Mining Weekly

JSE-listed Barloworld reported a 7% year-on-year decline in revenue to R41.9-billion for the 12 months ended September 30. Barloworld group CEO Dominic Sewela said at its financial year-end results presentation on November 25 that this decline was primarily driven by subdued trading results from the group’s Equipment Southern Africa business, which was down 12.7% from the previous year, along with a year-on-year decline in activity from its Russian Vostochnaya Technica (VT) business.

Following a strategic review of the National Transmission Company South Africa’s (NTCSA’s) corporate plan, which includes focusing on accelerating the delivery of the Transmission Development Plan (TDP), long-term agreements were signed with 28 local companies to provide the NTCSA with the services for the construction of substations. To date, the NTCSA has signed agreements with over 60 suppliers over the last few months, enabling them to respond to tenders and supply services in the areas of transformers, engineering services, overhead lines and substations.

Aim-listed Hummingbird Resources’ Kouroussa gold mine, in Guinea, has reached commercial production. The company notes that the operation's four-week trailing average production has increased to about 1 900 oz, with an average selling price during that period of $2 473/oz, which is below the spot gold price as a result of its existing hedging contracts, which are expected to expire at the end of the first quarter of 2025.

Miners at two copper mines in Zambia were rescued after being trapped underground following a nationwide power outage, the energy ministry said on Monday. Zambia suffered a nationwide blackout following a power system disturbance, the southern African nation's State utility Zesco said on Sunday, which also affected neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Diversified mining giant Anglo American announced on Monday the sale of its Australian steelmaking coal mines to Peabody, a US-based coal producer, for $3.8-billion. The move is part of the Johannesburg- and London-listed group's ongoing restructuring efforts, focusing on future-facing commodities. The deal follows the recent sale of Anglo American's 33.3% stake in the joint venture (JV) that owns the Jellinbah and Lake Vermont coal mines in Australia for $1.1-billion, bringing the total value of the company’s coal divestments to up to $4.9-billion.

Multinational metals and mining group Sibanye-Stillwater and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) have launched the Sibanye-Stillwater Simulacrum mining facility and the Sibanye-Stillwater Centre for Sustainable Mining. The Simulacrum is a modern mining facility built on the UJ Campus in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, with the support of Sibanye-Stillwater to the tune of R43-million.

 The Democratic Republic of Congo's state miner Gecamines is offering $1-million to buy cobalt and copper assets of indebted mining firm Chemaf to prevent China from increasing its control of critical metals in the country, two sources familiar with the details told Reuters. Chemaf, a partner of commodities trader Trafigura, agreed to sell its copper and cobalt assets to Chinese defence and industrial giant, China North Industries Corp , or Norinco in June.

JSE-listed Murray & Roberts (M&R) has voluntarily requested a halt in the trading of its shares after announcing that its M&R Limited division and the division’s subsidiary OptiPower have been placed in business rescue. M&R, as well as its indirect subsidiaries Murray & Roberts Cementation, Murray & Roberts UK, Cementation APAC, Cementation Canada and Terra Nova Technologies, continue as a going concern and will continue to deliver on their contractual obligations.

Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti’s acquisition of Egypt-focused gold miner Centamin has become effective. Centamin’s share will delist from the TSX and LSE on November 25.

Coal mining company Liberty Coal has launched proceedings out of the Mpumalanga division of the High Court of South Africa against another mining entity, in relation to alleged illegal mining operations on the Optimum Coal Mine mining right areas. In two separate sets of legal proceedings filed, Liberty Coal is claiming damages of just over R600-million from the other entity for the intentional, wrongful and unlawful conduct in relation to the extraction, processing and sale of about 900 000 t of coal from or about April 1, 2023, to March this year.

A trial to use articulated skips instead of traditional skips in the chrome loading operation at the Maydon Wharf Terminal, in KwaZulu-Natal, has set an efficiency record of more than 50%, increasing the loading rate from an average of 140 t/h per vessel crane to 350 t/y per vessel crane, Transnet and Samancor Chrome highlight in a joint statement. The Maydon Wharf Terminal is one of 16 sea-cargo terminals managed by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), the operating division of Transnet.

An unprecedented surge in demand for critical minerals on the back of global transitions to clean energy is posing significant challenges in meeting these goals, as the critical minerals sector experiences various challenges, says data and analytics company GlobalData. “The global transition to clean energy is gaining momentum, heavily relying on renewable technologies such as solar PV cells and wind turbines, alongside energy transition solutions like hydrogen, energy storage and carbon capture,” GlobalData explains, adding that this growing demand is putting pressure on minerals supply.

Gold held a four-day rally as haven demand added support amid an escalation in Russia’s war with Ukraine, while traders assessed prospects for further easing by the Federal Reserve. Bullion traded near $2 670 an ounce — on track for its best week since April — after Ukraine said Russia launched a “new” kind of ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro in an alarming signal to Kyiv’s Western backers. Heightened geopolitical tensions tend to drive investors to safety assets, such as gold.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Félix Tshisekedi this week officially reopened the ultrahigh-grade Kipushi zinc/copper/lead/germanium mine, which is a joint venture (JV) between Ivanhoe Mines and DRC State-owned miner Gécamines. The JV partners completed construction of a new 800 000 t/y concentrator facility in May and produced first concentrate in June. The mine is set to produce between 50 000 t and 70 000 t of zinc-in-concentrate this year and more than 278 000 t of zinc-in concentrate over the first five years of operation.

Sierra Leone wants mining companies to connect to the grid and help reassure renewable-energy investors there’s enough demand in the West African nation to justify an ambitious $10.9-billion power plan. Most mining firms rely on their own diesel supplies to extract iron ore, diamonds, rutile and bauxite in the resource-rich country. Sierra Leone would require them to switch over to the grid by 2040, according to an energy-transition roadmap launched earlier this month.

Australia-listed Lucapa Diamond Company announced on Thursday that Nick Selby had resigned as MD and CEO, citing health issues. His departure is effective immediately.

Canada-listed Montero Mining and Exploration has reached a resolution in its long-running dispute with Tanzania over the expropriation of the Wigu Hill rare earth element (REE) project, confirming a $27-million settlement. Tanzania pay Montero in three installments, the first $12-million has already been received, with the remaining amounts due next year.

Africa-focused Marula Mining has opted to accelerate its initial work programme at the Northern Cape lithium and tantalum (NCLT) project and also seek to leverage its flexible mining and processing capabilities at Blesberg, owing to the significant increase in tungsten APT prices. The NCLT project extends over 15 000 ha and is located contiguous to and immediately north of the company’s existing Blesberg lithium and tantalum mine.

As the world demands more “new” minerals such as copper, lithium and rare earths for use in smart technologies for decarbonisation and clean energy production, African countries have some key considerations to take into account to garner investment in its rich endowment of these minerals. In a panel hosted by Creamer Media on November 20, experts in the critical mineral sector and technology sphere discussed the importance of exploration and defining what critical minerals mean for the African continent.

Euronext- and Frankfurt-listed Akobo Minerals, alongside the Ethiopian government, has announced the official inauguration of the Segele mine, in the Gambella region. Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed joined the ceremony on November 20, which included a gold pour as a symbolic act. The gold pour yielded 6.5 kg of gold.