The Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, said not only BCL and Tati Nickel mines were affected but that revenues from mining were declining as a result."First, the international financial market situation is fluid," Kedikiwe said. "Second, paradoxically, the very assistance that the government might potentially use would have come from the tax revenue generated by the very mining operations which are running dry of resources because commodity prices are tumbling down. "Third, traditional sources of income for assisting mines like BCL, the diamond mines, are also under financial strain. We are, however, constantly monitoring the situation, which continues to change quite rapidly, and will work closely with mining operations to ensure that they are able to survive these difficult times."
He assured Parliament that the situation was being closely monitored and that any possible assistance was likely to depend on the nature of the assistance required, for how long, and self-help inputs by the mining operation in question.
