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The all-time-high second-quarter (Q2) gold price is less about the forecast decline in interest rates and more about risk-on amid global economy wrestling and world deglobalisation, Barrick president and CEO Dr Mark Bristow highlighted this week, following his round-the-world travel.

"China is certainly going to recover - but not back to where it was," Bristow forecast during the Q2 results presentation of the New York- and Toronto-listed gold and copper mining company. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Without investment, supply chains and more challenged economies stand to be hurt and a future created in which "the rich continue to get richer and the poor get even poorer," said Bristow, in reporting 6%-higher Q2 gold production to more than one-million ounces, and 22% higher copper production to 107-million pounds.

Barrick's operating cash flow rose by 7% to $832-million, net earnings jumped 143% to 17c a share, and adjusted net earnings increased by 36% to 19c a share, with the quarterly dividend maintained at 10c. Year-on-year, the total recordable injury frequency rate was 8% lower and greenhouse gas emissions 12% down.

The call for new advances was driven home to Bristow at the mining summit held by Barrick in Islamabad, Pakistan, where the company's Reko Diq project is being progressed. Bristow found interesting the realisation that things need to change amid criticism of 70 years of mistakes having taken place in Pakistan, despite the country having everything needed to get on top of things.

"It's got the people, by far, but it needs to care about them," said Bristow, drawing on the addresses of leadership at the mining summit, which emphasised the country's need to focus on development and not just exploitation.

He found a great need for Pakistan to attract foreign investments, with Pakistan's Minister of Petroleum spotlighting the country's new strategy of turning red tape into a red carpet for investors - "and that's very interesting and a massive transition in a country that has many challenges".

NEED FOR WORLD RELOOK

Barrick, through merging with Randgold Resources, has more than a quarter century of asset-building history in West Africa.

Against that background, Bristow made these points: "We've seen in West Africa what happens when we neglect developing countries. We've spoken many times to some of the major economies in the world about West Africa and the importance of staying there and engaging in conversation and working on investment, instead of just lecturing.

"The elected governments right across that region have failed and we don't seem to want to do anything about it except lecture, and so there's a big need for the world to relook at how it manages its business," Bristow pointed out.

As far as the policy towards mining and metals is concerned in the US, there is a need in Bristow's view for reflection on just exploiting other people's natural resources rather than developing some of its own, "and engaging and supporting a real mining industry, because that's what's required if we're going to have a better world ahead of us".

"There certainly is conversation starting around those topics and I've spoken a lot about the importance of partnerships and development across the world and the real results that are starting to materialise in Barrick's policy of driving partnerships with our host countries around the world."

Regarding exploration, Bristow outlined how Barrick would be able to share real borehole results by the end of Q3 because of its success with the drill bit and community development.

Well ahead of actual mining, Barrick has already established two primary schools in Pakistan's Balochistan province that have a more-or-less 50:50 split between boys and girls, which is seen as being a considerable achievement given the current gender retrogression in neighbouring Afghanistan.

As Barrick has done at its Kibali gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Balochistan people are being ...

In addition to the interim dividend of $2.8-billion, diversified mining company Glencore on Tuesday announced a top up of $2.2-billion, which lifted this year's total announced shareholder returns to $9.3-billion.

"If you look at the results as a whole for 2023 versus some of our history, and if we exclude 2022 - which, as we know, was an exceptional year because of its circumstances - this is the best first half we've had in the last 20 years," Glencore CEO Gary Nagle said during the London- and Johannesburg-listed company's presentation of half-year results, covered by Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Glencore reported half-year earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of $9.4-billion, $7.4-billion of that from the industrial asset business and on the marketing side, an adjusted marketing Ebit of $1.8-billion, annualising above the guidance range of $2.2-billion to $3.2-billion a year. With the top end of range exceeded, the company is guiding between $3.5-billion and $4-billion for the year.

"We're nicely on track to meet that guidance for the full year on a very solid and strong set of results from the marketing side of $1.8-billion. The business remains highly cash-generative and through the first half of the year, the cash generated by our operating activities was just short of $8.5-billion, which has allowed us to return additional cash to our shareholder," said Nagle.

