Kumba Refuses Company Access To Mine While Rights Disputes

28th Jun 2010 11:36

By Robb M. Stewart Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES JOHANNESBURG (Dow Jones)--Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. (KIO.JO) is refusing to grant access to its Sishen mine in South Africa to a little known company that was awarded disputed exploration rights to the site by the government. A spokeswoman at Kumba, which is majority owned by Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN), said Imperial Crown Trading 289 Pty. Ltd. had requested a meeting over its intention to begin prospecting at Sishen. "Kumba's legal advisers have responded that the company will not provide access to the property," the spokeswoman said. Sishen is an operating mine where blasting regularly occurs. It is the larger of Kumba's two mines and produced 39.4 million metric tons of iron ore in 2009. The Department of Mineral Resources in March confirmed Imperial Crown had been granted a prospecting right over a 21.4% stake in Sishen that had previously been held by steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. (ACL.JO). ArcelorMittal's stake in Sishen reverted to the government after the company failed to reapply for mining rights, as required by law. The mining department has said it will launch an internal review of its decision after Kumba appealed the award of a prospecting right over its application for a mining right on the minority stake in Sishen. In late May Kumba initiated a court review of the award. "The DMR has not yet responded with regard to the appeal that was lodged," the Kumba spokeswoman said. "Kumba understands that this appeal is still being considered." She said a court date for the review hasn't been set. Imperial Crown wants to exercise its rights to Sishen and has requested access to the property to bring geologists and technical teams there, Sake24.com reported Sunday on its website, citing controlling shareholder Jagdish Parekh. It said that according to court documents filed by Kumba, production at Sishen would have to be halted and equipment and vehicles removed for Imperial Crown to access the site. -By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; +27 11 783 7848; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 28, 2010 06:36 ET (10:36 GMT)