The public will have to wait to find out what BHP Billiton's Southern African aluminium operations pay for electricity. The company applied for permission to appeal the judgment of the South Gauteng High Court that it and Eskom have to provide the information to business daily Sake24, requested in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

The case began more than two years ago when Mr Jan de Lange, a senior reporter at Sake24, asked Eskom and BHP Billiton to disclose the pricing structure of the two aluminium smelters' electricity purchases, as well as how long the contracts were to run and who originally signed them in the 1990s.

Hours after the decision by Judge Mr Frans Kgomo that the application was in the public interest, the mining giant indicated that it would appeal the verdict.

According to the court documents, the decision contains various errors. BHP Billiton alleges that, inter alia, the court erred in deciding that:

Public interest demands that the pricing formula in the agreement has to be disclosed

The right to privacy of the parties who signed the agreement on BHP Billiton’s behalf is not a valid defense for the company’s refusal to hand over the information

Sake24’s request for information was brought within the period prescribed by PAIA

Eskom had already said it would not appeal.

(Sourced from www.miningmx.com)