Mining Weekly

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) have signed a memorandum of agreement officially establishing the Junior Mining Exploration Fund. The establishment of this fund forms part of South Africa’s mineral exploration strategy. The fund’s main objective is to enable eligible South African junior mining enterprises to access funding to conduct prospecting work, increase access to mine orebodies and promote economic inclusion to support equitable economic growth.

The need to reduce global carbon emissions, to counter climate change, has transformed the public image of the mining industry, because of the urgent need to ramp-up the production of clean energy metals. So highlighted International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) CEO Rohitesh Dhawan, speaking at a panel discussion jointly organised by Webber Wentzel and Fraser Alexander, on the fringes of the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2024, in Cape Town. “There has been a fundamental change over the past two years,” he affirmed. “Wider society now sees its future wrapped up with mining. The need for minerals for the energy transition – that has allowed people to see the importance of mining. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the relationship between the industry and society.”

Diversified miner Anglo American’s Minas-Rio iron-ore and Barro Alto nickel mines, in Brazil, have been assessed against the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance's (IRMA’s) comprehensive mining standard, achieving an IRMA 75 level of performance. The IRMA's Standard for Responsible Mining has been developed over a decade through a public consultation process with more than 100 different individuals and organisations, including mining companies, customers and downstream users of the mined products, nongovernmental organisations, labour unions and communities.

The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and commodities trader Trafigura have both signed a term sheet outlining the key terms for a reserve capacity agreement for transporting mineral products from the mine along the Lobito Atlantic railway corridor, a new import-export trade route between the African Copperbelt and Angola’s Atlantic coast. Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines founder and executive co-chair Robert Friedland and president Marna Cloete announced the signing on February 7 at the 2024 Investing in African Mining Indaba, in Cape Town. 

In the wake of COP28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place at the end of 2023, the global mining industry is witnessing a transformative shift towards sustainability. The pivotal commitment to triple renewable energy production by 2030 has set the stage for a new era in responsible mining practices. During a panel discussion at the Investing in African Mining Indaba, Anglo American head of sustainability Katie Ferguson highlighted the company's ambitious targets in reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions. The mining powerhouse aims for a 30% reduction by 2030 and envisions carbon neutrality across scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2040. Central to this strategy is the transition to renewable energy, with 53% of global energy sources already coming from renewables.

Diamond mining and marketing company De Beers is to collaborate with Angola on opportunities to increase diamond production, support alluvial mining sector and enhance social development for the benefit of Angola’s citizens. De Beers on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Angola’s National Mineral Resource Agency, Angola’s State-owned Endiama diamond company, and Angola’s State-owned Sodiam diamond trading company, to support these objectives.

State-owned Transnet has taken delivery of seven full sets of batteries procured by the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). The delivery of these critical spares will improve the reliability of Transnet Freight Rail's available locomotive fleet. The Transnet Recovery Plan, which seeks to improve operational efficiency and profitability, hinges on sustainable collaboration with the private sector, Transnet says.

JSE-listed gold mining company DRDGold, which is in the process of finalising its results for the six months ended December 31, expects to report a 5% to 15% year-on-year increase in earnings per share (EPS) and headline earnings per share (HEPS). EPS and HEPS for the interim period are expected to be between 65.3c and 71.5c, compared with the EPS and HEPS of 62.3c reported for the six months ended December 31, 2022.

Noise-induced hearing loss has displaced tuberculosis (TB) and silicosis as the top priority health threat in the South African mining industry. “I’m emphasising noise-induced hearing loss because the other diseases have gone down markedly whereas noise-induced hearing loss has not gone down as much,” Minerals Council South Africa health department head Dr Thuthula Balfour revealed on day two of the Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town.

JSE-listed Sable Exploration and Mining’s subsidiary Sable Platinum Holdings (SPH) and IPace on February 2 entered into a term sheet for additional funding of R1-million payable by SPH for a dense medium separation (DMS) beneficiation plant. The follows SPH’s announcement in September that it had entered into an agreement with IPace for the establishment of an unincorporated joint venture (UJV) to conduct the business of commissioning, operating and maintaining a DMS beneficiation plant and to sell the product.

