Manganese ore production from mines in the Northern Cape rose 19% to take advantage of strong manganese prices.

South32 spent $356m on capital projects in the past year, including $37m on the second phase of underground development at the Wessels manganese mine. In the past year, the company has also made an $81m investment into Arizona Mining and signed other agreements in exploration projects.

An additional $7m was spent on greenfields exploration, mainly for base metals in the Americas and Australia. Kerr said copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt were attractive commodities, suited to Chinas move to a consumption-led economy, and South32 has decades technical expertise.

In SA, the feasibility study into the $265m Klipspruit life extension project has been completed and a final investment decision will be made before end-December. Kerr said Klipspruits current reserve would be depleted by 2020.

Mike Fraser, president and chief operating officer for Africa, said Klipspruit was close to Eskoms Kusile power station and although it was an export coal mine, the mix could be changed to suit Eskoms needs.

At the end of June South32 held $1.6bn in net cash, five times more than a year ago.

It recently began a $500m share buyback programme, which was raised to $750m, as the most efficient mechanism for returning cash to shareholders. About $539m of the programme is still to be spent.

The shares added 1% to R30.73 after the announcement.

mathewsc@fm.co.za

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