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Mining companies that can demonstrate responsible and sustainable mining practices can set themselves up to take advantage of the current environmental social governance (ESG) and sustainable finance trends, says law firm Webber Wentzel.

“In 2023, ESG will continue to gain regulatory traction across sectors, including the mining sector. Understanding key ESG themes and ESG risks is an important step to enable mining companies to seize ESG opportunities.

“The prominence of ESG presents an opportunity for mining companies to be proactive rather than reactive and to engage with ESG themes and issues,” say Webber Wentzel partners Garyn Rapson and Nomsa Mbere, senior associates Jaqui Pinto and Paula-Ann Novotny, and knowledge lawyer Dalit Anstey, who identify green and clean and fourth industrial revolution themes that are presenting mining companies with new business opportunities.

Identified as one theme is the just energy transition – a framework that seeks to ensure equitable shifts to a green economy/society through social inclusion and poverty eradication.

The just energy transition is described by the law firm as something that aims to protect the environment as well as livelihoods, to ensure that no-one is left behind. South Africa's Just Transition Framework document provides that between 2040-2050, coal will largely be phased out and communities will engage in other livelihoods,” it points out.

This must be understood, the law firm adds in a release to Mining Weekly, amid Paris Agreement obligations, which have resulted in the South African government enacting legislation and regulations restricting fossil fuel consumption along with direct and indirect exposure to fossil fuels.

With South Africa having to rely on its coal to fuel baseload power and the economy, there are several energy-transition pressure points for mining companies, including funding pressures from some financial institutions and lenders, and shareholder activism regarding fossil fuel finance. Stock exchanges across the world are increasing their disclosure obligations to include ESG factors.

Portfolios are being diversified to include future-facing minerals and opportunities in green hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell mobility and battery electric vehicles. Exploration activities and acquisitions are likely to see growth. Partnerships with companies both inside and outside the mining sector will be important.

OPERATIONAL DECARBONISATION

Many of the largest metals and mining companies have set some level of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target. Drivers of this move to net zero include the Paris Agreement, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, shareholder and stakeholder expectations, and financial institutions and stock exchanges. Investors’ capital allocation decisions are being increasingly driven by the view that climate change is a material financial risk.

With the focus on decarbonisation, many mining companies are repurposing. There is a risk that 'carbon-washing' re-branding is underpinned only by their current limited action on climate impacts and narrow net-zero focus. We are seeing an increase in the number of claims being brought for alleged 'greenwashing', which essentially means making misleading statements regarding one's green credentials or claiming one is greener than one is.

Recent amendments to electricity legislation are paving the way for greater private sector involvement in South Africa’s electricity industry. So far, there has been uptake by mines to establish renewable energy facilities at their sites to power the mines and ancillary operations, reducing the mine's respective carbon footprint. There are also opportunities for mines to potentially feed excess power generated back to the grid. Mines are also undertaking resilience-type projects, including energy efficiency projects in waste recycling and water treatment, Webber Wentzel observes.

FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is resulting in th...

Through the just energy transition investment plan, R1.5-trillion could be invested in South Africa over the next five years in new frontiers of renewable energy, green hydrogen and electric vehicles, says law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH).

Moreover, with the national state of disaster being declared amid crippling power cuts, South Africa’s hydrogen valley project is being viewed as a potential beacon of light in the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy, CDH states.

In addition to the hydrogen valley initiative spanning Limpopo, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, other green hydrogen projects, as reiterated by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address on Thursday, include Sasol’s Boegoebaai project in the Northern Cape, and the Prieska Power Reserve project.

Meanwhile, Mining Weekly can report that hydrogen valleys are gaining momentum globally, with the European Commission, for example, using them to create interconnected energy ecosystems across Europe.

South Africa’s Department of Science and Innovation describes hydrogen is a key priority for South Africa and draws attention to the hydrogen hubs partnership it has with mining company Anglo American, Bambili Energy and Engie, which is earmarked to contribute to the launch the hydrogen economy, in which fuel stations and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are key parts.

China currently has the greatest number of hydrogen fuel stations. As of April 2022, there were 250 operational hydrogen fuel stations in the country. This was followed by Japan with 161 such stations.

