JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters) – Capital in Africa remains scarce by any traditional measure of the term.

But conservationists say the continent is rich in “natural capital” and argue that if this was properly harnessed, the region would reap dividends and grow its economy and more orthodox forms of capital.

Calculating Africa’s natural capital is the focus of a 2-day conference, organised by green group Conservation International (CI), that began on Thursday in Botswana’s capital Gaborone.

The traditional measurement of gross domestic product, or GDP – the value of all the goods and services produced by an economy – has long been in the sights of critics who feel it is one-sided or misleading.

Alternatives range from Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness index to the U.N.’s annual Human Development Index, which includes life expectancy and education as well as income.

There have been various stabs at “greening GDP” and much of the debate centers on natural capital and how it is valued.

For example, the World Bank last year estimated around one third of the wealth of low-income countries stemmed from their natural capital, which it said included forests, protected habitat, farmland, energy and minerals.

JOHANNESBURG, May 23 (Reuters) – The world’s largest platinum mine, run by Impala Platinum, remained closed for a second day on Wednesday, taking another 3,000 ounces out of global output, as a union turf war rumbled on.

“The rival unions are still playing a game of winner takes all. This should not be a fight to the death,” Johan Theron, Implats head of human resources, told Reuters.

The fresh flare-up buries hopes of settling a labour battle that shut the Rustenburg mine, which accounts for about 15 percent of global output, for six weeks earlier this year. That cost Implats 120,000 lost ounces.

But markets took the fresh unrest in stride. Spot platinum was one percent lower in morning trade, extending recent losses, with the focus on the gloomy demand outlook.

Rustenburg, Implats’ flagship South African mine, has been hit by clashes between the dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

The latest round was sparked when police say suspected AMCU supporters allegedly shot and wounded a NUM member last week. Their arrest on Monday prompted protests, which saw most of the mine’s workforce failing to report for duty on Tuesday.

Theron said the AMCU, which has launched a recruiting drive, wanted recognition from the company and now claimed to have 10,000 members or about a third of the 30,000-strong labour force if processing workers are counted.

JOHANNESBURG, May 22 (Reuters) – Impala Platinum, the world’s second-largest platinum producer, said it was losing production of 3,000 ounces a day as most workers were not reporting for duty at its Rustenburg mine on Tuesday because of labour unrest.

The mine, shut for six weeks earlier this year because of a power struggle war between unions, has been hit again by fresh clashes between the dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

“We have called on our employees to return to work and allow the law to take its course and for the violence to cease. Production will be impacted by 3,000 platinum ounces a day,” Implats said in a statement.

Implats’ Rustenburg operation accounts for about 15 percent of global output and the spot platinum price was around 0.5 percent higher in early trade on Tuesday at around $1,468.00 an ounce.

Police spokeswoman Adele Myburgh said roads around an informal settlement near the mine had been blocked by rocks, and workers were being prevented from showing up for shifts. The community has been the scene of violent clashes in the past.

She said the protests flared when police arrested two suspects Monday afternoon for shooting and wounding another miner last week in an NUM/AMCU scuffle.

“The suspects are allegedly part of AMCU and the worker shot belongs to NUM. So the AMCU members have gone on strike demanding the release of the two suspects,” Myburgh said.

JOHANNESBURG, May 17 (Reuters) – As African governments seek to extract more revenue from their mining sectors, the continent’s biggest economy has given gold producers a much-needed tax break tha t removes at least one head wind from a struggling industry.

Gold Fields, the world No. 4 bullion producer, on Thursday became the latest South African gold miner to report better-than-expected earnings partly on the back of the new, lower tax regime. It benefited to the tune of close to 1 billion rand ($120.46 million) from the change in the first quarter.

The companies’ gain will cause some shareholder pain as the burden has been partly sifted to dividends, but analysts generally agree that the Treasury’s revenue stream from the gold sector will be less as a result.

It is impossible to forecast the precise net result as that would hinge on a range of factors from the price of gold to the dividends disturbed.

Effectively it is a change in the formula which brings the marginal tax rate for gold miners down to 34 percent from 43.

Not everyone in the industry sees it as a significant shift in the South African government’s thinking on resource nationalism, which has been a defining feature of the region’s political risk profile.

“It is a structural change and I would not read too much into a change of sentiment on that,” Gold Fields’ chief executive Nick Holland told Reuters.

LONDON/JOHANNESBURG, May 17 (Reuters) – Miner Anglo American has made a priority of its struggling platinum business, admitting earlier this year that the world’s largest primary producer is underperforming in the face of soaring costs, imposed safety stoppages and weak demand.

But South Africa’s politics, restive unions and a lacklustre market mean its keenly awaited “operational review” of its Anglo American Platinum unit, due later this year, is more likely to mark an evolution than a revolution — and constitute a case study in the woes holding back a battered industry.

Analysts and industry sources, some of whom see the review as a recognition the market will not turn any time soon, say they expect Anglo to outline the planned closure of some higher cost deep shafts, signal some potential sales or exits from some joint ventures with rivals, and focus its spending.

