20 Jul 2010 07:00
20 July 2010
Appeal Process Update
Aquarius Platinum Limited ("Aquarius" or the "Company") advises that senior representatives of Aquarius Platinum (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited ("AQPSA") and senior representatives of other mining companies in the North West Province which received the Directive referred to in the Company's preceding announcements on 16 and 19 July 2010, met with the Chief Inspector of Mines and other senior officials in the Health and Safety Inspectorate of the Department of Mineral Resources ("DMR"), to discuss the Directive and if appropriate, to lodge an appeal against the Directive to the Chief Inspector.
The meeting with the DMR was positive and constructive, and the Company is, together with its international mining consultant, reviewing mine design and support parameters to present best practice guidelines to the DMR in respect of each of its mines individually. In the interim, AQPSA will continue to apply its existing mining techniques and will shortly present to the DMR interim safety measures which AQPSA intends to implement to ameliorate the threat of fall of ground incidents, pending the outcome of the aforementioned exhaustive review.
The DMR advised all present at the meeting that the recipients of the Directive had applied an objective administrative interpretation to the Directive, as opposed to the subjective interpretation afforded to the Directive by the DMR, namely that the import of the Directive was to invite recipients of the Directive to constructively and expeditiously engage with the DMR with the mutual objective of introducing safety management systems that will reduce fall of ground fatalities in the North West Province and it was not the intention of the DMR to unilaterally prescribe mining methods in the absence of mining companies being given the opportunity to interact with the DMR to collectively determine the best mining practices to achieve that objective.
Stuart Murray, CEO of Aquarius, said:
"We are grateful to have been able to clarify the recent Directive with the DMR, and we welcome the opportunity for each of our mines to make individual presentations on safety to the Inspectorate. AQPSA has already completed an initial consultation with the DMR as part of the ongoing review process outlined in the recent Directive. We are greatly encouraged by the decisive leadership and co-operative attitude displayed by the DMR, and by the spirit of the review. It is clear that all parties have safety as their priority and are looking for a pragmatic solution to achieve that objective."
For further information please contact:
In the United Kingdom and South Africa
Gavin Mackay
+44 7909 547 042
In Australia:
Willi Boehm
Aquarius Platinum Corporate Services
+61 8 9367 5211