CHROME and platinum miner Tharisa said on Thursday it had concluded a five-year contract with Cementation Mining for the underground mining of its Tharisa mine in South Africa’s North West province. The contract is based on an unusual level of transparency on behalf of the contractor with Tharisa agreeing cost plus payments for the work in return. Termed and “open book” agreement, in which Cementation agrees to lay bare its operating costs, the contract is a depature from the traditional rates-based contract. In that model the cost increases incurred by the contractor are transferred to the client. It has led to ... (full story)