ESKOM

Gold rose towards $1,640 an ounce on Tuesday and other precious metals rallied, with a rebound in the euro versus the dollar making dollar-priced assets more attractive to holders of other currencies, and after bullion breached a key chart level.

The roughly dozen activists are protesting the construction of one of the largest coal-powered power plant in that country.

South Africa plans to place limits for carbon emissions on top polluters who may face penalties if they do not conform to the new regulations, a climate policy paper showed on Tuesday.

South African energy minister Dipuo Peters said on Thursday she had signed off on a proposal for new nuclear power plants, likely worth tens of billions of dollars, and said it would be presented to cabinet soon.

South Africa is confident that a recently launched bidding process for renewable energy will lead to the addition of 3,725 megawatts (MW)of green energy to the national grid by 2016, despite previous delays, a senior government official said.

South Africa has no plans to privatise logistics group Transnet and power utility Eskom to attract more investment and has no intention of splitting the companies, the minister of public enterprises said on Tuesday.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's largest platinum producer, again raised its wage offer on Friday, trying to head off a strike that could cause a jump in global prices of the precious metal.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers members at Impala Platinum on Friday rejected a revised pay rise offer from the world's second largest producer of the precious metal and will refer the dispute to arbitration.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's largest platinum producer, again raised its wage offer on Friday, trying to head off a strike that could cause a jump in global prices of the precious metal.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers members at Impala Platinum on Friday rejected a revised pay rise offer from the world's second largest producer of the precious metal and will refer the dispute to arbitration.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers said on Thursday Impala Platinum had improved its wage offer in a bid to avert a strike which could impact production at the world's second-largest producer of the precious metal.

Striking workers in South Africa's petroleum sector are discussing a revised wage offer to end a three-week-old walkout as stoppages spread to the vital mining sector, threatening supplies of coal and gold.

Higher input costs and a strong rand led to a 63 percent drop in ArcelorMittal South Africa's first-half profit and the steelmaker forecast a difficult third quarter on Wednesday, sending its shares to a 28-month low.

South Africa's new energy resource plan, which will determine the country's electricity mix over the next 20 years, will be passed into law by the start of April, a government official said on Tuesday.

South African building firm Murray & Roberts fell to a half-year loss on Wednesday and said it will sell some assets in the Middle East and Australia, as it fights to ride out an industry-wide slump.

South Africa's nearly week-long truckers' strike over wages has caused some petrol stations to run dry and raised concerns that a prolonged walk-out could deal a blow to Africa's largest economy.

Anglo American's thermal coal unit is keen to expand its operations in South Africa and beyond, but is waiting for price of acquisitions to come down first, the unit's head said late on Wednesday.

Namibia's Nampower plans to solicit bids as early as April for the $1 billion power plant that forms part of its Kudu gas-to-power project, the power utility's managing director told Reuters on Wednesday.

A state-owned South African mining company likely to focus on coal and uranium will be up and running by the end of February, but much of its work will be farmed out to private firms, a senior official said on Tuesday.

South African coal producers on Friday dismissed utility Eskom's criticism of coal quality and the power company's claims that suppliers were favouring exports over deliveries to its electricity generating plants.

For Esther Moloto, the 32-year-old owner of a little house on top of the world's biggest platinum reserves, the sound of progress is falling plaster.