The $2.2-billion top-up shareholder return is broken up between R1-billion in cash dividends and $1.2-billion of share buyback, taking the already announced 2023 returns to the R9.3-billion return.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCORECARD

On the environmental side, during the early part of the year the company published updates on its progress in the three main areas of climate, water and nature, with the 2022 Climate Report and 2022 Sustainability Report providing transparency on how it approached its ESG and in particular, the environmental side of the business.

On the social side, the loss of life of an employee has resulted in an intensification of efforts to strive for zero harm. On the back of record 2022 profits, Glencore paid $12-billion in tax, royalties and levies, compared with $7.6-billion in 2021,

On the governance side, under agreements with the Department of Justice, two independent compliance monitors have begun work. Overall tailings conformance has also been achieved to the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) for "extreme" and "very high consequence" tailings dams, which have been independently assured by third-party assurance. Work is continuing on full tailings dam disclosure, with the remainder to be made known by 2025, as required under GISTM.

TRANSITION METALS

Glencore took first-half steps to invest in three transition metals opportunities that firmed up its copper, cobalt, aluminium-alumina and zinc decarbonising metals range.

The first, in Alunorte, provides Glencore with long-term exposure to carbon alumina and bauxite. The second makes Glencore the sole owner and operator of the MARA copper project in Argentina, and the third involves an agreement to acquire the remaining 17.8% of Polymet to gain access to copper, nickel and platinum-palladium.

"Zinc is sometimes the forgotten commodity of decarbonisation, but it is absolutely critical in the decarbonisation journey," said Nagle.

As a producer of a million tons of copper a year, Glencore has considerable brownfields copper leeway to add another million tons of copper, which will be brought on as the world needs it.

"We also continue to grow our recycling business and we promote circularity and will continue to invest in that, both organically and inorganically.

"We're already producing a significant amount of metals through our recycling business and it gives us an added advantage in being able to add third-party material, our own material and recycled material.

"Not only is it the responsible thing to do but when you lo...

Four out of the five the top-tier gold-mining assets of AngloGold Ashanti are in Africa.

As the cornerstones of the company, these tier 1 mines are Geita in Tanzania, Obuasi and Iduapriem in Ghana, and Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The fifth tier 1 mine is Tropicana in Australia. In all metrics, the top-tier mines form part of the first quartile of big assets in the world and account for 80% of AngloGold's earnings and 75% of the mineral reserve.

Collectively, the five tier 1 assets account for 1.7-million ounces a year at a total cash cost of $940/oz and an all-in sustaining cost of $1 200.

These are the longer life and lower cost companies that have potential to increase their production.

When it comes to projects, the advancing tier 1 project pipeline is in the United States, where five projects are being progressed in the Beatty District, where there is potential to produce more than 300 000 oz of gold a year over multi decades at all-in sustaining cost in the high $900/oz, with first production planned at the end of 2025.

In a reassessing of its portfolio, AngloGold Ashanti has subdivided its assets into tier 1 assets, tier 2 assets and 'other'.

The second-tier assets include the shorter life Siguiri of Guinea, Sunrise Dam of Australia, Cerro Vanguardia of Argentina, and Cuiaba of Brazil. The focus on these is to lower the cash costs.

These collectively produce 889 000 oz a year at an all-in sustaining cost of $1 598/oz and have a 23-million ounce resource.

These tier 2 operations are run probably for cash and coming second in the rankings when it comes to new capital, with the tier 1's likely receiving priority, but still being nurtured with sustaining capital expenditure.

Falling into other are Córrego do Sitio and Serra Grande in Brazil and require a decision on their future course. These are mature, high-cost operations with flexibility constraints. They produce 158 000 oz a year at an all-in sustaining cost of $2 377/oz and a mineral reserve of eight-million ounces.

