• COUNTRY IN FOCUS
NEW NORMAL IN
UNCHARTERED TERRITORY
By Andrew van Zyl, director and principal consultant, SRK Consulting
South Africa’s mining sector will be navigating a path to the ‘new normal’ as
the phasing in of mining operations begins – and this will comprise mainly
unchartered territory.
However, there are some immediate opportunities
to build on, and a legacy of expertise in infectious
diseases which can support mining’s efforts to regain
its footing.
Immediate impact
The closure of mining operations – with the exception of
those deemed of strategic importance – has certainly been
an unprecedented jolt to a sector already under various
commercial and other pressures. The financial recovery from this
point will be complicated by lower demand in the short term,
which will further impact on cashflows. Bridging finance may
be necessary to sustain business viability in many cases, and
interim funding to provide liquidity is foreseeable.
What will give South African mines a little more space to
manoeuvre is the sharp drop in the value of the rand as markets
deserted a number of developing country currencies. The
Leon Louw
The closure of certain mining operations has been unprecedented and caused a jolt to the mining
sector, which was even before Covid-19, under extreme financial pressures.
28 • African Mining •May 2020
www. africanmining.co.za