Mining Weekly

London-listed Petra Diamonds is heading into the second half of its 2024 financial year with caution, as the rough diamond market continues to stabilise following actions taken by producers and midstream value chain participants last year. The company is positioning itself to take advantage of any market improvements in the near term, particularly as it increased its revolving credit facility from $53-million to $93-million in the first half of the 2024 financial year ended December 31, 2023.

Computer programmes that use artificial intelligence (AI) to model orebodies and plan mines optimally have already been introduced by Copper 360, says the JSE AltX-listed Northern Cape copper mining company, which is developing the Rietberg copper mine, the first of a dozen copper mining assets it has on its development list. Next in line for South Africa’s only pure copper play, which is already producing copper plate from surface material, will be smartwatches on the wrists of employees to uplift their well-being and even check their heart rates.

ASX-listed Lotus Resources has, post the completion of its acquisition of A-Cap, finalised the preliminary work programmes required to enable it to become a global uranium player, targeting a potential restart at the Kayelekera uranium project, in Malawi, in late 2025 and the optimisation of the Letlhakane uranium project, in Botswana, to define a robust, economic project. The company boasts mineral resources of 241-million pounds of uranium oxide at Kayelekera and Letlhakane.

State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is busy with recovery efforts after a derailment in which two trains collided in the early hours of January 14 at Elubana, outside Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal. TFR teams were dispatched to the scene immediately and started recovery efforts. No serious injuries have been reported and staff involved in the collision were sent for medical observation.

De Beers made big cuts to its diamond prices as the world’s top producer tries to revive gem sales after the market ground to a halt last year. The industry almost came to a complete standstill in the second half of 2023 as the two biggest miners all but stopped supplies in a desperate attempt to stem a collapse in prices. While those efforts helped the market to pick up a bit, it’s unclear how much appetite trade buyers currently have.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO) have a busy week ahead, with three virtual bidders conferences to be hosted over Wednesday and Thursday, and with the department also schedule to host a public workshop on the draft 2023 edition of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2023). The bidders conferences follow the release, on December 14, of three new requests for proposals (RFPs) for the public procurement of 7 615 MW of new generation capacity from wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), gas to power and battery energy storage technologies.

Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals has announced that the receipt of $12.5-million funds from Southern Point Resources (SPR) under the recently announced $18.4-million equity capital raising has not yet occurred. Until the funding is received, and to manage working capital and preserve cash reserves, the vertically integrated primary vanadium producer has had to constrain production, suspend certain operational activities and defer creditor payments. 

Seven new mining licence applications (MLAs) collectively submitted by AQSE-listed Marula Mining's local partners Takela Mining Tanzania (TMT) and NyoriGreen Mining Limited (NML) at the Nyorinyori and NyoriGreen graphite projects in Tanzania have been granted. These new mining licences are valid for a period of seven years, effective from January 10 and are being incorporated into the commercial and technical services agreements with TMT and NML, through which Marula has secured its 75% commercial interest through the funding of exploration and mining and development activities.

The convergence in platinum and palladium prices is likely to go further. Fundamentals point more positively for platinum into 2025 on a better autocatalyst demand trend.

Canada-headquartered miner Platinum Group Metals (PTM) continues to progress a market study that seeks to identify potential global sources of platinum group metals (PGMs) concentrate that could augment the processing of concentrate produced at the joint venture (JV) Waterberg project, in South Africa, in Saudi Arabia. The company announced a cooperation agreement with Ajlan & Bros Mining and Metals on December 20 last year, to determine the viability of establishing a standalone PGMs smelter and base metal refinery in Saudi Arabia.

Angolan sovereign wealth fund Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA) is “delighted to see the excellent progress” that is being achieved on site at the Longonjo rare earths project, as this is an important project for the entity, FSDEA chairperson Armando Manuel has said. On January 10, London-listed Pensana Rare Earths and its local subsidiary Ozango Minerais welcomed the full board of FSDEA to Longonjo for a site inspection. The six members of the board were accompanied by the head of investment and key analysts of the FSDEA.  

London-listed Altona has received formal regulatory approval from the Mozambican Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy regarding the increase of its shareholding in Monte Muambe Mining to 51%. Monte Muambe Mining is the Mozambican subsidiary holding the prospecting license encompassing the Monte Muambe rare earths project in the country.

Diversified mining company Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is pursuing the development of a refinery to process cobalt hydroxide into cobalt sulphates, the primary form of supply for cobalt-bearing electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The move to vertically integrate the company’s cobalt business is aimed at strengthening its position as a strategic supplier to the chemicals sector, particularly for batteries for EVs.