"By scale, they don't belong in a portfolio like AngloGold but we are still responsible stewards. They are very high in the cash cost category and they are causing a significant drain and loss of competitiveness," AngloGold CEO Alberto Calderon said during last week's results presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

"Córrego do Sitio is a complex mine and at some point this year we'll take a decision. We'll try to sell it, as we did before, and if we can't, we'll take other decisions like putting it in care and maintenance.

"Serra Grande is different. We expect it to be cash positive in the second half. It was slightly negative in the first half but it's small in nature. If at some point in the future we can find a good home for it, we will do but there is not urgency on Serra Grande because we don't expect any losses in the second half. It's back to covering its own costs and sustaining capex," Calderon explained.

RENEWABLES PROJECT

At the Tropicana mine, AngloGold has entered into an agreement with Pacific Energy to construct and operate 62 MW of wind and solar power generation capacity at the site.

Pacific Energy will construct a renewables project and continue to operate the combined renewables power station under a ten-year power purchase agreement.

Once complete, the project is expected to deliver a 50% reduction in overall natural gas consumption.

The capital cost of constructing the renewable infrastructure, made up of 24 MW of wind turbine capacity, 24 MW of photovoltaic solar capacity and 14 MW of battery energy storage capacity, will be incorporated into the ongoing power costs charged to the Tropicana joint venture partners.

The project, which is designed to maximise the emission reduction while retaining power costs at current levels, is scheduled for completion in early 2025, with on-site construction expected to begin in the second half of this year.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks South Africa's advantage in being able to develop a successful hydrogen economy; Pan African taking a stance against any attempts to derail the R2.5-billion Mogale Tailings Retreatment project; and the promotion platinum-based fuel cell electric vehicles.

A strong call has been made for illegal mining in the area of the R2.5-billion Mogale Tailings Retreatment project on Gauteng's West Rand to be brought to a halt.

"It will not be tolerated on our site," Pan African Resources CEO Cobus Loots has made clear. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The London Aim- and Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed gold mining company has acquired the surface area and immovable assets where its Mogale operations are situated, near Krugersdorp and Kagiso, and is reserving its rights to take the necessary legal action against any parties that hinder, obstruct or prevent access to its properties or assets.

Very positively, the creation of jobs and community development programmes will provide local youth with legitimate and sustainable opportunities, including skills development, learnerships and bursary opportunities.

"We cannot allow our people or property to be threatened, and we cannot allow communities and the environment of Mogale to continue to suffer," he said at the sod-turning ceremony covered by Mining Weekly.

"To our government police officials, we are asking you to take our hand and assist here and together we will succeed.

"When we started looking at the Mintails project, most of our stakeholders were sceptical, as so many parties have tried and failed at this site in the past.

"To get to this point of finally breaking ground, we've had to endure quite a lot and it continues.

"It has taken more than three years of incredibly hard work and commitment as well as a very large financial investment by Pan African Resources.

"We've negotiated and concluded agreements with creditors, liquidators, lawyers, landowners, non-governmental organisations, contractors, our bankers, more than 20 legal agreements to date.

"We've engaged and worked with our regulators, including the Department of Minerals and Energy and the Department of Water and Sanitation, and we've convincingly demonstrated how this project will benefit the environment and all legitimate stakeholders.

"This project now enjoys the full support of all our legitimate stakeholders and we will not let them down.

"The site is currently barren, hostile, unable to sustain life, with a host of liabilities and hazards. Independent studies demonstrate that our operation will dramatically improve the environment here over the project's life to the benefit of all that call this area home.

"We will re-deposit tailings on facilities complying with modern standards. As part of the project, we will also look to the sun for energy and we look forward to cooperating with the Gauteng government in this regard.

"We've put together the very best team to execute the project. We recognise that our work is just beginning on this site. We appreciate the construction of this project on time and on budget will not be easy. It will be very hard, and again to our other stakeholders present today, we will require your assistance.

"Many investors, both local and international, have written off South Africa as a mining investment destination.

