First black company enters seaborne iron ore market

Northern Cape-based Burk Mining is the first black-owned mining company to enter the seaborne iron ore market following an agreement signed with Kumba Iron Ore. The agreement makes provision for iron ore from the company’s Northern Cape mine to be loaded at Kumba’s Sishen mine onto the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore export channel. Burk Mining does not have direct access to the seaborne exports due to the high cost of establishing blending and load out facilities. According to a statement by the two mining companies, Transnet is in the process of finalising a rail and port allocation for this short term agreement for the transport of the iron ore to the port of Saldanha. It will use Sishen mine’s infrastructure and loading facilities to load the export trains. Burk Mining will annually deliver about half a million tons of iron ore to Sishen mine for screening, blending and loading. “Allowing BEE companies access to the export channel is essential in opening up the mining sector to new entrants,” says Chris Griffith, chief executive of Kumba. “The agreement opens up new opportunities for us to grow our business,” said Anthony Rooiland, Burk’s chief executive. Kumba will also be assisting the company with technical expertise in mining and beneficiation.