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Emerging production hubs in the Northern Cape are opening the way for South Africa to be a producer of future-facing ‘green’ metals to support the global energy transformation and to help mitigate against climate change.

The two emerging production hubs are the Prieska Copper-Zinc Mine and the Okiep Copper Project.

Both are the outcome of the vision of the Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed Orion Minerals, which is now well on its way to achieving its goal of unlocking what it describes as incredible base metals potential in the Northern Cape.

Following the securing of a funding package to progress pre-development at Prieska Copper-Zinc and the completion of permitting and early stage funding for Okiep Copper, stakeholders are on standby for the imminent transition to mine development and production.

The funding arrangements include the introduction of South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as an Okiep development partner, in addition to being a Prieska funder.

The combined pre-development funding by Triple Flag of Canada and the IDC for Prieska now totals R350-million-plus, allowing for trial mining and underground dewatering to help bring about early works bankable feasibility study completion by mid-year.

“Orion is entering an exciting phase ,” Orion CEO Errol Smart stated in the December quarterly release to Mining Weekly.

Base metals prices continued their upwards trajectory during the December 2022 quarter on the back of relatively bullish sentiment, although the movement was not uniformly upwards.

Bank of America commodity strategists believe copper could rally to $12 000/t in the second quarter of 2023, given the right set of circumstances.

Fitch Ratings, however, have kept their copper assumptions unchanged, reflecting “softer market sentiment linked to the global economic slowdown in 2023, offset by supportive short- and medium-term supply-demand drivers”. The same also remains the case for zinc, noting “smelter and refining bottlenecks that kept the market tight in 2022 will continue in 2023, despite growing mine supply”.

Concentrates surpluses will remain until 2024, when new Chinese smelting capacity comes on stream, alleviating refined metal scarcity.

MINE DEWATERING

At Prieska, preparations are on schedule to allow dewatering to begin during this quarter in a modular form that allows for scale-up should the need arise and sufficient funding become available.

At Okiep, the water use licence application process began in November with the public participation process to remain open until mid-February, after which submission to the Department of Water and Sanitation can proceed.

Battery metals investment and exploration company Marula Mining, which is delivering its first shipment of lithium ore from its Blesberg lithium and tantalum mine in the Northern Cape, has received a funding boost by clinching a partnership with Q Global Commodities (QGC).

As a majority shareholder and major investor in three future metals projects, QGC is set to fund Marula and bolster the value of the assets of this Aquis Stock Exchange-listed company that also has interests in the Nkombwa Hill niobium and tantalum, rare earth elements and phosphate project in Zambia and the Kinusi copper mine in Tanzania. Marula is also exploring opportunities to admit its shares to trading on the London AIM and Kenya’s Nairobi Securities Exchange.

“We want to make sure this is a company that we can all look to for massive growth and future profits,” QGC CEO Quinton van der Burgh stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

QGC sees itself as being able to add considerable value with a background of having brought more than 47 projects to mining stage and having nine mines under management.

“We believe Marula is a big play and we intend to throw a lot of our time and efforts to get it there during this year,” said Van der Burgh, who is proposed to be appointed chairperson of the board of directors.

The reprocessing of the stockpiles is providing a good base from which to undertake broader exploration and eventual hard rock mining.

“With Quinton, we can now go full throttle,” said Marula Mining CEO Jason Brewer.

Marula is targeting opportunities in East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa that can generate positive returns for all stakeholders.

“Our board and management team aims to establish Marula as a socially and environmentally responsible, sustainable, and profitable producer of critical metals and commodities that are of increasingly strategic importance to modern technologies and the global economy,” added Brewer, a sentiment which QGC echoed.

QGC’s investment is seen by Brewer as effectively removing funding risk from advancing Marula’s projects and accelerating far-reaching development.

“We now have the ability to implement our exploration plans, resource drilling programmes, feasibility studies and development work across our projects.

“Through strengthened financial and marketing relationships, I believe we can now look to establishing Marula as a profitable producer of critical metals and commodities that are of increasing strategic importance to modern technologies and the global economy," added Brewer.

The first shipment of lithium is taking place under a $5-million lithium prepayment facility to a South African subsidiary of global commodity group Traxys.

The 10 MW solar power plant at Evander is averaging savings of $145 000 a month for the Mpumalanga gold mine, Pan African Resources said on Monday.

