South Africa's long awaited mining royalties bill experienced its latest delay as the country's finance minister wanted more time for government discussions of the proposals, it has been revealed.

The bill will now be released within two weeks of further cabinet discussions about it, a government spokesperson told Reuters.

It had been thought that the bill would be unveiled after the latest cabinet meeting on June 28th.

But National Treasury spokeswoman Thoraya Pandy told Reuters that a further delay had been caused by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.

"It will be released in a couple of weeks. The Finance Minister wanted to consult a bit more with his cabinet colleagues," she said.

A public consultation will follow the publication of the bill, the first draft of which was revealed in 2003.

South Africa is the world's biggest producer of platinum.

In the original proposals, it was suggested that a rate of 4.0 per cent should be levied for the mining of platinum.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd