Mining Weekly

ASX-listed Volt Resources subsidiary Volt Graphite Tanzania has expressed its disappointment after receiving formal notification from Tanzania’s Ministry of Minerals that its mining licences for the Bunyu graphite project, located in the Mtwara region, will be cancelled. The company says it has invested significant time and resources over a substantial period towards exploration, feasibility studies, approvals, offtake agreements, community engagement and broader development activities associated with the Bunyu project.

Eskom board chairperson Mteto Nyati has struck a somewhat cautious tone regarding the timing of the transfer of the utility’s transmission assets to the proposed independent Transmission System Operator (TSO). “The Eskom board shares President Ramaphosa’s vision of an independent Transmission System Operator that will own the transmission assets at the appropriate point in the future,” Nyati said in a statement.

Mali could leverage revenues from recent mining sector reforms to raise up to 500-billion CFA francs ($883.1-million) for energy, water and transport projects, its finance minister said, part of a bid to turn higher mining income into infrastructure financing. The comments offer the first indication of how Mali's military government intends to deploy the windfall from its 2023 mining code overhaul, which raised royalties and increased state stakes in mining projects, sparking disputes with operators including Canada's Barrick.

The first 25 turbines at Seriti Green’s Ummbila Emoyeni Wind Farm, which is rising in the coal heartland of Mpumalanga within site of the giant Secunda coal-to-liquids complex and in close proximity to three Eskom power stations, have officially entered commercial operation. The milestone was commemorated at a ceremony presided over by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 31, and represents the first 155 MW phase of a planned 900 MW renewable energy roll-out by Seriti Green in the province, with construction on the first project having begun in April 2023.

Iron-ore sank to the lowest level in more than a year amid concerns about a major physical trader of the commodity, which compounded existing market softness linked to a challenging demand outlook. Futures for the steelmaking ingredient retreated by as much as 1.9% to $94.10 a ton in Singapore, the lowest intraday level since early July 2025. In Dalian, the most-traded contract declined by nearly 3%.

JSE-listed energy and chemicals group Sasol has, in collaboration with its public-sector and academic partners, commissioned a 2 kW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser system at the company's Research and Technology campus, in Sasolburg, in the Free State. Over and above Sasol’s contribution, the electrolyser was developed with contributions from the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation's (DSTI's) Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) programme in partnership with the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) and the North-West University.

“It's been an extraordinary period by any measure,"was the description of AngloGold Ashanti CEO Alberto Calderon of his company’s first-half performance when he presented second-quarter results of 46%-higher earnings to $2-billion and 36%-higher free cash flow to $727-million. “We probably had the best Ebitda growth year-on-year of all of the large gold companies, comfortably outstripping the rise in the gold price, along with a more than doubling in cash flows. We made sure that shareholders see the full benefit and see it right away, with just under a billion dollars in dividends declared over six months. It's been an extraordinary period by any measure," Calderon remarked. (Also watch attached Creamer Media.)

ASX-listed Jupiter Mines, which holds a 49.9% beneficial interest in Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining – the operator of the Tshipi manganese mine in South Africa's Northern Cape province – achieved quarter-on-quarter increases in sales and production for the quarter ended June 30. The mine produced 966 183 t of manganese in the June quarter, which was the fourth quarter of Jupiter's 2026 financial year. Output was 14% higher than in the third quarter of the year and 23% higher than in the fourth quarter of the 2025 financial year.

Bokoni and Nkomati are two of African Rainbow Minerals’ (ARM’s) 100%-owned flagship projects that are poised to unlock significant long-term value for ARM and its shareholders, ARM CEO Phillip Tobias emphasised during an investor conference call on Friday, July 31 to discuss the outcomes of Bokoni’s 180 000-t-a-month development project and the recommencement of the Nkomati opencast mine. Tobias described Bokoni as a high-grade growth platform that was positioning ARM as a globally competitive, low-cost platinum group metals (PGMs) producer and pointed out that the recommencement of operations at Nkomati re-established South Africa's only primary nickel producer through a low capital intensity and a value-enhancing restart. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Johannesburg- and Australia-listed Orion Minerals says substantive progress has been made towards satisfying the outstanding conditions precedent related to financing and offtake agreements entered into with diversified miner Glencore earlier this year and that the first tranche of funding should become available for drawdown by the end of August. The company, which is developing the Prieska copper/zinc mine, in South Africa's Northern Cape province, in February announced that it had entered into a $250-million prepayment facility with Glencore, with the funds payable in two tranches. The first $40-million tranche would be used to fund the construction and start-up of the Uppers development at Prieska, while the $210-million tranche two payment would be used to fund the construction and start-up of the Deeps development at Prieska. 

