JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) continues to engage management of the Vaalkrantz colliery, in KwaZulu-Natal, to explore job saving options, DMR spokesperson Ayanda Shezi told Mining Weekly Online on Friday.

She said the DMR continued to engage coal producer Keaton Energy’s wholly owned subsidiary Leeuw Mining and Exploration (LME) about Vaalkrantz in an effort to explore alternatives to the intended retrenchments by the mine.
  
“Vaalkrantz issued two Section 52 notices in March and May 2016, respectively, to the department; however, the details of the intended retrenchments were not clearly indicated,” stated Shezi.
 
She commented that, in the DMR’s engagements with Vaalkrantz, it had established that 211 contractors were affected by these notices.

“In this regard, the DMR engaged Vaalkrantz to prepare a way forward to correct the situation. The department continues to advocate for consultations before companies can start with the retrenchment intentions and processes,” Shezi stressed.

However, Keaton Energy CEO Mandi Glad told Mining Weekly Online on Monday that the Section 52 issued to the DMR in March related to the voluntary liquidation of Vaalkrantz’s mining contractor, Nasonti Mining Services, where 211 of the contractors’ employees were affected. 

“LME has had a number of interactions with the DMR in this regard,” she said.
 
Glad further explained that the Section 52 issued in May related to the placing of Vaalkrantz on care and maintenance where 80 LME employees were affected. 

“These two issues are unrelated. The LME retrenchment process is finalised and Keaton has yet to receive feedback from the DMR insofar as it relates to the Section 52 issued in May 2016,” she remarked.

BACKGROUND
LME told Mining Weekly Online last week that it had concluded a Section 189A process for the retrenchment of all 80 employees at its Vaalkrantz colliery.

Keaton has cited the ongoing global decline in coal prices, force majeure declared on LME by its biggest customer and the unavailability of water owing to the continued drought in the region as the reasons for placing Vaalkrantz on care and maintenance.

All mining and processing operations at the colliery ceased on May 1.

Keaton investor relations officer Samantha Brown told Mining Weekly Online last week that the discussion with unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), regarding the retrenchments had been completed as at May 31.

She noted that the DMR had been notified about the retrenchment process, but that Keaton had not received any feedback as yet from the department. 

NUM KwaZulu-Natal regional organiser Sipho Ndlovu said an agreement had been reached before the mine ceased all operations.

“Even if we were not happy with the retrenchment packages that workers received there was not much we [NUM and AMCU] could do about it really, as the mine has been closed,” he lamented.