The review is unlikely, they say, to contain the radical production cuts that would transform the platinum industry after four years of narrowing returns – Amplats accounts for some 40 percent of global supply – or the transformational sales that would boost Anglo’s own lagging margins.

The price of platinum, a precious metal used mostly in catalytic converters and jewellery, is almost 40 percent below its 2008 peak, while costs have far outpaced inflation.

“For the sake of the industry we hope it will be a meaningful change from the status quo,” analyst Alison Turner at Panmure Gordon said. “But I am not expecting a massive shift.”

South Africa is the world’s biggest source of platinum, accounting for three-quarters of global output. It is also home to militant unions – the dominant National Union of Mineworkers and the more radical Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). Both would take a dim view of drastic mine and shaft closures, and they would likely be backed by the governing ANC in a country where one in four adults is unemployed.

JOHANNESBURG, May 14 (Reuters) – South African stocks sank on Monday, snapping two days of gains, as Europe’s debt imbroglio, a slumping gold price and bad results smacked investor confidence, with Gold Fields leading blue chips lower.

Local markets remain hostage to sentiment being driven by the euro zone, which is putting investors off riskier emerging market assets, but analysts do see some technical support kicking in if local shares lose further ground.

“The market is still suffering from significant jitters in the euro zone. In such an environment of uncertainty, risky assets are not a good place to be,” said Waseem Thokan, an economist at Legae Securities.

Gloom was seen everywhere.

Global stocks slid and the euro fell to a four-month low on Monday as a political impasse in Greece heralded a potential exit for the country from the euro zone, while a move to prop up lending in China and poor European data pointed to slower world growth.

The blue-chip Top-40 index closed down 1.66 percent at 29,577.06. The broader All-share index ended 1.48 percent lower at 33,533.56, moving further away from record peaks scaled earlier this month.

Chartists see further decline checked, at least initially.

JOHANNESBURG, May 14 (Reuters) – There is little prospect for a rise in South African platinum supplies in 2012 and shipments of the precious metal from the world’s top producer will likely decline this year, metals refiner Johnson Matthey said in a report on Monday.

About 80 percent of the world’s known platinum group metal reserves, valued by Citibank at $2.2 trillion, lie in South Africa, where the industry has been hit by labour unrest and a government safety drive.

Supplies of platinum from South Africa increased by 5 percent in 2011 to 4.86 million ounces because of inventory releases, the metals refiner said in an annual report.

“The potential for an increase in platinum supplies (from South Africa) in 2012 is weak …We conclude that overall, shipments of platinum are likely to decline this year,” Johnson Matthey said.

But it said the outlook for other platinum group metals from South Africa was “somewhat different”.

South African palladium supplies fell last year by 3 percent to 2.56 million ounces as producers added to stocks while rhodium shipments were also below underlying production.

“Supplies of these metals are likely to at least remain flat, and may even increase modestly, in 2012,” Johnson Matthey said.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Platinum markets have avoided an eruption that would have shaken them to the core with mine nationalization effectively killed as policy in South Africa, which sits on about 80 percent of the global supply of the precious metal.

But they should brace for aftershocks.

The world’s richest platinum veins lie along the political faultlines of South Africa and Zimbabwe, where income disparities, labor strife and political populism are fueling intense brands of resource nationalism.

“All platinum supply, bar bits and pieces, come from southern Africa. In almost any other mining sector you would be able to do cross-geography comparisons about political risks, security of tenure and labor relations,” said Nic Borain, an independent political analyst based in Cape Town ahead of the London Platinum Week gathering.

“But on platinum you are stuck in the area of the world where resource nationalism or the social demands on those mining companies are most intense,” he said.

Start with South Africa, where the mother of all risks – nationalization – has been dodged for now.

A mining study submitted to the ruling ANC rejected nationalization as an “unmitigated disaster” for Africa’s largest economy but proposed a 50 percent tax on profits.

JOHANNESBURG, April 26 (Reuters) – Almost two rhinos a day are being poached in South Africa for their horns, which are worth more than their weight in gold.

This surge in rhino killings has coincided with a rise in elephant poaching for ivory across the continent and reignited debate about whether or not the trade in the commodities these animals are being killed for should be opened up.

The questions raised are not just ethical or ecological but also economic, and we are not talking small change.

Take rhino horn, which now has a street value of $65,000 a kg, making it more valuable than gold, platinum or cocaine.

Used to treat a range of ailments in China and southeast Asia, its demand has rocketed in tandem with the region’s blistering economic growth and appetite for other commodities.

Trouble is, the sale of rhino horn is strictly banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the global treaty that governs trade in plants and animals.

Almost 450 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year and at current rates, that number could reach 600 or more in 2012.

* Rhino poaching surges, horn worth more than gold

* Record seizures of elephant ivory

* Organized crime, helicopters involved

By Jonny Hogg and Ed Stoddard

KINSHASA/KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa, April 24 (Reuters) – T he hit job was done by professionals who swooped over their quarry in a helicopter before opening fire.

The scene beneath the rotor blades would have been chilling: panicked mothers shielding their young, hair-raising screeches and a mad scramble through the blood-stained bush as bullets rained down from the sky.

When the shooting was over, 22 elephants lay dead, one of the worst such killings in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in living memory.