LONDON (ShareCast) - Miner Anglo American said it has been granted new order mining rights to all its operations in South Africa by the Department of Minerals and Energy.

The new rights relate to the conversion of all the mineral rights in Anglo American's South African Coal, Ferrous Metals, Base Metals and Platinum businesses.

"I am delighted that we have been granted new order mining rights across our South African mining operations and I would like to thank all those, at the Department of Minerals and Energy and within Anglo American, who worked so hard to complete the necessary documentation in recent weeks,” said CEO Cynthia Carroll.

The applications for conversion of mineral rights associated with Anglo Platinum's 50:50 joint ventures with Royal Bafokeng Resources and the African Rainbow Minerals consortium are still being processed, it said.

Earlier, the miner said platinum output fell 24% in the first quarter after power supply issues in South Africa and flooding at the Amandelbult mine. It however delivered a 9.1% rise in first quarter copper output.

The group also said it has sold its 0.78% equity interest in China Shenhua Energy for approximately $708m.

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