As Namibia positions for another period of mining growth amid expanding operations across the country, success will increasingly be measured not only by production output but by how efficiently natural resources are managed. Namibia has long recognised that sustainable mining depends on responsible water stewardship and many operations are seeking practical ways to recover and reuse more of the water already within their processes, said AECI Mining in a statement released on Friday.

Platinum group metals miner Impala Platinum (Implats) achieved a marginal increase in its mined platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and gold (6E) to 3.5-million ounces for the financial year ended June 30, from 3.48-million ounces in the 2025 financial year. Gross refined 6E production, however, increased by 5.5% year-on-year to 3.56-million ounces, while sales volumes increased by 4% year-on-year to 3.51-million ounces, both on the back of improved rand PGM pricing.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has endorsed the Phase I report of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team (ERTT), setting the stage to restructure South Africa’s electricity sector to create competition, unlock investment, reduce electricity prices and ensure energy security for sustained economic growth and job creation. The report, which was presented to the President on July 30, sets out recommendations for establishing an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO) separate from Eskom. 

The mining industry’s increasing adoption of digital infrastructure and operational technology systems to support autonomous vehicles, drilling systems and remotely controlled equipment is giving rise to new cyberthreats, even as it improves safety, reduces operational costs and enables continuous operations. Cyber incidents in the mining sector, particularly attacks on operational technology systems that involve cloud computing, Internet-of-Things sensors and automated machinery, have tripled in recent years.

TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines has returned to profitability in the second quarter, reporting a net profit of $46-million, as operations at its flagship Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continued to recover following disruptions earlier this year. The company posted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of $179-million for the second quarter, up from $123-million in the corresponding period last year, while Kamoa-Kakula contributed $152-million in attributable Ebitda.

The capital intensity of mining has risen well ahead of inflation and mining project development timelines are continuing to extend, Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad pointed out on July 30 when he reported $2.9-billion half-year copper earnings at a 60% margin. Accentuated by Wanblad is the ability of Anglo to provide capital efficient growth in a tightening copper market. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Cabinet has approved the publication of the much-anticipated Revised Electricity Pricing Policy for public comment, amid growing affordability concerns following years of above-inflation tariff hikes. The statement released after the July 29 Cabinet meeting indicates that the proposed revision moves to update the 2008 Electricity Pricing Policy in a way that reflects developments in the electricity supply industry, including ongoing market reforms arising from the unbundling of Eskom and the implementation of the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act of 2024.

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) insists that it is fundamentally stronger than was the case 18 months ago and that “profitability is within reach”, after reporting a headline loss of R1.49-billion during the first half of 2026. The JSE-listed company had, over the past 18 months, placed its longs business into care and maintenance, leading to the closure of the Newcastle Works in KwaZulu-Natal, which contributed to some of the nonrecurring costs during the period.

Although global mining and metals advocacy group the ICMM's 26 members achieved a year-on-year reduction in fatalities to 39 for 2025, from 43 in 2024, the group stresses that fatalities have generally been increasing since 2021, reversing a previous downward trend. This reinforces the need for a continued focus on fatal risk prevention and critical control effectiveness, the ICMM states.

TSX- and NYSE-listed Kinross Gold Corporation delivered a "strong" second-quarter performance, CEO J Paul Rollins reports, adding that the company generated more than $725-million of free cash flow supported by solid production, disciplined cost management and strong margins. "We remain on track to achieve our commitment of returning 40% of annual free cash flow to shareholders in 2026. Our balance sheet remains in excellent shape and was further strengthened during the quarter, providing significant flexibility to continue advancing our high-quality development pipeline, while returning capital to shareholders," he comments.