Mining bill faces another hurdle

Johannesburg - It will be several more months before the major overhaul of South Africa’s mining law is finalised, making new investment in the sector more or less impossible reports City Press.

Parliament’s portfolio committee on mineral resources this week had to decide what to do with the controversial Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill after President Jacob Zuma refused to sign it into law early this year.

The bill contains measures such as strategic minerals and free shares in oil finds that will fundamentally determine what mineral or oil assets are really worth to their private owners.