On the oil transition front, UK petroleum company BP states in its latest annual report that it has a goal to produce 500 000 t to 700 000 t of mainly green hydrogen a year by 2030, and the European Union has unveiled millions of euros of funding to help establish a network of schools, universities, and educational institutions to help train up 180 000 workers, technicians, and engineers in the hydrogen sector by 2030.

Goldman Sachs’ analyst team predicts hydrogen to be a $1-trillion market by 2050, and calculates that $5-trillion will need to be invested in the hydrogen supply chain to get to net zero by that date.

This all comes amid hydrogen being the universe’s most abundant element and with the most powerful use for hydrogen by 2050 expected to be in mobility, according to McKinsey & Company.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s North-West University is investing some R35-million in strategic funding to advance green hydrogen research over the next five years, following the announcement that Hydrogen South Africa Infrastructure Centre of competence at NWU is collaborating with Japanese partners on a five-year green hydrogen and green ammonia programme.

CDH’s Jackwell Feris states in a media release to Mining Weekly that while movement to green frontiers may not necessarily provide direct support or alleviate the loadshedding crisis, it may do so indirectly, with any excess renewable energy produced for hydrogen production, if available, being potentially diverted to deal with energy poverty or the energy crisis in South Africa.

At its core, Feris sees the hydrogen valley project in South Africa as having the potential to boost the South African economy significantly.

A feasibility study conducted independently showed that the project could add anywhere between $4-billion to R9-billion to South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP), a GDP increase that would create long-term, sustainable economic growth by creating new jobs and opportunities in the clean energy sector.

“As we transition into 2023, we know there will be a need to provide more insights on the various legal and regulatory nuances relevant to a rapidly evolving industry,” adds Feris.

HYDROGEN VALLEYS IN EUROPE

In the European Union, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership selected nine hydrogen valley projects following its first call for proposals last year. The total funding requested for the nine totals €105.4-million.

These project develo...

NYSE- and TSX-listed Barrick Gold has delivered a significant increase in its resources and reserves in 2022, as the group continues to invest in organic growth through exploration and mineral resource management.

“While we continue to evaluate all new opportunities against our strategic filters, we have always believed that finding our ounces is better than buying them, and this year’s resource and reserve statement showcases the unmatched potential of our organic growth pipeline,” said Bristow.

Barrick grew attributable proven and probable gold mineral reserves by 6.7-million ounces net of depletion in 2022, while maintaining grade despite an increase in the reserve price assumption. Reported at $1 300/oz, attributable proven and probable mineral reserves now stand at 76-million ounces at 1.67 g/t, increasing from 69-million ounces at 1.71 g/t at $1 200/oz in 2021.

Led by Pueblo Viejo, in Dominican Republic, and the Africa and Middle East region, Barrick has delivered a second consecutive year of gold reserve growth over and above natural depletion, with nearly 12-million ounces of attributable proven and probable reserve gains in 2022 before depletion.

Successful exploration at Lumwana, in Zambia, and Jabal Sayid, in Saudi Arabia, drove the growth of attributable proven and probable copper reserves by 640-million pounds, notwithstanding an increase in the annual reserve price assumption to $3.00/lb. As a result, Barrick replaced 103% of annual global depletion at consistent quality, effectively maintaining attributable proven and probable copper mineral reserves of 12-billion pounds at 0.38% in 2022.

Total attributable gold mineral resources grew by nearly 10% relative to 2021, and total attributable copper mineral resources more than doubled, growing by 124% year-on-year, both net of annual depletion. This growth was driven by the successful completion of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) supporting the Lumwana Super Pit expansion, and the incorporation of Reko Diq, in Pakistan, following the reconstitution of the project in December.

Attributable measured and indicated gold resources for 2022 stand at 180-million ounces at 1.07 g/t, with a further 42-million ounces at 0.8 g/t of inferred resources. Attributable measured and indicated copper resources for 2022 stand at 44-billion pounds at 0.39%, with a further 15-billion pounds at 0.4% of inferred resources. Mineral resources are reported inclusive of reserves and for 2022, are based on a gold price of $1 700/oz and a copper price of $3.75/lb.

Mineral resource management and evaluation executive Simon Bottoms stated that basing the company’s reserve calculations at a price of $1 300/oz for gold and $3.00/lb for copper underpinned its focus on quality assets.

