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TWO of South Africa’s prominent mining families are facing off in a legal battle over the management of Assmang – the iron ore and manganese business jointly owned by African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Assore.
The dispute pits the Sacco family, which controls Assore, against the Motsepes, the controlling shareholders in ARM.
ARM said in a stock exchange announcement on Tuesday that Assore had launched proceedings against it and Assmang, among others, in a dispute over ARM’s rights to appoint senior management and run Assmang’s operations under their shareholders’ agreement.
The dispute also involves information and records. ARM said it requires information from Assore so Assmang can meet its legal and regulatory obligations.
ARM said legal advice it had received indicated that Assore’s claims and allegations had no substantive merit. It plans to defend the case and bring its own proceedings against Assore over its management rights and access to the information.
Long history
The dispute puts a longstanding disagreement over the management of Assmang back in the spotlight.
MiningMX reported in 2005 that the move to turn Assmang into an equal ARM-Assore venture was intended to end years of friction over how the company was run.
Under the earlier arrangement, ARM predecessor Avmin ran the mines while Assore handled marketing, although Assore maintained that it also had a say in mining decisions.
Assore and ARM have each owned 50% of Assmang since the restructuring was completed in 2006 and Assmang was delisted.
Assore, whose mining interests span iron ore, manganese, chrome and industrial minerals, has long been associated with the Sacco family, while ARM was founded by Patrice Motsepe, who remains its non-executive chairman.
Assmang is an important part of ARM. Its ferrous division contributed R2.03bn to ARM’s headline earnings in the year to June 2026, although that was 42% lower than the previous year as weaker iron ore conditions and lower sales had an impact on the business.
Its main operations include the Khumani iron ore mine and the Nchwaning and Gloria manganese mines in the Northern Cape. The business has been reshaped over the past year, including the closure of the Cato Ridge ferromanganese smelter and the sale of Assmang’s stake in Malaysia’s Sakura Ferroalloys to Assore.
Assmang also placed its Beeshoek iron ore mine on care and maintenance late last year after losing sales to ArcelorMittal South Africa, resulting in the retrenchment of 622 permanent employees.
Dividend talks continue
ARM said it would continue managing Assmang under its contractual rights and obligations while the legal proceedings continued. Representatives of ARM and Assore also remained in discussions over the business.
The legal fight has not halted talks over Assmang’s final dividend for the year to June 2026. ARM said the two shareholders were still discussing how much should be paid and when.
ARM stressed that Assore’s claims did not relate to the dividend and said it remained committed to maximising payments to shareholders.
Assmang had cash and cash equivalents attributable to ARM of R3.9 billion at end-June.