Modern Mining October 2020

Coal miners should take the lead in being ethical suppliers to Eskom cleaner energy generation must include usage of cleaner coal technologies. “The government should consider a policy position that promotes research and devel- opment to develop those technologies to enable South Africa to benefit from its coal endowment in an environmentally sustain- able way.”

it’s commercially viable and is able to pur- chase the latest clean technologies for its power stations. These technologies include carbon capture and storage systems. “If we don’t support Eskom, we will be shooting ourselves in the foot,” he said. Although Eskom’s Kusile power sta- tion is using wet flue gas desulphurisation technology to reduce emissions, some of the utility’s power stations need to be upgraded. For this to happen, Mkhabela said, “Eskom needs to be commercially viable and coal producers should assist by supplying it at reasonable prices.” 

Speaking during a panel discussion with other coal industry stakeholders, as part of the virtual Joburg Indaba on 8 October 2020, Mpumelelo Mkhabela, chairperson of mining investment firm Menar, called on coal producers to do their part in improv- ing transparency and accountability in their relationship with Eskom. Mkhabela said a code of ethics should regulate contractual arrangements that ensure commercial viability to both the supplier and purchaser of coal – not one at the expense of the other, resulting in public harm. Implementation of an ethical code would bring many benefits for Eskom, including increased levels of transparency and accountability. “The coal sector has been under attack. Coal has earned a bad reputation in South Africa largely because it has become asso- ciated with load shedding. As an industry we need to assist Eskom by providing it with coal at fair prices in a reliable manner in the interest of the economy. This will also improve the sector’s reputation.” He said coal producers should con- sider conducting a socio-economic impact study to show the benefits of coal mining. “If we looked at the total contribution of coal producers in terms of social labour plans, local economic development plans, local procurement opportunities as well as employment, the economic significance of coal mining and would become very clear.” Mkhabela said a “just transition” to

He reaffirmed Menar’s support for Eskom’s CEO Andre de Ruyter’s com- mitment to procure coal in a robustly competitive manner. Mkhabela stressed that coal producers should also do their part by helping Eskom to make sure that

New board appointment at Cora Gold Cora Gold Limited, the West African focused gold company, has appointed Andrew Chubb to the board of Cora as an indepen- dent non-executive director with immediate effect.

cessfully advised on numerous IPOs, pub- lic and private equity and convertible capital raises and M&A trans- actions including AIM,

Chubb is currently a partner and head of mining at natural resources focused invest- ment bank Hannam & Partners. Previously, he was a managing director at Canaccord Genuity, where he worked for eight years in the natural resources team. He has a broad range of international corporate finance, restructuring, capital markets and M&A experience focusing on the metals, mining and natural resources sectors. At the date of this announcement (7 October), Chubb holds a total of 210 526 ordinary shares in the company. During Chubb’s career, he has suc-

TSX, ASX, NASDAQ and Official List compa- nies, with a particular focus on Africa. Prior to joining Canaccord Genuity, he spent four years with law firm BLP and has a first class law degree from Manchester University. Ed Bowie, non-executive chairman, says: “Andrew’s extensive experience working in the natural resources sector advising AIM listed companies, particularly in Africa, will be invaluable to Cora. Cora is extremely pleased to welcome him to the board with immediate effect as we are embarking on an exciting and busy period for the company.” 

October 2020  MODERN MINING  7