South Africa's mining industry is urging the government not to apply a revenue levy in the form of the Royalty Bill but a group of Canadian speculators are taking advantage of the new rules.

Anooraq and Platinum Group Metals (PTM), Vancouver-based market juniors, are both poised to capitalise on the effects of a predicted 'crunch' in the market.

The government's black empowerment scheme means that private holders of mineral titles, and of course the platinum majors themselves, are being asked to turn their holdings to some advantage or risk confiscation.

The level of urgency this creates in exploration terms is exciting for the Canadians.

‘Twenty six per cent plus of the mineral rights of South Africa are going to effectively pop up into the capital markets and say ‘fund me’ through empowerment’, PTM president Mick Jones told Mineweb.

'If we can be innovative in creating partnerships and alliances where we use our experience in the capital markets with strong empowerment partners, there could be a lot of good business that could get done.'

The strategy is a big risk, even for companies with experience of high-risk projects: Annoraq and PTM's share prices are down by 30 per cent and 45 per cent respectively, which Mr Jones himself attributes to 'market jitters' about South Africa's ongoing round of mining legislation.

Even so, the announcement of further investment is interesting. Only last month, the Canadian platinum firm SouthernEra lambasted the principle behind the royalties bill, alleging it would discourage foreign investment.