Mining Weekly

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), in partnership with diversified mining company Anglo American, have relaunched the old Johannesburg Planetarium as the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome, after major refurbishments. Wits has noted that the new Digital Dome is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, made possible through an investment of R90-million from Anglo American and Wits.

The Australian company owning and operating the Lindi Jumbo graphite mine in Tanzania has gone into voluntary administration.  Jeremy Nipps and Tom Birch of Cor Cordis were appointed joint and several voluntary administrators for Walkabout Resources, Walkabout Australia and Reveal Resources.

Specialist graphite producer Tirupati Graphite, which is listed on the LSE and has assets in Mozambique and Madagascar, has secured about $225 000 in trade finance from the Middle Eastern Sovereign Fund and is in talks with the fund regarding a further $2.4-million in trade finance. The initial funding has been provided to Tirupati in return for 280 t of certain grades of flake graphite. The first 100 t shipment is now at port, in Madagascar, and ready to ship later this week.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should sell 4% of its gold to help offer debt relief to low-income countries devastated by climate-related catastrophes, a study said as climate financing dominates early talks at the COP29 summit. From the Caribbean to Africa, low-income countries have turned to the IMF in recent years for support in the face of shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic, driving up repayments to the lender of last resort in subsequent years.

The final bidders for Anglo American's Australian coal assets are down to Yancoal Australia, Stanmore Resources and Peabody Energy Corp, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The final bid submissions are due on Wednesday, said one of the sources, who asked to remain unidentified.

Why is it that gold equities are continuing to underperform the gold price? That is a question Mining Weekly put to Barrick president and CEO Dr Mark Bristow after he noted the lag of gold equities during the presentation of the third-quarter results of his New York- and Toronto-listed gold and copper mining company. The gold equity underperformance comes amid demand for physical gold putting upward pressure on the gold price as de-dollarisation within the central bank reserve balances takes place.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has published timelines for the processing Eskom’s retail tariff plan (RTP) application, in which potentially far-reaching changes to the tariff structure are requested. The timeline deviates slightly from the timelines included in Nersa’s consultation paper release to guide those stakeholders intending to comment on the RTP, which scheduled a public hearing for Christmas eve.

Multidisciplinary professional firm WSP has completed a comprehensive upgrade of diversified miner South32’s manganese rail infrastructure in the Northern Cape. The project was carried out by WPS’s Project Raptor team, which forms part of the company’s Transport and Infrastructure (T&I) division.

JSE-listed Mantengu Mining has reported a R102.8-million year-on-year increase in revenue from R13.1-million for the six months ended August 2023 to R115.9-million for the equivalent period this year. Half-year gross profits also increased significantly year-on-year to R53-million for the six months under review, from R1.5-million for the same period in 2023, while operating profit increased to R24.3-million from a R15.4-million loss in the prior comparable period.

ASX- and OTCQX-listed Lotus Resources has completed its infill and exploration drilling programmes at the Letlhakane uranium project, in Botswana. The company reported on November 12 that it had drilled 21 holes at Letlhakane.

Aim-listed Goldplat’s two recovery operations in Ghana and South Africa achieved a combined operating profit of £1.84-million excluding listing and head office costs, finance cost and foreign exchange losses – for the quarter ended September 30, the first quarter of the group’s 2025 financial year. The finance cost and foreign exchange losses incurred in the quarter mainly related to trading activities and resulted in a combined profit before tax, excluding listing and head office costs, of £1.45-million.

Uranium producer Paladin Energy’s share price plunged nearly 30% on Tuesday after the Australian miner revised down its production forecast for the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. The company cited weaker-than-expected performance in October and ongoing challenges in ramping up operations as key factors behind the revised guidance.

Gold miner Resolute Mining finds itself at the center of a broad shakeup of regulatory regimes across West Africa following the detention of the company’s chief executive in Mali, as cash-strapped governments seek to generate more revenue from their natural resources. Mali’s military junta — crippled by sanctions and cut off from Western aid — is at the forefront of the push, aggressively pursuing both Resolute and Canadian giant Barrick Gold, which has also had its employees detained and a key license threatened in recent months. But neighboring Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Ivory Coast are also updating mining codes, stripping permits or launching sector-wide audits.

South Africa’s current process of dissolving the world’s purest manganese metal to make battery grade manganese has got the lowest incentive price of any of the new, non-Chinese high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate suppliers, or future suppliers, the Mintek@90 conference heard on Monday. South Africa makes money at $2 500/t on the high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate it produces in this way, whereas the feasibility studies of the other new, non-Chinese suppliers, or future hopefuls, are calling for far higher $3 500/t to $5 000/t price viability levels. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

JSE- and NYSE-listed Harmony Gold has reported relatively flat year-on-year gold production but announced significant improvements in operational cash flow owing to enhanced recovery grades. In its quarterly update for the three months to September 30, Harmony recorded a minor decrease of 1% in total gold production to 422 172 oz, compared with 425 130 oz in the comparable quarter of the prior year.

Zimbabwe-focused gold miner Caledonia Mining Corporation has approved a dividend of $0.14 a share for the quarter ended September 30. The company achieved a net profit of $3.29-million for the quarter, down from a net profit of $5.7-million in the third quarter of 2023. Its net profit for the nine months to September 30 was, however, higher at $16.45-million, compared with $1.69-million for the nine months to September 30, 2023.

JSE-listed chemicals group Omnia has reported a 17% increase in operating profit to R802-million for the six months ended September 30, which CEO Seelan Gobalsamy says was driven by solid performances in the group’s mining and agriculture segments. These segments also supported an improvement in Omnia’s operating margins from 6.5% in the prior comparable six months to 7.3% in the reporting period.

A bankable feasibility study on Namibian copper explorer and developer Omico Mining’s 95%-owned Omitiomire copper project, in Namibia, has estimated a $224-million net present value. The study has revealed an 18% internal rate of return after tax, a 3.7-year payback period and a 15 year life-of-mine (LoM).

JSE- and TSX-listed Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) has reported a 49.5% decrease in revenue to $11-million for the third quarter of the year ended September 30, compared with the $21.8-million reported for the third quarter of 2023. Revenue for the year-to-date (YTD) decreased to $45.5-million from the $76.5-million reported for the same period in 2023, representing a $31-million or 40.5% decrease.  

JSE-listed Sibanye-Stillwater has confirmed that it has concluded wage negotiations at its South African gold operations, which began in July. A one-year agreement was reached with the representative unions, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), UASA and Solidarity, with respect to yearly wages and benefits for employees at the Beatrix, Driefontein and Kloof operations.