JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The operational entry of Sibanye Gold into platinum mining received a twin boost on Thursday when South Africa’s competition authorities gave the nod to platinum mine takeovers on two fronts.

At the major end, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) announced that its sale of Rustenburg Platinum Mines to Sibanye had met with Competition Act requirements while, at the synergistic end, Aquarius Platinum spread the same news.

Now the ball is in the court of government to approve the transfer to Sibanye of the ownership of Amplats' Bathopele, Siphumelele/Khomanani and Thembelani/Khuseleka mining operations, two concentrating plants, an on-site chrome recovery plant, the Western Limb Tailings Retreatment Plant, surface infrastructure plus assets and liabilities on a going concern basis including normalised levels of working capital.

At corporate level, the deal has gone smoothly with close interface between Amplats CEO Chris Griffith and Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman, whose company will soon change its name to Sibanye Resources to incorporate the platinum side of the business.

The transfer of ownership is conducted by the Department of Mineral Resources under Section 11 of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, which governs the sale of the mining right and the prospecting right to Sibanye.

At the same time, Aquarius announced that approvals by the South African Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal were the final regulatory approvals required for the transaction, which was approved by Aquarius shareholders in January.

Aquarius and Sibanye are now in the process of confirming the conditions fulfilment date, when Aquarius – the Kroondal platinum mine asset which offers potential synergistic benefits in meshing with the Rustenburg Operations – will release an updated timetable of events leading up to completion of the transaction and payment to Aquarius shareholders.

On Wednesday, a mineworker was shot dead and three others seriously wounded during a shooting at Kroondal’s Bambanani mine shaft.