Construction is scheduled to begin in June on yet another solar facility, this time an 8 MW photovoltaic solar plant at Barberton Mines’ gold operations, also in Mpumalanga, for which site clearance has already been completed.

Moreover, the scheduling of further large renewable energy initiatives is underway, London- and Johannesburg-listed Pan African stated in an operational update for the six months to December 31.

At Evander gold operation alone, grid electricity issues in the six months lowered production by 5%, which has reinforced Pan African’s imperative to expand its renewable energy portfolio.

Group production in the six months fell by 14.6% to 92 307 oz, but with full-year guidance being maintained at 195 000 oz to 205 000 oz for the full financial year to June 30.

Barberton Tailings Retreatment Plant, or BTRP, produced 10 012 oz in the six months, an increase on the 9 126 oz of the corresponding 2021 half-year.

Elikhulu was flat with 25 830 oz (2021: 25 900 oz), Evander Mines delivered 24 443 oz compared with 33 068 oz in the corresponding six months of 2021, and Barberton Mines fell to 32 022 oz from 39 991 oz. Evander’s production includes the gold equivalent platinum group metals ounces produced by the operation’s Osmiridium circuit.

“Reduced gold production over the past half-year can primarily be attributed to the performance of the Barberton Mines underground operations. We believe that the concrete measures being implemented at this operation will result in a significant improvement during the second half of the financial year and in the years ahead,” Pan African CEO Cobus Loots stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

GROWTH PROJECTS

Senior debt funding for the construction of the Mintails project is expected to be finalised in April, with good economics being demonstrated at a gold price considerably lower than the current spot price by the project’s definitive feasibility study.

This asset is expected to significantly increase group gold production in the years ahead. Concept engineering work on the Soweto cluster is also underway.

The interim results on 15 February 2023 will include further details on growth projects.

SUDAN EXPLORATION PROJECT

The group’s first fire assay multi-element analytical laboratory commissioned in Sudan will be used for the analyses of all exploration samples being extracted from the Block 12 exploration concessions granted to Pan African by the Sudan Ministry of Mines.

An exploration team is active within Block 12A South and Block 12A North, conducting soil geochemistry and hard rock chip sampling programmes to further define the identified exploration anomalies.

Initial assaying received from the exploration targets identified in the south-eastern corner of Block 12A South averaged 1.7 g/t from 12 samples taken from quartz veins, rock debris and soil.

Some of the structures sampled indicated higher gold mineralisation, with values ranging from 2.9 g/t up to 9.4 g/t gold. These structures will be further defined over the next six weeks as part of a confirmatory sampling programme.

BARBERTON MINES REVIEW COMPLETED

Barberton’s underground operations have experienced above-inflation increases in labour and energy costs, increasing depth and underground travel times at Fairview Mine, reducing available face-time, and the depletion of the high-grade 42 Level block at Consort mine.

A detailed review of operations at Barberton to mitigate these challenges has been completed and agreement reached with representative employee unions to convert Consort to a contractor mining operation, and continuous shift cycle mining, while still allowing for ongoing maintenance and other support activities, at Fairview and Sheba from next month.

The conversion of Consort is expected to result in a more optimal operating model through mining high-grad...

The “world’s largest investment conference”, the Investing in African Mining Indaba, looks to entice investors to Cape Town’s International Convention Centre in hopes of righting “Africa’s myriad economies” following successive years of geopolitical shifts and economic disruptions, says international exhibition organiser Hyve Group’s Mining Indaba portfolio director Simon Ford.

This year’s theme – ‘Unlocking African Mining Investment: Stability, Security and Supply’ – speaks to the promise of African mining that sees recent changes “create pressure points and opportunities”, says Ford, noting that global economies are seeking security of supply for their energy transitions, as well as raw materials and precious metals to bolster their economic power.

“We would say that – in many reaches of Africa – the potential of mining is still untapped, and that there is significant opportunity for mining to attract capital and be transformative.”

However, the global uncertainty and instability have yet to subside, with both the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic lingering longer than many anticipated. There is also the niggling threat of a global recession.

The Dark Cloud

One of the major concerns affecting investment is insecurity.

‘Security of supply’ for manufacturers and secure and reliable access to water and power for miners are probably the foremost priorities. Naturally, because as ERM consulting director Charles Pembroke notes, “several critical minerals and metals are concentrated in a few key jurisdictions, many of which face export restrictions, weak governance and infrastructural challenges”.