“The substantial growth in our mineral resources lays the long-term foundation to potentially grow our current attributable production profile of approximately 5.5-million gold equivalent ounces per year to approximately 6.5-million gold equivalent ounces per year by the end of this decade, which would include production from Reko Diq and the Lumwana Super Pit,” said Bottoms.

In Africa, the Tier One operations led the growth in 2022 reserves, where Kibali completed an updated underground feasibility study on the 11000 lode, delivering a 0.62-million-ounce increase in attributable proven and probable reserves before depletion. Loulo-Gounkoto also delivered strong results replacing reserve depletion, which further extended the mine life by another year.

In Tanzania, the focus on underground expansion at Gokona in North Mara has delivered a 0.44-million-ounce increase in 2022 attributable proven and probable reserves before depletion. The Lumwana copper mineral resource base grew by 89%, net of depletion, relative to 2021. This follows the completion of the PEA on the Super Pit expansion that demonstrates strong potential for a Tier One copper asset and provides the basis for the ongoing prefeasibility study (PF...

Illegal coal mining will create complexity around South Africa’s efforts to get to net-zero, says Beech Veltman CEO Warren Beech.

Beech Veltman is a law firm with a team specialising in the mining sector.

Speaking at a Bureau Veritas panel discussion on the sidelines of the Investing in African Mining Indaba, held in Cape Town this week, Beech noted that “illegal mining on the coal side was quite frightening”.

“We have moved over the last 12 to 15 years from small-scale entrepreneurial community members picking up coal, or going to get a bakkiefull of coal, to entire enterprises.

“Illegal mining is a complete parallel universe. It is structured. It is no longer an ad hoc group of people taking coal.”

Beech added that there were ownerless coal mines that were accessible to illegal miners as they had not been closed properly.

“But also, you have illegal mining happening alongside legal mining at the same site.”

Beech said the sheer scale of illegal coal mining required a consolidated approach from government and all the relevant stakeholders.

“If the enterprise is that big on the illegal side, you need a likeminded response.”

Beech said the scale of illegal coal mining added complexity to South Africa’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions.

“And you can’t simply wish it away.”

Greenwashing

Bureau Veritas metals and minerals senior VP Richard Downs noted that greenwashing was a “big problem” for the world at the moment.

Greenwashing involves making unsubstantiated claims to deceive consumers into believing that a company's products and operations are environment-friendly.

However, where does this leave companies that do their best to improve their environmental footprint?

“Too many organisations, countries and corporates are publishing targets, making commitments, but then they do not have a valid way to demonstrate that they are achieving what they have set out as their goals and ambitions,” explained Downs.

“The risk with this is that it threatens to reduce people’s confidence in the journey to net zero.”

Downs said this was where organisations like Bureau Veritas had a role to play – “in helping our clients to set up a strategy to achieve net zero, to implement that, and, importantly, to be able to provide independently verified evidence of that progress”.

Bureau Veritas provided global testing, inspection and certification services.

Beech noted that greenwashing was “very real”.

“We need to understand ESG [environment, social and governance], and make sure that we take everyone with us on the journey.

“Trying to push it into communities and into operations will lead to tears.”

Beech added, however, that ESG was, in his view, currently being used as a “rigid gatekeeper” to certain investment, and that it didn’t take into account the African reality, which included high levels of poverty.

Council for Geoscience (CGS) CEO Mosa Mabuza emphasised that South Africa had committed on the global stage to working towards reducing its carbon emissions, but that it had never committed to moving away from hydrocarbons.

“And, the way to move away from carbon, is not necessarily to abandon coal as a resource, and our energy security with it.

“Give science a chance. If we can send men and women to the moon, I cannot see how we cannot put resources into place dedicated towards net zero with hydrocarbons.

“Coal is not the enemy.”

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks the latest news coming out of this year’s Mining Indaba, including President Cyril Ramaphosa's determination to remove all obstacles to mining growth; Seriti Green’s coal-to-renewables initiative; and the world’s only woman-owned phosphate mine, which is closer to completing its bankable feasibility study.