"The eyes of the people of Krugersdorp, Kagiso, Mogale, our shareholders, potential investors, employees, regulators, contractors, suppliers, and other stakeholders are now also on our R2.5-billion project.

"We need to demonstrate that projects of this scale can be successfully constructed in South Africa. We look forward to welcoming you back to the site in a little bit over a year from now, to celebrate the successful commissioning of this world-class project," said Loots.

South Africa has all the pieces necessary for the development of a successful green hydrogen economy.

South Africa also has a depth of rand funding to be able to support green hydrogen projects, and enable green hydrogen to play a critical role in decarbonisation priorities of this country's heavy industries.

The nine green hydrogen projects that were gazetted with strategic integrated project (SIP) status last year on the back of South Africa's inaugural hydrogen conference are under debottlenecking scrutiny to ensuring that the necessary licences are in place.

South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is financing two of the SIP projects and assessing investments in others. Among these are Saldanha, Coega and a green hydrogen production and export hub in Boegoebaai, in the Northern Cape, partnership between Sasol and the Northern Cape government.

With the competitive advantages that South Africa has, the country can feed into a number of European and Asian countries that are not going to be able to produce sufficient green hydrogen to decarbonise their own economies.

South Africa itself needs to develop a local market for green hydrogen to decarbonise this country's heavy industries, provide green ammonia to our fertiliser industry, give our textile industry a green future and serve the marine bunkering fuel market.

These and many more far-reaching points were made by IDC Chief Operations Officer Joanne Bate in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly, in which she emphasised that green hydrogen should be seen as an industrial enabler with the potential to grow green products, jobs and exports. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

South Africa's newly announced a R18-billion SA-H2 fund dedicated to finance green hydrogen projects in the country is supported by climate-focused blended finance investment firm Climate Fund Managers, the Dutch government's Invest International, life insurer and investment group Sanlam, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the IDC, among others.

The fund is building off the model of Climate Fund Managers, which has similar infrastructure funds that are operating around the globe.

"We really liked their model of blended finance so that we can get that early stage risk capital into accelerating the hydrogen economy.

"We're looking at finding other partners to co-fund with us. To date, we've had a lot of interest from multilateral development banks and other development financiers around the globe, particularly from Europe and the East.

"We do believe that there's going to be significant appetite for this fund. It now is for us to get the fund closed so that we can start investing in some of the early stage projects," said Bate.

What factors are supporting South Africa's participation in the green hydrogen economy?

We've got a long history in hydrogen production and through the Department of Science Innovation, we've been looking at the hydrogen economy since 2008, with some very interesting innovations that have been driven by South Africa. Sasol produces roughly 2.4 million tonnes per annum of grey hydrogen, so with our experience in hydrogen production, and management and transportation, we've got a leg up on driving the hydrogen economy within South Africa. From a green hydrogen perspective, we have incredible renewable conditions, we have some of the best irradiation conditions in the world, I think second only to Chile. We also have amazing wind capacity. This combined with our access to platinum group metals, which are critical in both electrolysers and fuel cells, as well as our access to other key critical minerals for the green economy. Specifically, Sasol's Fischer-Tropsch technology puts us at the forefront of driving this hydrogen opportunity. We've got all of the pieces necessary to build a successful green hydrogen economy. We also have a robust financial system, we have a depth of rand funding to be able to support these projects, and we believe that g...

Gold mining company Pan African on Wednesday gave stern notice that it will not tolerate the actions of a few parties with selfish interests that want to derail the R2.5-billion Mogale Tailings Retreatment project, west of Johannesburg in the Kagiso/Krugersdorp area.

Pan African possesses all the requisite permits to conduct gold recovery activities and for certain community members to state that the internationally listed Pan African is working with illegal Zama Zama miners is beyond belief, given that its activities in the area will, in fact, do the exact opposite - namely, lead to the closure of old workings accessed by Zama Zamas.

Very positively, the creation of jobs and community development programmes will provide local youth with legitimate and sustainable opportunities, including skills development, learnerships and bursary opportunities.

