Mining Weekly

London-listed Gem Diamonds has recovered a high-quality 113 ct white Type II diamond from the Letšeng mine, in Lesotho. This follows recoveries of a high-quality 295 ct white Type II diamond and a low-quality 139 ct Boart diamond in January.

Despite the South African government having set a target to attract 5% of global exploration spend within five years from 2019, the country attracted just 0.8% of global exploration spend in 2022 and. 0.92% in 2023. This means that, by next year, South Africa would need to attract about $636-million, or R12-billion, a year in investment to achieve the target, compared with the current $117-million, or R1.9-billion.

Research published in the International Journal of Mining by University of Cape Town (UCT) Future Water Institute academic Dr Megan Cole has indicated that 48 of South Africa’s 230 operating mines could close in the next ten years. The findings also showed that social risks were highest in the most vulnerable communities, particularly rural villages in Limpopo and North West, which Cole emphasises shows the need for a broad response by national and provincial governments to alleviate poverty and support economic growth.

Despite the “extensive measures” already taken by platinum group metals (PGMs) miner Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) to ensure its survival, the company has announced a proposed restructuring process in terms of Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act. This comes on the back of a 71% year-on-year decline in Amplats’ headline earnings to R14-billion for the 2023 financial year.

JSE-listed Copper 360, formerly Big Tree Copper, has raised additional funding of R99.8-million through the issue of shares for cash on certain terms and conditions, aligned to the company’s funding strategy of entering into various loan agreements to fund the Nama Copper acquisition and expanded production growth plan for the Rietberg mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape.  Copper 360 shareholders, at the company’s annual general meeting held on September 4, 2023, granted the board of directors a general authority to issue shares for cash.

Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp has entered into a new diamond sales agreement (NDSA) with processer and trader HB Group out of Antwerp, Belgium, in respect of qualifying “special” diamonds – those weighing more than 10.8 ct – recovered from the Karowe mine, in Botswana. Under the terms of the ten-year NDSA with HB, the purchase price paid for Lucara’s “special” rough diamonds shall be based on the mutual agreement of the estimated polished outcome, determined through scanning and planning technology, together with external benchmarks and leveraging over a decade of Lucara’s “special” diamond sales data.

Diamond producer Petra Diamonds sold 428 900 ct for $47.8-million during its fourth tender cycle of the 2024 financial year. This represents a 4% increase in like-for-like prices compared with the preceding third tender cycle. which closed in December last year.

AQSE-listed Marula Mining has appointed Jana van Wyk as GM of its Southern African operations effective from March 1, as part of the company’s continuing efforts to strengthen its executive management team. Van Wyk holds a BSc with Honours in Geology, Chemistry and Environmental Geology from North-West University.

Global natural resources company Vedanta Resources has started providing funding to Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), in Zambia, and has disbursed its first $25-million for employee salaries, contract labour and other critical services needed to maintain the integrity of the asset. Vedanta has deployed a technical team at KCM to work with the current management to ascertain the state of the asset.

With geopolitical instability persisting globally, especially in the form of conflict between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, commodities are set for a volatile year, and the risk of this has not been priced in, RMB Resources Sector Solutions co-head Julian Grieve has warned. “There is going to be more divergence in price movements within the commodity complex than we’ve seen in the past,” he says.

Platinum group metals (PGMs) miner Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has passed the audit for Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance’s (IRMA’s) comprehensive mining standard for two of its mines in South Africa and one in Zimbabwe. The Unki mine, in Zimbabwe, was the first in the world to publicly commit to be independently audited against the IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining in 2019.

Solutions to support decarbonisation, while ensuring operational competitiveness into the future, are continuing to be intensely investigated at South Africa's large Hillside Aluminium operation in KwaZulu-Natal, South32 CEO Graham Kerr assured Mining Weekly in an interview on Thursday, following the Johannesburg- Sydney- and London-listed company reporting underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $708-million for the first half of its 2024 financial year to December 31. Great news is that Hillside's strong ongoing operational performance in the half year significantly supported record aluminium production for the group as a whole, but with South32 planning to halve its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035, Hillside represents a colossal challenge as it accounts for 59% of the company's total Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

The ongoing surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the metals and mining sector is expected to continue into this year, driven by the global energy transition, with industry players targeting critical minerals to align their portfolios with the requirements of the future, Fitch Solutions’ BMI unit reports. BMI expects to see demand for critical minerals surge, with a number of key markets at risk of going into deficit in the long term.

Since October of last year, several unlawful underground protests have raised serious concerns about the potential emergence of a new trend in which frustrated underground mineworkers turn to unlawful sit-ins and hostage-taking as a means of having their demands met. Although the South African mining industry is no stranger to legal and illegal protest action, this new direction is making trade union Solidarity Strategy Institute strategy and sustainability deputy secretary-general Paul Mardon uneasy.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said it’s in talks to loan South Africa money to upgrade its port and freight-rail infrastructure as its first contribution to a decarbonization pact known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership. The loan, the size of which the EIB didn’t disclose, is part of its €1-billion ($1.07-billion) commitment to the JETP, it said in a response to queries on Thursday. The agreement to help South Africa transition away from the use of coal consists of $8.8-billion in climate finance pledged by the European Union, via the EIB, France, Germany, the US, UK, Netherlands and Denmark.

Aim-listed Katoro Gold has announced the proposed appointment of Sean Wade as nonexecutive chairperson of the company, conditional only on the satisfactory completion of stock market due diligence, which is a standard procedure prior to the appointment of directors onto the board of an Aim-listed company. Wade has extensive professional experience in the junior resource exploration sector, with board experience across multiples entities encompassing a wide variety of commodities and geographies, Katoro highlights.

Germany’s Heraeus Precious Metals and South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater are partnering to explore new applications for platinum-group metals (PGMs) in the hydrogen economy, with a specific focus on how applications can profit from the unique traits of palladium, one of the six PGM elements. Currently, it is the platinum and iridium PGMs that dominate in the hydrogen space. However, this is the second joint effort by Heraeus and Sibanye to develop new PGM markets.

It is policy uncertainty that is deterring investors from investing in the country’s mining sector and structural reform is needed to allow the sector to regain competitiveness, Old Mutual Investment Group resources analyst Ian Woodley emphasises. He warns that South Africa lacks both a secure investment environment and the attractive fiscal regime necessary to attract investment into the sector.

JSE-, ASX- and Aim-listed MC Mining’s Independent Board Committee (IBC) has advised that shareholders should not accept a takeover offer from Goldway Capital Investment. Goldway in early February announced an off-market takeover bid for all of the fully paid ordinary shares on issue in the company that the consortium of joint bidders currently do not own for a cash price of A$0.16 apiece.

JSE- and ASX-listed Orion Minerals has accepted the resignation of Philip Kotze from the board, with immediate effect. During the past several months, Orion has undertaken a review of its board’s growing responsibilities as the company transitions into a development stage at its copper and zinc mines in South Africa’s Northern Cape.