Renewable energy capacity will increase by 8% to 320 GW this year, Ivanhoe Mines founder and CEO Robert Friedland told the Investing in African Mining Indaba on Wednesday at an event themed on the comment of deceased US president John F Kennedy that the moon launch was being undertaken “not because it was easy, but because it was hard”.

“Don’t tell me we have to burn coal. You can say burning coal’s legitimate for Africa to survive as we find a better solution. That’s very true. No one can lecture us that you mustn’t have electrical energy.

"But don’t tell me there isn’t a solution just because it’s hard," said Friedland, who described the decision of the US to set aside $370-billion in the next ten years for renewable energy, pollution reduction and environmental justice as “baby steps for baby feet” and highlighted China as "leading the way" in wind, solar and new energy grid.

Declaring that nothing is impossible, he displayed a new electric aircraft, for which an airline has put in an order for 100, “just to start”.

“It’s hard to fly on Mars because the air is so thin and people said, well let’s figure out a helicopter that can fly on Mars. We put that helicopter up there. It was designed to fly five times. That was the dream but engineers worked like crazy and they put that helicopter up there that’s flown 81 times, successfully, looking at the red planet,” he said as he displayed the aircraft, accompanied by these recorded words: “Sometimes we have to do something just to show that we can do it.”

TECHNOLOGY AS IT RELATES TO MINING

Friedland revealed that Ivanhoe has an American innovative company that functions in the spirit Kennedy and the Wright brothers, who developed the world’s first aeroplane.

“We have a new way to use electrical energy that we’re going to show the world. We’ve been working for 20 years in this private company with the support of the government of France.

“I want to thank the French government for supporting our research and development because this company is going to change the way we mine, and the way we bring water to the earth because large portions of the earth need water desperately for agricultural development.”

He predicts that this innovation is going to enable manufacturing to take place with dramatically less electrical energy.

Labelled iPulse, the breakthrough concentrates energy into extremely short electrical bursts called Pulsed Power, which is said to be capable of revealing critical mineral deposits at incredible depths as well as new, untapped water resources to enable more sustainable food production.

“If we stop spending our energy attacking each other and we learn to understand our brothers and sisters on this little ball we’re inhabiting, it’s possible to use electricity in a completely new way,” said Friedland, who is dead against the current balkanising of the world economy, which he condemns for creating inflation globally.

“It’s insane not to have an integrated world economy; it makes no sense at all,” he said, with a warning that the balkanising of the world economy cannot be fixed by the US Federal Reserve Board raising interest rates.

The 91% black-owned and -controlled Seriti Resources was seen at the Investing in African Mining Indaba as setting a compelling example by generating wind energy to decarbonise its coal mining operations while at the same time going full tilt in supplying coal to Eskom and helping to eliminate South Africa’s loadshedding curse.

Seriti Resources CEO Mike Teke had many in the audience nodding in approval as he outlined how his group, through Seriti Green, is setting out to self-generate 900 MW of renewable energy as quickly as possible, while at the same time producing as much thermal coal as possible to keep Eskom's coal-fired power stations burning and South Africa’s lights on.

Interestingly, the proposed Seriti Green wind farm is expected to have an energy availability factor (EAF) of 40% compared with the current 17% to 19% EAF of its badly performing coal-fired neighbour, Eskom’s troubled Tutuka power station.

Through its climate-change-mitigating Seriti Green, Seriti is developing a wind energy farm in Mpumalanga’s Morgenzon, Bethel and Standerton areas, one of South Africa’s electricity heartlands.

The project, which includes a large 800 MWh of battery storage, forms part of an agreement that will see clean power wheeled through the national electricity grid to meet Seriti’s carbon neutrality aspirations.

Moreover, the storage technology may involve vanadium rather than lithium, which would be another huge boost for the South African economy, where vanadium storage appraisal is at an advanced stage.

If the admirable example that Seriti is setting were to be pursued by all coal mining companies, South Africa’s loadshedding would be considerably abated and coal mines admirably decarbonised – the best of every world.

Long-duration battery capacity that vanadium can provide supports the integration of renewable energy into electricity grids and is seen by some as providing a generational opportunity that South Africa, which has a significant vanadium endowment, should not miss.

Meanwhile, Seriti continues to laudably operate three opencast and underground thermal coal mines – New Vaal, New Denmark and Kriel – which supply Eskom’s Lethabo, Tutuka and Kriel power stations, and its New Largo mine is under development to meet the needs of the new adjacent Kusile power station.