Pan African has begun hiring members of the local communities and to date has 111 employees on site, of which 70 (63%) have been employed from the local communities.

Only where it is unable to procure skills locally does it seek employees from outside of the host communities.

At 12 community consultations held from May 26 to June 10, documents were made available that outlined the employment application process.

An image was provided showing job advertisements placed in local community recreation parks, tuckshops and municipal offices.

The adverts resulted in the receipt of 948 curriculum vitaes from local community members, which will be made available to the main contractor for consideration, with more to follow as the project progresses.

Where skills are not available locally, these are procured from other parts of the province.

Pan African cannot compromise on safety and will develop local suppliers and skills. However, this is a long-term process and will be incorporated over the development of the project.

Protesting and disrupting activities to demand jobs and contracts up front and without following due process will not be entertained.

All contracts and employment opportunities will be transparent and awarded on the basis of merit, Pan African stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

The company has acquired the surface area and immovable assets where its operations are situated and is reserving its rights to take the necessary legal action against any parties that hinder, obstruct or prevent access to its properties or assets.

In September 2022, after lengthy negotiations, the London Aim and main board Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Pan African finalised the acquisition of the Mintails project from the liquidator of Mintails Mining SA.

This followed a long period where the project area had been abandoned, and the plant and equipment from previous operators vandalised and stolen, resulting in significant crime, job losses and damage to the economy and environment. Communities were left in distress with pollution at unprecedented levels.

As reported by Engineering News & Mining Weekly, Pan African's project execution process has subsequently kicked off, initially focusing on the detailed engineering design, environmental approvals and Integrated Water Use Licence (IWUL) application with considerable expenditure incurred to date. This will result in a significant and meaningful boost to all stakeholders and benefits in the long term for the area.

Extensive community consultations during various stages of the project were undertaken as prescribed by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy as part of the permitting process. Pan African received immense support from representatives of the affected communities and interested and affected parties that participated and who it feels are the legitimate stakeholders.

COMMUNITY PROTESTS AND INTERDICTS

To commemorate the start of the Mogale Tailings Retreatment project construction, Pan African held a sod-turning ceremony on July 25 at which certain 'members of the local community' were mobilised to disrupt the event, by protes...

Funding has closed for the gold-from-dumps mining project west of Johannesburg, which has the potential to make the surrounding towns thrive once again, and be a shining example of what modern mining can be.

The full upfront capital of R2.5-billion for the project's development has been secured, with conditions precedent to its R1.3-bilion senior debt facility for the funding of the Mogale project in the Kagiso/Krugersdorp area being fulfilled, London- and Johannesburg-listed Pan African Resources stated in a release to Mining Weekly on Tuesday, August 1.

With Nedbank Limited, acting through its Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking division, as co-financier, the senior debt facility was underwritten by Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank.

In addition, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has granted an environmental authorisation for the project in terms of regulation 24(1)(a) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014.

"All stakeholders acknowledge that the present situation at Krugersdorp's Mogale requires intervention, and we intend being part of the solution," Pan African chairperson Keith Spencer declared assuredly at the Mogale Tailings Retreatment sod-turning. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Pan African not only mines gold, but has a track record of leaving the areas in which it operates in better condition, thus improving the lives of surrounding communities.

"I can assure you that Pan African will work to our ethos of making a positive difference to the site in the years ahead," said Spencer, in drawing attention to the West Rand location of the Mogale Tailings Retreatment project having produced more than 2 000 t of gold from numerous deep underground shafts and tunnels, with some mines in the area deeper than 3.5 km from surface.

The many years of mining have scared the environment west of the City of Gold, where the mining of the precious metal began in the 1880's, and created a number of challenges, both environmentally and socially.

Pan African has tailings retreatment plants in Barberton and at Evander, its most recent Elikhulu operation producing around 50 000 oz of gold a year, similar to what the Mogale Tailings Retreatment is projected to do.

The same team from Elikhulu is advancing the Mogale project under team leaders Jonathan Irons and Oriel Shikwambana.