However, all stakeholders should be more cognisant of the effects of ‘insecurity’ in general.

As the African Development Bank (AfDB) notes in its report titled ‘Security, Investment and Development: A Diagnostic Assessment’, globalisation and the resultant flexibility to relocate production processes and/or move capital across borders has placed conflict-affected regions at a disadvantage from an investment perspective.

The report, published in October last year, flags insecurity as one of the reasons why Africa’s share of global foreign direct investment remains perilously low at 4%. Moreover, insecurity is increasing, with the report finding that, in 2021, more than 18 000 conflicts affected the continent.

The report cites the ‘Disaster Triangle’ of rural poverty, youth unemployment and environmental degradation, which, alongside poor governance, weak State capacity and corruption, are factors that help cause insecurity.

“Fourteen African countries are classified as medium- and high-intensity conflict-affected situations. These countries share 80 land borders with other African countries, meaning that 85% of the continent’s 1.3-billion people are either living in or sharing land borders with a conflict-affected country,” the AfDB report observes. “The number of shared borders heightens the risk of cross-border spillovers, both in terms of conflict and its consequences on investment, growth and development.”

Aside from spillover effects and perceptions of risk affecting investment decisions and funding – with insecurity affecting both the terms and quantum of financing – the AfDB notes that instability also disrupts trade by upending supply chains “within and between countries”.

Law firm Webber Wentzel partner Tyron Theessen adds that supply chains were already weakened by disruptions caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine – evidenced by delivery delays and the rising costs of inputs as supply deficits started to bite.

Moreover, crime, as both a cause and a consequence of increased instability, is also adversely impacting on supply chain resilience.

Webber Wentzel partner Bruce Dickinson notes that attacks on long-haul trucks carrying high-value commodities to ports in South Africa have increased, while Webber Wentzel associate Tobia Serongoane notes that South African port, rail and road tra...

South Africa's North-West University (NWU) is investing around R35-million in strategic funding to advance green hydrogen research over the next five years.

This follows the announcement that Hydrogen South Africa Infrastructure Centre of Competence (HySA CoC) at NWU is collaborating with Japanese partners on a five-year international green hydrogen and green ammonia programme that addresses the sustainability issues developing countries face in providing practical research outcomes to benefit local and global societies.

An initial R14-million has been allocated into green hydrogen research through water electrolysis and green ammonia for 2022 and 2023 with an additional R21-million earmarked for the years 2024 to 2026. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using clean renewable electricity.

"The strategic funding investment is crucial for the NWU to deliver on this profound mandate," NWU deputy vice-chancellor for research and innovation Professor Jeffrey Mphahlele stated in a media release to Engineering News & Mining Weekly.

Hydrogen technologies have a special meaning for South Africa as most of the platinum group metals that are needed for the related hydrogen technologies such as water electrolysis and fuel cells are mined in South Africa.

Moreover, South Africa offers excellent sources of renewable energy, with electrolytic green hydrogen generation also being one of the cornerstones of the activities mentioned in South Africa’s Hydrogen Society Roadmap.

Focusing mainly on the production of green hydrogen using renewable energy and advanced water electrolysis, NWU is partnering the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS), a collaboration platform between two Japanese government agencies – the Japan Science and Technology Agency and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The South African partner within the SATREPS green hydrogen and ammonia project is Japan’s National Institute of Technology, Numazu College for technical collaboration in green ammonia, knowledge sharing and student exchange.

The South Africa Department of Science and Innovation is a co-funder of the SATREPS project through HySA CoC at NWU.

Chemicals and energy company Sasol, being a leader in hydrogen production in South Africa, will also be contributing their technical expertise. Sasol this week announced the signing of a long-term contract for the supply of 69 MW of renewable energy to its Sasolburg site in the Free State, which is the first of several upcoming agreements to secure the renewable energy supply required to produce green hydrogen.

"The main focus of the research is the developing advanced high-efficiency water electrolysis technology and related components such as stacks and catalyst coated membranes – CCMs – that will be manufactured locally to be integrated with advanced low-pressure Haber-Bosch reactors for green ammonia production,” NWU engineering faculty executive dean Professor Liezl Van Dyk explained.