In addition, Khutala, Klipspruit, Pegasus and Middelburg Mines Services coal operations were brought into the fold through the acquisition of South32’s coal assets, which provide coal to Eskom’s Kendal and Duhva power stations, as well as the export market through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).

When the issue of coal miners resisting necessary change arose during the Indaba panel discussion moderated by McCloskey executive director James Stevenson, Teke said: “Let’s be clear. Seriti Resources is not resisting any change.”

Included in the panel with Teke were World Coal Association CEO Michelle Manook, Thungela CEO July Ndlovu, and Menar chairperson Mpumelelo Mkhabela,

“When it comes to climate change, we are not climate denialists – the science is there, we read all the time about what climate change is causing,” Teke added during the discussion covered by Mining Weekly.

But at the same time, it was absolutely necessary, he added, to keep the company’s coal mines going aggressively while meeting carbon neutrality, zero emission and decarbonising obligations.

Teke’s exemplary and commendable dual approach to South Africa’s climate change and electricity changes are a reflection of the illustrious career that he has had in South Africa, where he has taken up leadership positions at some of the biggest mining houses and institutions, including serving as chairperson of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal for several years.

During the indaba panel discussion he again displayed great willingness to become fully involved in assisting the government to solve the coal logistics problem facing South Africa’s coal exporters.

“We must come to terms with the fact...

outh Africa can have a working cadastral system by the end of the year, says a hopeful Minerals Council South Africa chief economist Henk Langenhoven.

A minerals cadastre lists available mining or prospecting rights, properties currently under a mining or prospecting right and the expiry of currently held rights and the ownership thereof.

“The current system is a complete catastrophe,” notes Langenhoven.

“You apply on a computer screen, government takes it, prints it, and it goes from one hand to the next.

“It is not an automated system, and there is no tracking, like with a courier, for example, telling you where your parcel is in the system.

“You don’t know where you are and there is no communication back to the applicant.”

Apart from the slow pace of the process, there are also fears of interference, says Langenhoven. There have been several occasions where companies made applications with another application coming in “for exactly the same thing within a suspicious timeframe”.

Langenhoven says the new system now proposed by government is no longer bespoke, as previously mooted, but one that is already “used all over Southern Africa”.

“I think it can be done in six months, which will hopefully get exploration going again in South Africa.

“We’re hoping for a revolution, not an evolution.”

A new, working system will also serve as a viable point of entry for junior miners.

Langenhoven warns, however, that there is a backlog within the system which will create challenges for administrators.

“To install the system could take six months – training, get the staff, put the computers in and put the software in – but from there on there is such confusion about who owns what, that it will take time to sort out.

“I’m afraid it won’t only be administrative challenges either,” says Langenhoven. “Some of this will end in court in an effort to untangle everything.”

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy noted earlier this year said that government should finish the procurement process for a new mining cadastral system by the end of the year.

This comes as the department told Parliament last year that a new system would be in place in February.

The Presidency is determined to remove all impediments in the way of the sustained growth of the South African mining industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the Investing in African Mining Indaba on Tuesday, where it drew full auditorium applause.

In addition, Minerals Council South Africa welcomed the President’s interventions into removing obstacles curtailing mineral exploration, mining and exports, and emphasised the urgency of key structural reforms in energy and transport logistics to truly unlock mining’s full potential.

Speaking ahead of Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ramaphosa credited the Mining Indaba with becoming one of the most important platforms for the advancement of mining, which he described as “the bedrock of African economies for millennia”.

“In the global drive towards sustainability, the mining sector has a particularly important role to play, requiring it to be responsible, agile and innovative.

“For South Africa, mining continues to be an essential part of our economy,” said Ramaphosa of an industry which last year was forced to cope with energy and logistics constraints to generate a record R1.18-trillion to boost gross domestic product, exports and revenue.

“Despite this achievement, we are far from realising the full potential of our mining industry,” the President said of the industry that accounts for close to half a million direct jobs and close to a million indirect jobs.

Mining revenues enable government to provide services to citizens and drive a concerted programme of economic reconstruction and recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fact that mineral production contracted by 9% year-on-year in November 2022 – largely due to electricity shortages and inefficiencies in logistics – is indicative of the challenges South Africa needs to confront and overcome.

