The higher-than-inflation tariff increases granted to State-owned Eskom by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) will have a major impact on the South African mining industry’s cost structure, Minerals Council South Africa chief economist Henk Langenhoven said on Thursday. The increases, which amount to nearly two-thirds of what the power utility applied for, will jeopardise the viability of marginal and loss-making mines and, inevitably, accelerate job losses at energy-intensive mines in particular, he asserted.