Facilitating the new partnership is the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the two institutions, which kicked off the first meeting in November last year.

The MoU provides guidelines for the research activities that will be undertaken to assist South Africa's efforts to develop capacities and expertise with focus on electrolysis and green ammonia development.

There is an increased recognition and awareness that the conversion of electrical energy to storable chemicals and fuels is an inevitable part of the green transition from a fossil-based to a sustainable energy system.

“The international partnership is one of the keys for success in the area of highly competitive hydrogen technologies,” HySA CoC at NWU and CSIR Professor Dmitri Bessarabov stated in the same release.

“When produced, hydrogen has to be used on site or delivered to the point of use, for the very large quantities of hydrogen to be transported, ammonia, as a chemical de...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the biggest decline in coal exports from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal in three decades; Sasol’s renewable energy contract; and Anglo’s emission-reducing ship.

The number of tons of coal exported through Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in 2022 fell to the lowest level since 1993.

A total of 50.35 t was exported from the private-sector-owned RBCT, with the public-sector-owned rail line again being severely hit by copper cable theft currently.

The collaborative security effort between the mining industry and State-owned Transnet Freight Rail that has been under way since October 2021 has not stopped RBCT from having a "very tough time right now" because of increased cable theft.

“We have been hit very badly in the last two weeks,” RBCT CEO Alan Waller told a media briefing, at which Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) said in response to Mining Weekly that an extensive programme was under way to replace copper-based wire with more composite materials, which reduces the value of the copper and results in the copper properties being destroyed during remelting.

Cable theft is predominant at night and drones are being used to monitor the rail line by more than 80 armed reaction units that patrol together with 36 drone teams, which provides early cable theft detection.

"But as we adapt, the criminals adapt," said Waller.

TFR reported that newer, more sophisticated cable being rolled out was serving as a deterrent as less cable theft was taking place in areas where this cable had been installed.

In addition, several other security technologies were being deployed to improve monitoring and early notification.

Crime intelligence was also being intensified to improve tactical responses.

Sixty-nine coal mines rail their coal for export along the north corridor coal line to RBCT, which is not designed to take road trucks.

“Loco availability is the biggest challenge in terms of network design capacity down to actual throughput and then the other big one is cable theft,” said Waller.

“We had a terrible year in terms of the strike that lasted for two weeks at Transnet Freight Rail which affected the whole of Transnet, as well as two major derailments,” said RBCT chairperson Nosipho Damasane.

“We'll continue to work hard on efficiencies,” added Damasane.

Regarding derailments, TFR was implementing infrastructure condition improvement along with rail replacement, correcting the geometric rail properties and the X-raying of welds and rail metal properties.

Training programmes to improve skills and competence and route understanding by train drivers are also under way.

“For these very heavy trains we’ve also upgraded the sophistication around braking technologies so that even when there is an incident, its impact can be minimised. The incident that took place in November is by far an outlier in terms of its scale and magnitude. It is not comparable to any other incident that we’ve had on this line in the recent past,” TFR added.

Industry has now, as part of working together with Transnet, established a path aside committee that meets weekly to joinly address the technology challenges and try to make the supply chain get back to normal.

JUNIOR MINERS EXPORTING MORE COAL

The incentive put in place to drive up the junior coal miner volumes drove up last year’s junior performance at a time of low RBCT volumes, which makes that performance even more recognisable.

If junior miners achieve three-million tons, they receive a 20% rebate on the RBCT costs which is paid back to them in cash on achievement. Last year, the juniors managed to export 3.36-million tons.

“So, certainly some good momentum that has been gained in the section of the junior miners,” said Waller.

A newly launched emission-reducing ship has loaded its first cargo of iron-ore from Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore operations in South Africa.

The vessel is the first of ten liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuelled new-build ships that Anglo will introduce to its chartered fleet during the course of 2023 and 2024, delivering an estimated 35% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared with ships fuelled by conventional marine oil fuel.

"The metals and minerals we provide play an important role in helping key industries decarbonise. Transporting them in a sustainable way is a key part of this effort and the introduction of the Ubuntu fleet,” Anglo South Africa management board chairperson Nolitha Fakude stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

Anglo has established a framework of initiatives for the decarbonisation of its maritime activities, including energy saving devices fitted to existing vessels, the use of voyage optimisation software, and a focus on exploring, trialling and adopting alternative, sustainable fuel options, such as liquefied natural gas, sustainable biofuel, green methanol and ammonia, and – further down the line – hydrogen.

