Mining Weekly

Ahead of JSE-listed Harmony Gold releasing its interim results on February 28, the company has advised that total gold production for the six months ended December 31 would be between 820 000 oz and 835 000 oz. This would mark an increase of between 12% and 14% compared with the six months ended December 31, 2022.

The three-month-old mutual cooperation agreement that the private-sector-owned Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) signed with State rail enterprise Transnet is already boding well, RBCT chairperson Nosipho Damasane emphasised on Thursday. “Over the last few months, we’ve already experienced a very strong engagement platform,” Damasane highlighted at a media briefing covered by Mining Weekly (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Africa-focused lithium exploration and development company Atlantic Lithium has completed Stage 1 of its competitive offtake partnering process to secure funding for a portion of the remaining 50% available feedstock from the Ewoyaa project, in Ghana. The objective of the process is to attract funding offers to sufficiently cover the company's allocation of development expenditure for the project, to expedite and de-risk the development of the project, realise attractive terms for any offtake contracted and secure a well-credentialled partner that will support the company's and Ghana's objectives of supplying lithium into the global electric vehicle market.

The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP) will showcase technologies that have been developed to improve mining efficiencies at the Investing in African Mining Indaba. Under the theme "Embracing the power of positive disruption: A bold new future for African mining", the Indaba is aimed at inspiring and facilitating the changes and disruptions necessary for advancing the African mining industry.

AQSE-listed mining and development company Marula Mining has completed the commissioning of a Rados SRF100-8 X-ray fluorescence (XRF) ore sorter at its Blesberg lithium and tantalum mine, in the Northern Cape. The Rados ore sorter is one of the key parts of the company’s plan to expand its ore processing capacity at Blesberg to increase production of a high-grade lithium spodumene saleable product this quarter.

The death toll from last week's accident at an artisanal gold mine in southwest Mali has risen to more than 70, state radio said on Thursday. The deaths were caused after a shaft collapsed on Friday inside an artisanal gold mining site in the Kangaba Cercle in Mali's southwestern Koulikoro Region.

After more than six years of care-and-maintenance, the Langer Heinrich uranium mine, in Namibia, has restarted production activities and while Paladin Energy continues to target first commercial production by the end of the first quarter, lower contractor productivity may mean a slight delay to early in the second quarter. First ore was fed to the processing plant on January 20, following the successful commissioning of the beneficiation circuit, Paladin CEO Ian Purdy said on Thursday.

Niger temporarily suspended the granting of new mining licenses, the first step in an audit of its mining sector as it seeks to boost government revenue. The country will also take stock of existing mining licenses, according to a memo from the mining ministry seen by Bloomberg.

Independent Power Producer (IPP) Office head Bernard Magoro has signalled that the projects bid during the current seventh renewables procurement bid window could carry a price premium, as bidders adjust to the spatial realities that have arisen as a result of the country’s prevailing grid constraints. Through the bid window, which was launched in December, government is seeking to procure 3 200 MW of onshore wind and 1 800 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity and a bid submission deadline of the end of April has been set.