Mining Weekly

Mining and metals advocacy group the ICMM has announced a collective goal to drive more diverse, safe and inclusive mining workplaces by establishing a benchmark on gender representation and equality in the industry. The organisation says progress towards the goal will be reported in a biennial performance report starting 2026.

Africa-focused mining and development company Marula Mining has confirmed that mining operations at its Blesberg lithium and tantalum mine, in South Africa, will move to a contract mining basis in February, following a successful competitive tender process completed over the past three months. The contractor is expected to mobilise to Blesberg in the first quarter of 2025 and begin both the larger-scale planned conventional openpit mining operations, as well as the reprocessing of the existing stockpiles from February, subject to execution of the mining contract, expected by the end of December.

Following the completion of all smelting operations for November, Scandinavia-headquartered and Ethiopia-focused gold exploration and mining company Akobo Minerals has reported final gold production of 10 kg for the month, surpassing the earlier estimate of 8 kg. Combined with October's production of 2.8 kg, total gold production for the past two months is 12.8 kg.

Australia-based uranium producer Paladin Energy has reported that the Langer Heinrich Mine (LHM) plant, in Namibia, has been restarted following the planned November shutdown. During the shutdown, Paladin says, routine plant maintenance activities and a number of improvement works were completed.

Mines using renewable energy are being encouraged to harvest and store heat wasted during minerals processing and to then use its green electrons to close renewables intermittency gaps that come about when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Implementing systems to do this also come with considerable economic benefit, Kraftblock co-founder and CEO Dr Martin Schichtel outlined to Mining Weekly in a  Zoom interview.  (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Africa-focused gold miner Perseus Mining says it is well advanced in its review of existing geology, mining engineering and mineral processing studies at the Nyanzaga gold project, in Tanzania, which it acquired earlier this year. Additional geotechnical and mineral processing testwork and analysis are also under way to ensure optimal value can be extracted through the development of the project.

Gold has scope to push higher next year, likely hitting a record, as the Federal Reserve cuts rates and central banks add bullion to reserves, according to Macquarie Group. The precious metal may struggle in the first quarter of 2025 due to a strengthening US dollar, but it stands to extend gains after that, analysts including Marcus Garvey said in a note in which they raised price forecasts. It could “quickly challenge” $3 000/oz if Chinese demand picks up, or if President-elect Donald Trump’s policies risk a deterioration in the US fiscal outlook, they said.

Australia-listed lithium exploration company Lepidico has been placed in voluntary administration following unsuccessful attempts to secure financing for its Karibib lithium project in Namibia. The announcement on Thursday comes just days after the company entered a trading halt earlier, pending the release of details regarding a capital raise.

A new report published by the Future Minerals Forum states that an estimated $5.4-trillion in investments is required by 2035 to meet the growing demand for key materials in the mining and metals industry. According to the report, this demand is driven by the ongoing energy transition and traditional factors such as population growth, necessitating substantial investment in mining, refining and supporting infrastructure.

Eskom Group CEO Dan Marokane has outlined an “aspirational” and largely unfunded new generation project pipeline to progressively replace its aged and polluting coal fleet. Having previously declared that Eskom had a 22 GW project portfolio, Marokane told members of the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy that the generation division, which is yet to be unbundled, was “working on a pipeline of new clean energy to ensure security of supply in the long term”.

Dr Nombasa Tsengwa, the CEO of Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Exxaro Resources, has been placed on precautionary suspension with immediate effect, pending the outcome of an independent investigation into allegations related to workplace conduct and governance practice. The board stated in a stock exchange news service announcement on Wednesday, December 4, that it believes the decision to be in the best interests of the company and Tsengwa.

South Africa’s High Court upheld a legal challenge to the government’s plan to procure 1 500 megawatts of new coal-fired power, ruling that it was unlawful because of the potential impact on public health. Plans for more electricity from the dirtiest fossil fuel in South Africa, which has the most carbon-intensive economy among the Group of 20 nations, violate the constitutional right to health, Judge C.J. van der Westhuizen wrote in a ruling released on Wednesday. Three environmental activist groups filed the case against South Africa’s energy minister and energy regulator as well as President Cyril Ramaphosa after the government disclosed its intentions in a 2019 energy plan that the ministry approved in 2020. Those decisions are “unlawful and invalid”, the judge said, ordering the minister and regulator to pay costs to the complainants.

A R1.5-billion green loan facility secured in 2022 is the significant funding underpin of three solar PV renewable-energy plants being constructed by Harmony Gold at its large Moab Khotsong gold mine in North West province, near Orkney.  The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Harmony anticipates that this latest project will supply about 20% of the peak daytime demand of South African operations once completed in financial year 2026.

Embattled Aim-listed vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals has announced that independent nonexecutive chairperson Michael Kirkwood and CEO Craig Coltman have resigned from the board with immediate effect. Coltman will continue as an employee of the company for his three month notice period and will work directly with Matuson Associates business rescue practitioner Piers Marsden as required.

Diamond producer Lucara Diamond Corp expects to sell between 400 000 ct and 420 000 ct in 2025 for a total diamond revenue of $195-million to $225-million. CEO William Lamb said in an operational guidance update for 2025 issued on December 4 that the company had achieved significant milestones at its Karowe mine, in Botswana, this year, by successfully meeting and exceeding all production targets.

There’s no escaping gold in Tarkwa. It’s in the forest. It’s under your feet as you walk the streets of Ghana’s biggest mining town. It’s the economy. Exposed holes in the ground bear witness to attempts at illegally digging out some of the precious metal and a polluted river on the edge of town shows the consequences of the boom in semi-industrial scale mining. The environmental damage has triggered a wave of protest in the capital Accra demanding a ban on all small-scale mining operations in places like Tarkwa. In turn, anxious local politicians — ahead of national elections on Dec. 7 — have tried to reassure registered mines that they will be shielded from the government’s threat to crack down on illegal activities, which it calls “galamsey”.

President Joe Biden touted his administration’s ties with Angola, including investment in a railway to deliver critical minerals across the continent as he met with Angolan President João Lourenço on Tuesday. The two leaders discussed “significant trade and investment opportunities that keep our companies competitive and defend the interests of workers,” according to a readout of the call provided by the White House.

A recovery in mining GDP during the third quarter of the year, after quarterly declines in the previous two quarters, was still unable to lift overall real GDP in the July to September quarter, industry organisation Minerals Council South Africa says in a statement. Against the Bloomberg financial market consensus for real GDP to increase by 0.4% in the third quarter (the Minerals Council expected growth of 0.3%), overall real GDP declined by 0.3%, it points out.

The Phase 1, 2, and 3 concentrators at the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have set a new monthly production record in November, with TSX- and OTCQX-listed Ivanhoe Mines reporting combined production of 45 019 t of copper in concentrate. The concentrators processed 1.2-million tonnes of ore, achieving an average feed grade of 4.58% copper. Total copper production from Kamoa-Kakula for the year to November 30 now stands at 390 061 t.

Aim-listed Lexington Gold is “encouraged” by the significant exploration target potential identified at its Ventersburg gold project in the Free, State, South Africa, chairperson Ed Nealon says in an update announcing further progress on the project. Held and operated through Lexington’s subsidiary, White Rivers Exploration (WRE), the project is strategically situated within the Witwatersrand Basin.