“Bulk” means the condition of rock at the muck pile, and not in the beneficiated state
The High Court held that “bulk” as used for aggregates in Schedule 2 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act, 28 of 2008, means the condition in which blasted rock exists at the muck pile prior to processing (i.e., crushing or other form of beneficiation), and not the beneficiated state of the aggregates at the time of transfer.
Thus, the value of the aggregates for royalty tax purposes will be determined at the muck pile under section 6(2)(b) of the Royalty Act. If “bulk” were found to mean the beneficiated state of the aggregates, the value of gross sales for royalty tax purposes would be the actual sales value under section 6(2)(a) of the Royalty Act.
Read a January 2025 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in South Africa