SouthernEra and Rio Tinto have become the first two international mining companies to apply for the conversion of their mineral rights.

The application is part of the process of meeting the conditions required by black economic empowerment (BEE) legislation, with South Africa's director general in the department of minerals and energy welcoming the move.

Sandile Nogxina said both firms had filed their applications earlier this month, but noted that other firms had so far been slow to come forward.

"Their applications were received by the Limpopo office," he told Mineweb.

"We are monitoring the law on daily basis," he continued. "I am surprised there have been so few: I thought there would have been a flood by now."

Canadian pgm outfit SouthernEra operates a platinum mine at Messina in the Limpopo Province, while Rio Tinto works in a range of sectors across the world.

Under the terms of South Africa's Mining Scorecard and the Minerals and Petroleum Development Act, mining companies must sell 15 per cent of their assets or attributable production capacity to 'historically-disadvantaged South Africans' (HDSA) within five years.

If these conditions are not met firms can be refused new-order mining-rights, meaning that they would be unable to mine their ore bodies.