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Thursday, 8th September 2005 (7223 views)

The draft of the Precious Metals Bill was tabled on Wednesday at the South African parliament.

Industry officials have been calling for more relaxed regulations in the precious metals sector as red tape is currently damaging the industry.

Under the current system a plethora of institutions are responsible for the industry including the governmental minerals and energy department and the South Africa Police Service. It is hoped that the control can be passed to just one institution, reports Business Day.

Apparently the 1991 Minerals Act burdens "possessors of unwrought precious metal with cumbersome administrative procedures and restrict[s] dealing in and possession of unwrought precious metal unnecessarily", reports Finance24.

At present South Africa refines 342 tons of gold each year, of which 15 tonnes are manufactured as jewellery. This correlates with the shrinking manufacturing sector of South Africa's economy.

The proposals include new definitions of "semifabricated precious metal" and "unwrought precious metal", which would exclude minted bars from the latter category.

"Semifabricated precious metal" would be defined as gold refined to or beyond 99.95 per cent purity and platinum group metals refined up to or beyond 99.9 per cent purity.

A precious metal-beneficiation licence, requiring holders to keep a record of their transactions, would also form part of the bill.

 

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