition. The competition was an innovation at this year’s Mining Indaba and proved extremely pop- ular with delegates. It saw mining companies – 16 in all – pitching their projects on stage to a panel of investor judges, who provided live feedback. As we reported in last month’s issue, the competition was won by Consolidated Nickel Mines (CNM), which is planning to restart the Munali underground nickel mine south-west of Lusaka in Zambia, which has been on care and main- tenance since 2011. The runner-up was Sula Iron & Gold, an AIM- listed company which is currently focused on developing its Ferensola project in northern Sierra Leone, which is highly prospective for gold, iron and coltan. 

and all permissions checked and validated. In addition, a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) will need to have been completed. When the Fund was introduced to the media in late January this year, there were already eight pro- spective projects in the pipeline totalling R703 million, mainly in coal and anthracite, with the small- est needing R30 million to get into production and largest R185 million. Since then, multiple appli- cations in the platinum, chrome and gold space, in addition to fur- ther coal applications, have also been received. The involvement of Stefanutti Stocks will provide investors with the assurance that projects backed by the Fund are implemented to the highest technical standards. The group’s mining arm, Stefanutti Stocks Mining Services, has a high reputation in its field and offers expertise in opencast min- ing, bulk materials handling, and waste residue disposal and recov- ery facilities. Where necessary, it can also bring underground mining skills to bear as Stefanutti Stocks and underground mining contrac- tor Redpath Mining (South Africa) recently announced that they have

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