Apart from removing the unsightly and dangerous tailings, there will be the added benefit of filling in abandoned underground tunnels with re-mined waste material to eliminate illegal access by Zama Zama miners.

The rehabilitated ground can be put to better economic use for factories, industry and housing, which is to be discussed further with the the local authorities and the Gauteng provincial government.

This is another area where Pan African is heading 'beyond compliance' in host community development while creating 20-year job prospects and economic opportunities for local companies to provide services.

Where it can, it will assist with developing local suppliers and creating even more work opportunities.

It is therefore critical that this operation succeeds, as it will provide significant long-term employment and skills development opportunities to the local people, while adding a boost to the local economy and making the surrounding towns thrive once again.

A planned renewable energy plant at Mogale will further support the national electricity grid and reduce loadshedding

"I look forward to being involved with project teams and being updated about developments, including the social and labour plan initiatives.

"We foresee this becoming a magnificent operation with a large number of people from our communities having a place to come to work every day, being able to learn new skills and being able to support their families.

"I have a vision of standing here again next year when we celebrate the commissioning of a fully functioning plant creating value to a previously considered a wasteland - but...

Employees for the construction of the Mogale Tailings Retreatment project on Gauteng's West Rand will be largely locally sourced.

"We aim to employ approximately 500 employees during construction and our aim is to source 60% of them from the local community and we also would like to train and employ over 300 permanent operating staff," Mogale Tailings Retreatment project operations manager Oriel Shikwambana told the representatives of government, local authorities, technical institutions, finance houses, law firms, analysts and media attending the sod-turning ceremony. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"It will probably be anything between 300 and 400 permanent staff and we will ensure that most of the skills that we source will be local," Shikwambana emphasised at the event covered by Mining Weekly.

The project involves the retreating of two sand dumps and eight slimes dams over a period of 20 years. Environmental approval was granted in June, with site work beginning this month. Commissioning is scheduled to take place between July and August next year.

The retreatment project is being undertaken by Pan African Resources, a midtier gold producer, which is dual primary listed on the London Aim and the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, as well as the A2X. Its shares trade on the OTCQX in the US through a Level 1 American Depository Receipt programme, sponsored by the Bank of New York Mellon, and ordinary shares.

The potential benefits to the local community from the R2.5-billion two-year investment include the resultant economic activities that will be stimulated in the Kagiso/Krugersdorp area. Various services that will be needed during construction, including accommodation, rental and supplies of certain consumables, will be locally procured. Also highlighted by Shikwambana was the positive effect of the release of land for redevelopment.

"Our project is more than just producing gold. It's an environmental clean-up project," he said.

ILLEGAL MINERS

Current environmental damage includes openpits. These have not been backfilled and are accessible.

"There are illegal mining activities taking place within the openpit and the surrounding areas. If you were to come here at night, you would see a lot of illegal mining activities and illegal miners who are armed to the teeth.

"There've been quite a number of shooting incidents and our being here as a formal operating institution will start getting the illegal mining activities away from this area," Shikwambana predicted.

ACIDIC WATER

Earmarked for cleaning is a stream in the area that is polluted with acidic water and associated metals.

Process water required for the project will be sourced from 9 Shaft workings and power from Eskom from an existing power line.

Remnant tailings will initially be redeposited in the West Wits pit with slimes dam consolidation on two sites.

Needing to be dealt with are partially reclaimed but unrehabilitated dumps that are a source of dust, along with the footprint of unlawful dumping and illegal mining debris. A rehabilitation guarantee has been given to the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy.

An all-in sustaining cost of $1 000/oz is expected, with 800 000 t a month processed through a carbon-in-leach plant that will yield 50 000 oz/y and a payback of three to four years.

With significant success in generating renewable energy at its Evander and Barberton operations, Pan African will be looking to generate solar power for Mogale on site as quickly as it can.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the Mogale Tailings Retreatment project which had its sod turning this week; Anglo American Platinum finalising the permitting process for the future opencast Middelaagte mine; and Amplats' assurances that green hydrogen can be produced economically.