Anglo American PLC's (AAL.LN) platinum arm and diversified miner African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. (ARI.JO) have been offered, at no cost, control of a disputed property near their South African operation--the latest development in a long-running dispute with Nkwe Platinum Ltd. (NKP.AU) over several plots of land in the area, a person close to the discussions said Friday.

Nkwe offered the Hoepakrantz property, which has an estimated resource of at least 16 million ounces of platinum group metals, before the company was granted the right to mine there and at two other disputed plots, the person said. It was meant as a goodwill gesture in a bid to end a tussle over the land that has hit investor confidence and weighed heavily on Nkwe's Australia-listed shares, the person said.

The offer is just the latest twist in the fight over rights to land in the platinum-rich Bushveld region, neighboring the Modikwa mining operations owned by Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS.JO) and African Rainbow, or ARM.

"No one can give us something if we believe it is ours," said Stompie Shiels, director of business development at ARM.

Nkwe said in mid-February that South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources had granted it mining rights over the Hoepakrantz, Garatau and DeKom properties.

In response, ARM Chief Executive Andre Wilkens said the company would continue litigation to regain control of the three properties and others, which it collectively refers to as the Modikwa Deeps properties, and challenge the Department of Mineral Resources's decision. More recently, Wilkens was this week widely quoted by South African media as saying the company would be interested in buying Amplats operations, should any come up for sale.

Shiels said the companies are asking the department to confirm it issued a mining license and to explain why it was given. He added the partners "don't slice and dice" the nine disputed properties, so he couldn't comment on the Hoepakrantz plot.

The Modikwa partners have for years contested the government's decision to grant prospecting rights to nine properties that Amplats had laid claim to, although government officials were at the time quoted as saying Amplats hadn't complied with the law in its own application for rights to the properties, five of which passed to Nkwe and major shareholder Genorah Resources Ltd.

Nkwe's managing director, Maredi Mphahlele, said last month that about A$50 million has been invested in drilling and feasibility work on its flagship Garatau project, which includes the Garatau and DeKom properties. The Hoepakrantz plot is part of Nkwe's Tubatse project, and sits immediately southeast of the Modikwa mining operation.

-By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 3 9292 2094; robb.stewart@dowjones.com

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