Mining law amended in wake of lawsuits
SAs controversial Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act has been amended extending the deadline for companies that want to submit expropriation claims against the state\'s award of mineral rights to the end of April 2009.
This comes in the wake of a recent R2.6bn lawsuit brought against the Department of Mineral Affairs by Italian mining companies, says Moneyweb. The deadline for claims had been extended until April this year. A spokesperson for the department said the amended clause applied to parties who felt they were expropriated of mineral rights under provisions in the law for unused mineral rights to revert back to the state or parties who failed to convert their old order to new order mining rights. South African law requires mining companies to sell 26% of their assets to black investors by 2014. Full Moneyweb report