Mining Weekly

Iron-ore miner Kumba Iron Ore's Sishen Iron Ore Company (SIOC) has entered into an energy offtake agreement with Envusa Energy – a joint venture between Kumba's parent company Anglo American and EDF power solutions – for the embedded on-site supply of electricity to the Sishen mine, in the Northern Cape, from the Sishen solar PV plant. The project entails the development of a solar PV facility located atop the already built G80 waste rock dump within the Sishen mine boundary. The first electrons from the project are expected to flow in the fourth quarter of 2027.

Anglo American reported broadly flat first-half copper production on Thursday and lowered its 2026 copper cost guidance, but said its diamonds and steelmaking coal businesses are expected to post negative underlying earnings in the first half. The London-listed miner maintained its full-year copper production guidance of 700 000 to 760 000 tons. It produced 343 600 tons of copper in the first half, up from 342 200 tons a year earlier.

Following the completion of the mining ramp-up at the Langer Heinrich uranium mine, in Namibia, and with the increased availability of primary mined ore, Australia-listed Paladin Energy, has set the mine's production guidance for the financial year to end on June 30, 2027, at between 5.1-million and 5.6-million pounds of uranium octoxide (U3O8). The mine produced 4.82-million pounds of U3O8 for the financial year ended June 30, this year - at the upper end of guidance of 4.5-million to 4.8-million pounds of U3O8.

The increased efficiencies achieved by AI are ensuring that even lower quality operations are kept going for longer which benefits all stakeholders, Thungela Resources CEO Moses Madondo made clear to Coal & Energy Transition Day attendees on Wednesday, July 22. Madondo did so in response to mining luminary and event chairperson Bernard Swanepoel drawing attention to the propensity of CEOs announcing the number of people that they were laying off because of the benefits of AI and asking about the prospect of AI reducing coal mining workforces.

London-listed Harena Rare Earths has signed a project development funding agreement (PDFA) with the US government's international investment arm, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which has committed up to $4.84-million towards the agreed project development budget for Harena's Ampasindava ionic clay rare earths project, in Madagascar. Harena says the signing of the PDFA is a transformational milestone for the company, marking the US DFC's first direct financial commitment to the Ampasindava project and formalising a partnership that the company believes will be central to unlocking the project's development towards production.

Democratic Republic of Congo will begin enforcing a long-delayed requirement for mining companies to offer local ownership stakes from July 31, the mines ministry said, despite concerns from some of the world's biggest copper and cobalt miners over its impact on the sector. Reuters previously reported that miners in Congo, the world's top cobalt producer and second-largest copper producer, were seeking to delay enforcement of a 2018 law requiring companies to transfer 10% of their equity to Congolese nationals, including 5% for employees. No miner has yet complied, citing unresolved questions over implementation.

The troubled Optimum Colliery, having emerged from a business rescue process in February 2024, is being rapidly revived with a multibillion-rand investment from Liberty Coal to ramp up mining, processing and exports. This investment – in excess of R3-billion to date – is driving significant revitalisation activity around the once expansive and highly productive mining complex.

Eskom Holdings CEO Dan Marokane says the State-owned utility will outline its proposed approach in September in relation to the decommissioning of coal-fired power stations beyond 2030. Eskom has secured limited exemptions from minimum emission standards for eight of its coal-fired power stations.

Mining and metals advocacy group the ICMM warns that water availability could, in many regions, act as a constraint on the development of new mines and related facilities, particularly for the production of metals and minerals, such as platinum group metals, chromium, manganese, aluminium and steel, that are key to the energy transition. In its 'Global Mining and Metals Water Dataset' report, published on July 22, the ICMM states that competition for finite water resources is not a future concern, but a present operational reality and a structural constraint on the expansion of the mining and metals sector, as well as the pace of the energy transition itself.

Aim-listed Firering Strategic Minerals has announced that the hot commissioning of Kiln 3 has commenced at its Limeco quicklime project, in Zambia, following the completion of planned renovations. With three kilns now in operation, the company highlights that Limeco is transitioning from breakeven into profitable production and is on track to become one of the largest high-quality lime producers in Zambia.

Underground development at JSE-listed Copper 360's Rietberg mine, in the Northern Cape, has advanced beyond the halfway mark of the original 544 m development. Development rates have continued in line with the mine plan, supported by the company's mining alliance with Cementation Africa, which started mobilisation on July 1.

The centrepiece of the R10-billion five-project Vision 2028 of DRDGOLD is the mammoth regional tailings storage facility (RTSF) at Far West Gold Recoveries surface retreatment operation, near Carletonville, in South Africa’s Gauteng province. The commissioning of the fully lined RTSF, which covers an area of 800 ha, is being sequenced through defined regulatory, construction and seasonal gates.

The World Gold Council and the government of Ghana have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation on the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), improve supply chain integrity and combat illicit finance and gold flows. The agreement, signed through Ghana's Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, aims to establish a national network of responsible gold processing plants to encourage artisanal miners to supply gold through formal channels.

South African iron-ore miner Kumba Iron Ore says it continues to remain resilient despite the heaviest rainfall in many decades having impacted on its mines, in the Northern Cape, in the quarter ended June 30. Iron-ore production for the six months to June 30 dropped by 3% year-on-year as strong results at the Sishen mine balanced out planned reductions at the Kolomela mine.

Gold and exploration company Namib Minerals has set out the defined pathway and targeted milestone schedule for the restart of the Redwing mine, in Zimbabwe, and says the technical programme of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) is fully funded through to completion. The restart of the Redwing mine follows five sequential steps. Each step gates the next and the company says it will report progress against each step in its operational updates.

TSX-V-listed Namibia Critical Metals says the joint management committee (JMC) overseeing the Lofdal heavy rare earths project, in Namibia, has approved the next phase of work under the definitive feasibility study (DFS), including up to about C$11-million in additional project funding to advance completion of the study. The company also announced the award of the first major metallurgical and

JSE-listed Sibanye-Stillwater has appealed a US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling, arguing that unfairly subsidised and dumped Russian palladium imports are lowering global prices and impacting on the domestic industry. This follows a decision made by the US ITC, which found that significant Russian palladium imports did not materially impact US pricing or threaten the domestic industry.

JSE-listed energy and chemicals group Sasol reported that its Secunda Operations, in Mpumalanga, achieved its highest annual production in the past five years during the 2026 financial year to June 30. In a statement to shareholders, Sasol attributed the performance to the implementation of a coal destoning project, as well as increased natural gas availability and stable operations at Secunda during the fourth quarter.

TSX-V-listed Awalé Resources reports that first assay results from deeper drilling at the BBM gold/copper deposit at the Odienné project, in Côte d’Ivoire, confirm that BBM’s high-grade core continues below the current openpit mineral resource and point to an emerging underground component of the deposit. The two holes reported are the first of a 12-hole programme drilled below and beyond the openpit mineral resource.

Aim-listed Kazera Global has received the initial advance payment of $750 000 from South Africa AT Investments (SAI), as provided for under the long-term mining cooperation and production sharing agreement between SAI and the company's South African subsidiary, Whale Head Minerals (WHM), which was announced on July 9. Kazera explains that the receipt of the payment represents the first commercial milestone under the strategic partnership and demonstrates SAI's commitment to the long-term development of WHM's heavy mineral sands (HMS) assets.