Energy Council CEO James Mackay has welcomed the decision of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to extend the comment period for the draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2023 by a month and has also called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to use his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) emphasise government’s commitment to “open and robust debate on national energy policy”. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe used his Mining Indaba address on February 6 to announce that the IRP comment period had been extended to March 23 from February 23 to “allow maximum participation in this process”. However, he refrained from initiating public hearings, which some commentators have called for given serious concerns over the assumptions and modelling used to produce the draft document.

The energy challenges facing mining companies in South Africa have given rise to significant opportunities, strategic management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group partner Rudi van Blerk says. Already, many of these companies have seized these opportunities, capitalising on the unique advantages offered by the country’s current unstable economic and political landscape, he adds.

Multinational mining company Anglo American is focusing on partnerships with its host nations to grow the mining industry and remain resilient through disruptions, said CEO Duncan Wanblad during his keynote address on the first day of the Cape Town-based Investing in African Mining Indaba 2024.   He underlined the importance of effective partnerships with the mining company’s host nations to achieve sustainable economic and social benefits while acknowledging the challenges faced by South Africa, Botswana, Angola and Zambia.

One of the major crime problems facing South African mining companies is that of the so-called “construction mafias”, or perhaps more accurately (as far as mining is concerned) “procurement mafias”. That is, organised crime gangs seeking to extort procurement contracts from mining companies, through threats of violence, or actual violence. This was highlighted on Monday, at a press briefing on the first day of the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2024 conference in Cape Town. The press conference was organised by the Investing in African Mining Indaba.

In 2004, the year South Africa’s far-reaching Mining Charter was first introduced, black ownership in South Africa’s globally recognised mining industry stood at a negligible 2%. This has now leapt nearly 20 times higher to approximately 39%, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted in his well-attended, full-house opening address on day-one of the four-day Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town which is being attended by close to 10 000 people.

Effectively dealing with the problem of illegal mining operations really needs the recreation of specialised units by the South African Police Service (SAPS). So highlighted Harmony Gold executive director stakeholder relations and corporate affairs Dr Mashego Mashego, on the first day of the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2024 conference, in Cape Town. He was participating in a media briefing organised by Minerals Council South Africa. He stressed that illegal mining was not the same thing as artisanal mining, and the two should not be coupled together. Illegal mining was a form of organised crime, with different “tiers” of criminals, from Tier 1 (the low-level illegal miners), up through criminal hierarchies, to the top bosses (which Mashego referred to as “Tier 5”).

One of London-listed Pensana’s major potential customers has approved the product qualification specifications for Longonjo’s proposed mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) product. Longonjo, in Angola, is expected to produce 20 000 t of MREC starting in 2026 and 40 000 t of MREC from 2029 onwards following the planned expansion.

The domestic mining industry is looking at 2024 as a year of stabilisation, rather than growth, says Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane. The industry continues to face persistent challenges such as loadshedding, an ailing logistics sector, and a declining commodity market.

London-listed Rainbow Rare Earths has made progress with the ongoing rare earth oxide separation work under way at the back-end pilot plant, which is located at the facilities of Rainbow’s technical partner K-Technologies (K-Tech) in Florida, in the US, with group separation of the rare earth elements (REEs) achieved in the initial ion exchange testwork. The back-end plant process uses continuous ion exchange (CIX) and continuous ion chromatography (CIC) to produce separated rare earth oxides.

Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals met its 2023 production guidance and was able to achieve a level of operational performance in the first half of the financial year, despite facing cash flow challenges, CEO Craig Coltman says in an operational update for the three and 12 months ending December 31.  Production for the fourth quarter of 2023 decreased to 925 t of vanadium, compared with 1 000 t in the previous quarter.