28 September

According to Australia’s Resources and Energy Quarterly September report, resource and energy exports in the country are estimated to reach $256bn in 2020-21, and will stand at $252bn in 2021-22. The drive in Australian exports is attributed to a sharp economic rebound of the country’s major customer, China, following the Covid-19 pandemic. The report showed that the decline in the output of the resources sector caused by the pandemic may have been sharp but has proven to be relatively ‘short-lived’.

Botswana-based coal miner and trader Minergy has recorded significant milestones during the financial year ended 30 June, despite part of the year being severely impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak. Minergy CEO Morné du Plessis said: “Despite border restrictions between South Africa and Botswana (a minimum of 15 weeks), Minergy, in its first year of operations, sold ~198,000 tonnes for the financial year generating P81m in revenue.”

Gold miner Resolute has announced that it reached a deal with a union representing its workers at the Syama mine in Mali to prevent further strike action at the mine site. Resolute negotiated the deal with Union Nationale des Travailleurs du Mali (UNTM) to sign a ‘conciliation agreement’ that cancelled the strike. As a result of the agreement, a compromise between Resolute’s subsidiary company SOMISY and the UNTM has been achieved. The conciliation agreement involved the introduction of a commission to evaluate the support measures that SOMISY has argued are required in response to the Covid-19 and the current economic conditions of the workers at Syama.