Latest news with #R17.9bn
IOL News
27-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Harmony Gold diversifies into copper with MAC Copper acquisition
Harmony Gold's Doornkop Mine. Harmony Gold is diversifying into copper after completing a transaction for the acquisition of New York listed MAC Copper Limited Harmony Gold is diversifying into copper after completing a transaction for the acquisition of New York listed MAC Copper Limited, which controls CSA Copper mine in Australia for about $1 billion (R17.9bn). Copper, deemed a future proofing mineral, has been the center of merger and acquisition activity among South African and global miners. The South African gold miner said Tuesday that it had entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of the securities in MAC Copper Limited for $12.25 per share. This implied a total equity value for MAC of $1.03bn or about R18.4bn. 'The acquisition of the CSA Copper Mine in Australia is significant as it introduces a high-quality, established underground producing copper asset to the Harmony portfolio. CSA is one of the highest-grade copper mines in Australia, producing 41kt of copper in calendar year 2024,' said Harmony Gold CEO Beyers Nel. He described the Australian mine Harmony Gold was acquiring as 'a logical fit with the portfolio' as it meets the company's 'core investment criteria, including increasing free cash flow generation while improving margins at long-term expected commodity' prices. 'We believe that Harmony is well positioned to leverage its expertise in underground mining to further enhance operations. Furthermore, the Transaction represents a significant step forward in transforming Harmony into an increasingly de-risked, higher-quality, global gold and copper producer through disciplined and effective capital allocation,' added Nel. Earlier this year, Nel said the operating environment in South Africa has started to stabilise, helping the company to lift up earnings for the half year to December although analysts had varying evaluations of the gold miner's diversification strategy into copper. In the half year to December, Harmony Gold raised revenues by 19% to R35.45 billion, with net profits for the period jumping 33% to R7.93bn and headline earnings per share also soaring by 33% to 1 270 SA cents. View: BUSINESS REPORT
IOL News
26-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
South Africa to buy gas from US in proposed new trade deal
Oil pump jacks are shown in a field in Stanton, Texas, US. Image: AFP South Africa said Monday it plans to buy liquefied natural gas from the US in a proposed deal worth around $1 billion (R17.9bn) a year, after a tense televised encounter between the countries' presidents. In return for agreeing to buy the gas (LNG), South Africa would avoid paying duty on exports of 40 000 vehicles a year to the US, cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni wrote in a newspaper comment piece. The proposals followed tense talks between South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa and his US counterpart Donald Trump at the White House last week, which aimed to reset plummeting relations and save trade ties vital to South Africa's sputtering economy. Under the terms of a deal yet to be finalised, South Africa would import LNG from the US for 10 years, Ntshavheni wrote in the country's Sunday Times newspaper. The US would also invest in gas infrastructure development in South Africa, including in fracking, said Ntshavheni, who was in the delegation that accompanied Ramaphosa at the talks on Wednesday. South Africa would in turn be able to export 40 000 vehicles a year to the US without duties as well as 385 000 tonnes of steel and 132,000 tonnes of aluminium, she said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ She said the deal would yield about $900 million to $1.2bn in trade a year. South Africa has a vast trade deficit with the US, which has threatened to impose 30-percent tariffs. The proposed deal would also allow duty-free imports of automotive components from South Africa for US car production. "These are numbers contained in the trade deal proposal that South Africa has presented to the USTR (US Trade Representative) for consideration and further negotiations," Ramaphosa's spokesman Vincent Magwenya told AFP. Ramaphosa said in his weekly newsletter Monday that a key outcome of the talks was "agreement on an economic cooperation channel between the US administration and South Africa to engage further on tariffs and a broad range of trade matters". "There is potential to increase and diversify trade between our two countries in areas such as gas, mining and critical minerals, agriculture and nuclear products," he said. It was also agreed that Washington would be represented at a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Johannesburg in November, Ramaphosa said. Trump had threatened to skip the meeting hosted under the South African presidency this year, as ties frayed over a range of domestic and international policy issues. During the talks in Washington, Trump confronted Ramaphosa on camera with unfounded claims of genocide against white farmers in South Africa. But Ramaphosa insisted "the overarching aim of our visit was to deepen our strategic economic partnership with the US as our second-largest trading partner." AFP
