DRDGOLD, which has been listed on the JSE for 130 years, has described proposals in the draft Mineral Resources Development Bill gazetted by the department of mineral & petroleum resources (DMPR) as “expropriation without compensation”.
Commenting in the group’s 2025 annual report released this week, chair Timothy Cumming and CEO Niël Pretorius said DRDGOLD had not only supported the government’s empowerment agenda but was one of the first firms in the mining sector to fully comply with the first mining charter’s ownership targets.
They said it was initially designed to create new “captains of industry”, but the industry’s efforts had ended up benefitting only a small, privileged elite.
“Now another round is being pursued in terms of the bill, in what appears to be an attempt on the part of the ruling party to resuscitate expiring political capital through what can only be described as tired ideology,” they said. “The new proposals, if enacted without qualification, include undertones of expropriation without compensation as well as free-carry dilution.”
The draft bill was gazetted in May this year to amend the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, was tweaked to relieve companies of the duty to comply with BEE requirements when applying for prospecting rights. The correction was made after companies argued that BEE rules should not apply to prospecting because this stage of the mining process yielded no returns.
Pretorius and Cumming said that while proposed changes in the bill promote transformation, its provisions for historic stockpiles and dumps are of particular concern, given that the company’s core business revolves around the retreatment of mine dumps.
They said the bill threatens to complicate licensing transfers and operational approvals — all critical for surface retreatment.
“Investor confidence depends on clarity of title, regulatory consistency, and protection of acquired rights. We will continue to engage constructively to ensure legislation supports tailings retreatment’s unique role in cleaning up historic liabilities, creating jobs and delivering value,” they said.
Under the new framework, tailings storage operators had to either include these under existing mineral rights or risk losing ownership of the assets to the state.
“This introduces both a compliance burden and the risk of asset loss, potentially altering the value of DRDGOLD’s resource base and complicating its ability to unlock long-term value from its tailings operations. This introduces new challenges and uncertainties for industry stakeholders, particularly concerning investment and operational flexibility. ”
DRDGOLD, whose operations include Ergo Mining and Far West Gold Recoveries (FWGR) near Johannesburg, said it was venturing into other African countries for opportunities.
It said it was conducting early investigative work on extending its reclamation operations to Africa and South America.
“While there is little more to say at this point, our focus is likely to remain on gold and to include copper. Let there be no doubt: our immediate priority is to keep our current operations performing and to execute Vision 2028 flawlessly,” Pretorius and Cumming said.
The Vision 2028 strategy, launched by DRDGOLD last year, is an R8bn capital programme to extend the operating life of its operations.
The company, which has benefitted from the strong gold price, reported a 26% increase in group revenue to R7.88bn, driven by a 31% increase in the average gold price received.
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