Rio Tinto's South African subsidiary Palabora Mining Co has filed an appeal against the government decision to strip it of some of its mining rights. The copper producing company is appealing about the granting of a mining right to a third party in an area where the company already holds an old order mining right.
The Phaloborawa based company Palobora Mining said in a statement to the stock exchange that it had lodged its old order mining right for conversion into a new order mining right. The company was unhappy that the government had granted permission to a third party which was not named to mine in the area where it already held mining rights.
The company also specified that their current mining operations were not affected by this development. The area in question is good for mining copper, magnetite, phosphate apatite and baddeleyite. This is the latest in a series of disputed mining rights in South Africa.
The mishandling of disputed mineral right awards has earned a bad reputation for the country. The investor concerns over the proper functioning of the mining industry have been raised by this as well as the call for nationalizing all mines by the Youth League of the ANC.