In addition to the energy crisis and problems with port and rail operations, the outlook for the year ahead has been dampened by concerns about safety and security, illegal mining and the pace of our structural reform programme.

“These are precisely the issues that government is working to address.

“We have a responsibility as government, industry, labour and communities to ensure that our mining industry is able to grow, to become more globally competitive and to be a pioneer in the global drive towards sustainable development,” said Ramaphosa.

To realise these objectives, South Africa, the President said, needs to:

achieve a secure supply of electricity;

accelerate economic reforms to improve the operating environment;

tackle illegal mining and damage to infrastructure; and

improve the regulatory environment.

The electricity crisis has had a huge impact on the mining sector. Six months ago, the Presidency announced a National Energy Action Plan to improve the performance of our existing power stations and to add new generation capacity to the grid as quickly as possible.

Eskom has assembled experienced technical teams to improve performance and recover capacity at power stations, with an initial focus on the six least reliable stations.

Through a regional power pool arrangement, South Africa has imported 300 MW of capacity from neighbouring countries and is working to increase that by an additional 1 000 MW.

The successful renewable energy programme is being strengthened.

In the last six months, agreements have been signed for 25 renewable energy projects representing 2 800 MW of new capacity. These projects will soon be proceeding to construction.

“We are facilitating investment in new generation capacity by private producers by, among other things, removing the licensing threshold for embedded generation projects,” Ramaphosa told a packed Indaba main stage auditorium.

Eskom is looking to purchase surplus power from companies with available generation capacity and the mining sector is continuing to make significant moves towards generating its own electricity.

Since the electric...

Steenkampskraal Holdings Limited (SHL) has appointed Mitford Mundell as its new CEO, with mining veteran Bernard Swanepoel to take up the position of chairperson.

Mundell is the former CEO at Namakwa Diamonds, as well as Africa CEO at Theta Gold Mines, while Swanepoel headed up gold miner Harmony.

The Steenkampskraal monazite mine, in the Namaqualand, has all the regulatory approvals in place to produce monazite concentrate, mixed rare earth concentrate and separated rare earth oxides.

Steenkampskraal was mined by Anglo American from 1952 to 1963, during which 126 280 t of ore produced 59 555 t of monazite concentrate, containing 26 201 t of rare earths, at an average grade of 20.75%.

Mundell says the management team is targeting next year for the start of production from the underground operation and its associated plant.

Swanepoel notes that the shallow orebody is easy to reach, and “that mining will not be challenging”.

“Steenkampskraal is one of South Africa’s most valuable strategic mining resources,” he adds.

“The potential is enormous, and once in production, will place South Africa as one of the alternate sources to China for the supply of the rare earths.mainly neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium.

“These rare earths are experiencing significant growth in demand and resultant high prices.”

Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium are used to make magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines, both facing booming demand.

The total grade at Steenkampskraal of these four rare earths is 3.49%, which is higher than the total rare earth grades of most other rare earth projects, and represent about 92% of the value of Steenkampskraal’s rare earths basket.

China currently dominates the rare earths market, controlling around 97% of supply.

Steenkampskraal will offer a strategic alternative to that line of supply, says Swanepoel.

Steenkampskraal is reported to have reserves and resources which are sufficient to operate the mine at a production rate of at least 2 700 t of total rare earth oxides a year for more than 20 years.

A brownfield exploration programme is expected to bump up these numbers.

The Steenkampskraal mining and processing project will be developed in three phases.

Phase 1 revolves around the production of monazite concentrate, Phase 2 around the production of mixed rare earth concentrate, while Phase 3 is focused on the production of separated rare earth oxides.

Mundell says SHL aims to “move quickly” to phases 2 and 3.

SHL is in the process of commissioning a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Phase 1.

Mundell estimates that developing the first phase will cost between $15-million and $20-million.

SHL plans to raise initial equity finance of $2-million to cover the DFS and updated Competent Persons Report, as well as working capital for the next six to eight months.

The company believes that the combination of “very high grades, shallow mining depths and existing underground development” will ultimately enable Steenkampskraal to be one of the lowest cost rare earth producers in the world.