Mining Weekly

JSE-listed Merafe Resources has reported that its share of ferrochrome production from the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture, in South Africa, amounted to 28 000 t for the six months ended June 30 – a 75% year-on-year decrease. The company says the decline in production is primarily attributable to the suspension

Instead of relying primarily on traditional geological interpretation, South Africa can turn to AI for help in the same way as has been done with huge success to discover Zambia’s biggest copper deposit in a 100 years, South Africa’s Mining Modernisation Showcase attendees heard. To achieve this success, KoBold Metals digitised 300 years of handwritten geology reports, taught geology to AI, used AI models to analyse the vast amounts of geological, geophysical, drilling and historical exploration data to predict where high-grade mineralisation was most likely to occur, and then drilled a hole.

Sundance Resources has won an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration against Cameroon, with a tribunal awarding the Australian miner about $616-million in damages, interest and costs over a stalled iron ore project, the company has said. The Perth-based miner said the tribunal found that Cameroon had breached its legal obligations to Sundance and its subsidiary Cam Iron SA in relation to their investment in the Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore deposit, which straddles the border between Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

Energy company NOA has signed a renewable-energy supply agreement with industrial minerals producer Idwala Industrial Holdings, which will help the company reduce electricity costs and support its decarbonisation objectives. NOA will supply renewable energy through a wheeling agreement, using a blended energy solution that complements Idwala's existing and planned embedded solar generation facilities, ensuring an optimal energy mix across its operations.

Fully integrated platinum group metals producer Impala Platinum Holdings (Implats) has proactively suspended mining operations at its Impala Rustenburg complex from July 24 to 28, to conduct a comprehensive safety reset in response to an increase in safety incidents at the operation. The pause in operations is expected to provide the opportunity to engage employees, strengthen operational discipline and reinforce critical safety controls, the company says in a July 27 statement.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau reports that government will publish a Gazette notice requesting public comments on South Africa’s intent to issue regulations to prohibit goods produced using forced labour and child labour. The move follows a decision by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to impose tariffs of 12.5% on those South African exports not specifically exempted from such duties, or which are already subjected to other tariffs.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the majority union at Gold Fields’s South Deep Mine, has concluded a five-year wage agreement for employees at the mine. The multiyear agreement, negotiated in collaboration with UASA, is effective from March 1, this year, to February 28, 2031.

Mining modernisation, with private and public sectors as drivers, is an urgent strategic priority for the South African economy, a study undertaken by industry leaders, researchers, government partners, and innovators from across the South African spectrum reported very forcefully this week. “We see that our competitors are investing heavily in digitisation and automation, as well as critical minerals and beneficiation.

Critical minerals mining company Critical Metals Corporation has announced that the Mrima Earth Consortium, in which the company is the lead party, has been shortlisted as one of three US finalists, from an initial field of seven bidders, to proceed to the final stage of the Kenyan government’s competitive tender process for the right to develop the Mrima Hill rare earth and niobium project, in Kwale county. Mrima Hill is positioned on Kenya’s southern coast with direct access to the Port of Mombasa.

London-listed Neo Energy Metals’ 70%-owned South African subsidiary, Neo Uranium Resources Beisa Mine, has signed a site access and contractorship agreement with Sibanye Gold, a subsidiary of Sibanye-Stillwater, granting Neo Energy access to the Beatrix 4 Shaft mining area. This will enable Neo Energy to begin a fully funded assessment programme while regulatory transfer of the Beatrix 4 Shaft mining right continues.

ASX- and TSX-listed Perseus Mining’s Nyanzaga gold project, in Tanzania, continues to advance towards first gold production in the first quarter of the 2027 calendar year, with construction milestones recently achieved. These include good progress on pre-stripping of the mining area, while all carbon-in-leach tanks are at full height and hydrostatic testing is under way.

Despite coal being a significant contributor to South Africa’s GDP and electricity generation, funding for new coal mines from commercial banks is limited in the international and local market. Rand Merchant Bank mining and resources advisory head Willie Hattingh says the general approach taken by banks is to support existing clients while retaining targets to reduce their exposure to carbon-intensive industries, including coal mining, over time.

South Africa has an abundance of coal reserves, but the coal mining sector’s competitiveness requires an efficient logistical network to move coal from mine to market. While the industry has faced significant challenges with regard to rail reliability, infrastructure security concerns and port constraints, performance in the sector is improving and collaboration is strengthening.

The increasing uptake of AI in many spheres of life has also extended to geology, where it has found several applications with varying degrees of success, although there are myriad ethical, safety and environmental implications that geologists must be cognisant of. This was highlighted by speakers at the Geological Society of South Africa’s (GSSA) ‘AI in Geology’ conference, held last month.

With Middelburg at the heart of the South Africa’s power generation sector, providing about 80% of the country’s energy, there is a need to bolster the use of the region’s resources through innovation and beneficiation, to ensure that it is not hampered by the transition to new energy sources. This was highlighted by speakers on the first day of the Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (MCCI’s) yearly conference, being held this week in Middelburg under the theme “Innovation, Beneficiation and the Next Five Years”.

The future of modernisation in South African mining will not be forged by individual companies or institutions working in isolation but collectively by industry leaders, researchers, government partners, and innovators from across South Africa's mining community, who gathered on Thursday, July 23, for this shared purpose. “The modernisation of our mining industry is not a task any single organisation can undertake alone,” Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane emphasised at the council's upbeat Modernisation Showcase event undertaken in partnership with the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS), the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators' research unit within South Africa's Human Sciences Research (HSRC-CeSTII) Council, PwC's Smart Mining, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the National Advisory Council on Innovation. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

ASX- and TSX-listed Perseus Mining has appointed Thomas (Tommy) McKeith as a nonexecutive, independent director and he will take up this position with immediate effect.  The gold miner notes that he is an experienced mining executive with over 30 years of mining company leadership, corporate development, project development and exploration experience. "Having worked in bulk, base and precious metals across numerous jurisdictions, he brings deep and strategic insights to the board," it states. McKeith is a geologist and has held various mine geology, exploration and business development roles. He was formerly executive VP: growth and international projects for Gold Fields, where he was responsible for global greenfield exploration and project development.

The board of diversified mining company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) has approved the development of its 180 000 t a month Bokoni platinum project, in Limpopo’s Bushveld Complex, following the completion of a definitive feasibility study in June, with first production targeted for the first half of the 2028 financial year. The R15.2-billion brownfield project will comprise the refurbishment of an existing 60 000-t-a-month concentrator and the construction of a new 120 000-t-a-month concentrator, with full commissioning scheduled for the second half of the 2030 financial year.

South Africa has various industry-related policies and master plans that take into account the changes wrought by the global energy transition, but the opportunities and risks arising from these changes must be addressed holistically across different sectors. Further, jobs have been created in some of South Africa's industries, including in low-carbon industries, but have been offset by job losses, particularly in energy-intensive industries.

Global diamond miner De Beers has reported an 88% year-on-year increase in rough diamond production to 7.8-million carats for the second quarter of this year, taking the company's output for the first half of this year to 14.91-million carats – a 46% year-on-year increase. The company says the higher second-quarter production reflected the impact of the extended maintenance shutdown at its Orapa mine, in Botswana, in the second quarter of 2025, as well as the planned mining of higher-grade ore at both Jwaneng, in Botswana, and Gahcho Kué, in Canada.