Mining Weekly

South Africa-linked Anglo American is delivering new platinum group metals (PGM)-catalysed hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEVs) mobility options across Europe. The London- and Johannesburg-listed Anglo is doing so in partnership with FCEV taxi operator Hype, under the H2 Moves Europe banner.

China’s Zijin Mining Group aims to start producing lithium in the Democratic Republic of Congo early next year from one of the world’s largest deposits of the battery metal. Zijin is accelerating activity at a site in southeast Congo that’s still claimed by AVZ Minerals. The Australian firm has initiated arbitration proceedings against both the government and Zijin as part of its efforts to recover an exploration license.

London-listed Tirupati Graphite has appointed Anthony James Nieuwenhuys as executive director and co-CEO alongside Shishir Poddar in anticipation of a full executive power transfer to Nieuwenhuys in due course. The board has directed that all necessary information and documentation, including system access and administrative control, is transferred to the board and appropriate senior executive management team members, to enhance transparency and corporate governance going forward.

Australia's Syrah Resources said on Tuesday it has secured a waiver for default events under its United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) loan of $150-million, granting it relief following operational disruptions at its Balama graphite operation in Mozambique due to ongoing nationwide protests. The company suspended operations at its flagship graphite mine in December, following disruptions caused by farmer-led protests since September 2024. Despite the suspension, Syrah has not defaulted on any loan payment obligations.

Namibia, one of the world’s largest uranium producers, is seeking investment from China in nuclear power to boost its role in the global push to clean energy. “We want to add value to our uranium for the peaceful development of nuclear energy,” President Nangolo Mbumba said Monday during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is on a week-long visit to Africa.

The world’s No. 1 cobalt miner churned out a record volume of the metal in 2024, thanks to a speedy ramp-up of its giant mines in Africa. China’s CMOC Group said Monday it produced 114 165 t of cobalt last year, according to a stock exchange filing citing preliminary data. That’s more than double its 2023 figure and surpassed earlier guidance for 2024 output, which was expected to total 70 000 t at most.

TSX-listed Iamgold has finalised the sale of its 100% interest in the Karita gold project and associated exploration assets in Guinea, the company confirmed on December 23. The transaction forms part of a broader deal,  first announced on December 20, 2022, to sell Iamgold’s interests in its exploration and development projects in Senegal, Guinea and Mali to mining group Managem for $282-million.

New York- and Toronto-listed Barrick Gold remains restricted from shipping gold from its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in Mali, West Africa. In addition, an interim attachment order has now been issued against the existing gold stock on site, which further prevents its export and disrupts normal operations.

KoBold Metals, a US company backed by Bill Gates, raised $537-million in equity funding to boost exploration of minerals critical to the energy transition. The funding round valued KoBold at $2.96-billion, the company said in a statement. It was led by new investor Durable Capital Partners and a pair of T. Rowe Price funds. Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and the Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm participated in the financing.

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) has announced that it will close its long-products business in a move that will affect 3 500 direct and indirect jobs and which is likely to have significant socioeconomic implications for the Newcastle region of KwaZulu-Natal. Production at the Newcastle Works, which has been operating under the threat of closure since late 2023, is anticipated to cease by late January 2025, with the wind-down of the remaining production processes completed in the first quarter of the year.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) will on Monday commemorate the 30th anniversary of the passing of struggle stalwart comrade Joe Slovo at Avalon Cemetery in Soweto and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is urging its members to take part in the remembrance event. Slovo, a prominent anti-apartheid leader and the first General Secretary of the SACP after its unbanning in 1990, is celebrated for his contributions to the liberation struggle against apartheid.

China's iron-ore imports are likely to hit a new high in 2025 as traders stockpile cheap ore for the world's top consumer despite a protracted property crisis continuing to weigh on Chinese steel demand, traders and analysts said. The country's imports of the key steelmaking ingredient will likely rise by between 10-million and 40-million metric tons to up to 1.27-billion tons this year, up from what forecasters expect to be record volumes in 2024, seven analysts and two traders said in a Reuters survey.

Goldman Sachs Group said it no longer sees gold reaching $3 000 an ounce by the end of the year, pushing the forecast to mid-2026 on expectations the Federal Reserve will make fewer rate cuts. Slower monetary easing in 2025 is set to crimp demand for bullion-backed exchange-traded funds, causing analysts including Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven to project prices will hit $2 910 an ounce by year-end. Weaker-than-expected ETF flows in December — driven by easing uncertainty after the US election — also contributed to a lower starting point for pricing into the new year, they wrote in a note.

Chile's environmental regulator has filed four charges against the major Los Bronces copper mine, controlled by Anglo American, for noncompliance with environmental permits, the agency said on Monday. The charges could carry a fine of nearly 17-billion pesos ($17.17-million), according to the Superintendency of the Environment, or SMA.

BHP, the world's biggest miner, would need to offer a minimum 40% premium over Anglo American's share price to make a renewed takeover bid now the rival's value has been boosted by asset sales, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. As diversified miners shift their focus to metals needed for the transition to cleaner energy, copper, with multiple uses from power to construction, has attracted intense interest.

Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has given the go-ahead for Shandong Yulong Gold to buy a 70% interest in ASX-listed Triton Minerals's in its portfolio of graphite projects in Mozambique, including the flagship Ancuabe project, for A$17-million. The FIRB clearance provides for Pre-Completion to occur, on or before 31 December 2024, in which Yulong will be granted three additional directors to the boards of Kwe Kwe Graphite Lda and Grafex Limitada (the Mozambique ownership ...

Eskom Holdings’s risk premium is dwindling as a turnaround at South Africa’s State-owned electricity company gathers momentum. The extra yield investors demand to take on the risk of holding the utility’s dollar debt without the benefit of a government guarantee narrowed to the lowest on record following the publication of the utility’s results on Thursday. And the yield premium over comparable US Treasuries is also at the lowest since the Eskom securities were issued in 2018.

Aim-listed critical raw materials producer Andrada Mining reported a 15% year-on-year increase in contained tin production to 232 t for the third quarter of the 2025 financial year, ended November 30. The company processed 239 240 t of ore during the quarter, up 5% from the 228 234 t processed in the third quarter of the 2024 financial year. Improvements in plant performance were key contributors to this growth, with a tin recovery rate increasing by 12% year-on-year to 74% and plant use rising to 93%, up from 86% in the same period the year before.

Minerals sands products producer Kenmare Resources, which owns and operates the Moma mine, in Mozambique, has appointed James McCullough CFO, with effect from May 1, 2025, His appointment follows a thorough search process led by the Kenmare nomination committee, in conjunction with an independent executive search firm. James brings extensive mining, strategic and financial experience to Kenmare, having served for 14 years with Rio Tinto Plc (“Rio”), most recently as General Manager - Group ...

Amid continued weakness in the global diamond industry, London-listed Petra Diamonds has lowered its price expectations for 2025 and initiated a Section 189 retrenchment process affecting the group and its South African Operations support functions, as it works to save costs and generate additional cash. It has appointed Vivek Gadodia chief restructuring officer to lead this work.