SELLING THE FAMILY SILVER
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- Created: Monday, 13 March 2023 08:05
Does South Africa really take beneficiation seriously? Here is a story about one company, just as an example of where, in my opinion, things might have gone wrong.
In 1998 Samancor was the world’s largest ferro-alloy producer, producing alloys of chrome and manganese. It was South African owned and controlled, with its origins in the creation of South African Manganese in 1926.
However, in December 1998 its major shareholder, London-listed Billiton (formerly Gencor), took over the company and de-listed it from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It was established as the vehicle to promote Billiton’s global chrome and manganese businesses.
Billiton, which subsequently merged with Australian mining company BHP to become BHP Billiton, did not retain its interest in chrome and in June 2005 it sold its majority interest in Samancor Chrome to the Kermas Group, a company domiciled in the UK with substantial interests in Kazakhstan. Kermas remained secretive, never issuing company reports nor providing access to journalists and analysts.
Over the years ferrochrome producers in South Africa struggled to maintain production levels due to the rising cost and erratic supplies of power from Eskom. However, a multitude of small chrome ore producers obligingly supplied China with cheap ore to produce ferrochrome. In mid-2021 there were about 20 chrome recovery plants which produce fine chromite from UG2 platinum tailings, and also about 20 formal and informal washing plants for the production of chrome concentrates from primary sources. Eventually, in 2012, China overtook South Africa as the world’s largest ferrochrome producer.
(Professor, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand), 
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