The use of LNG is also expected to lead to a significant reduction of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter from vessel exhausts, while new technology also eliminates the release of unburnt methane.

The dual-fuelled Capesize+ vessel, the Ubuntu Harmony, is part of an ambition to achieve carbon-neutrality for controlled ocean freight by 2040, with an interim target to reduce emissions from these activities by 30% by 2030. This is all part of a wider ambition to halve Scope 3 emissions by 2040.

“This milestone cements our vision to be a leader in low carbon shipping, a natural extension of our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality across our operations by 2040," said Anglo marketing business CEO Peter Whitcutt.

Ubuntu Harmony, a 190 000 tonne bulk carrier, flagged in Singapore, is designed to be larger than, but as flexible as, a conventional Capesize vessel. The vessel was built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and is owned by U-Ming Marine Transport.

It completed bunkering in Singapore in early January with fuel provided by Shell Eastern LNG. It arrived in Saldanha Bay, South Africa on 19 January to load a full cargo of iron ore that will be transported to customers in China. The Ubuntu Harmony will be followed by its sister ship Ubuntu Equality, the fleet’s second vessel, which is expected to load her first cargo in February in South Africa.

On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the Brumadinho Tailings dam disaster, in Brazil, which resulted in the deaths of 270 people, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Church of England Pensions Board – representing the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) that co-convened the process with UNEP – announced the formation of the independent Global Tailings Management Institute (GTMI) to drive mining industry safety standards.

The announcement was made at an investor summit on mining hosted by the LSE and convened by the Church of England Pensions Board in collaboration with UNEP.

It follows the work of a multistakeholder International Advisory Panel and extensive discussions with stakeholders in the mining sector.

The institute will be central to the independent auditing required of companies to ensure they are in conformance with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM).

The core function of the institute is to oversee the implementation of, and conformance with, the GISTM.

To achieve this, the institute’s core priority will be assurance – managing an assurance framework where tailings facilities will be audited and certified against the GISTM by qualified, independent third-party assessors.

This will be supported by promoting awareness, understanding and adoption of the GISTM by all mining companies – public, private and government owned – building on the efforts of the Global Tailings Review.

It will also be supported by knowledge sharing, that is, facilitating the sharing of knowledge on implementing the standard to improve overall knowledge in tailings management.

Lastly, it will be supported by disclosures, that is, supporting confidence in the standard and its implementation through transparency of tailings facility details and auditing outcomes.

A nine-person multistakeholder board will govern the institute with support from a technical committee.

An independent chair and deputy chair will be sought through an open call for applications, one of which will be from industry. The institute will operate with a fee-based model related to the number of tailings facilities a company has responsibility for and registered with the institute.

Following the announcement of the institute, UNEP and PRI, as the co-conveners of the multi-stakeholder International advisory panel that made the detailed recommendations for formation of the Independent GTMI, issued a public call for people meeting the necessary criteria to nominate themselves for the chair, deputy chair and board members.

A separate call was also made inviting any institutions that wished to work with UNEP and PRI in the foundation of the institute to contact UNEP and PRI.

Mining and agriculture are two key sectors of the Zambian economy that are attracting foreign direct investment, which rose 158% to $8.5-billion in 2022, creating 74 000 jobs.

The latest company to announce that it will be developing a new copper mine in Zambia is one linked to Microsoft's Bill Gates, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Virgin's Richard Branson, while on the agricultural front, Zambia has embarked on a robust agriculture outreach throughout the country, Munkotachi Investments MD Christopher Lesa outlined in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Munkotachi, a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in the Chongwe district of Lusaka province, will this month begin reaping the rewards of agricultural exportation from Zambia, facilitated by a GLOBALG.A.P. certificate that opens the door for its hass avocados and avocado oils to be sold into the European Union and other overseas markets. Munkotachi is also intent on expanding its poultry farms, which produce 350 trays of eggs a day.

Being targeted is the development of more than 90 agricultural cooperatives, each with a minimum of 20 members.

Interestingly, on the copper front, the Gates-Bezos-Branson-linked KoBold Metals uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify deposits.

KoBold is advancing the Mingomba copper project, a joint venture with Australian private equity firm EMR Capital and Zambia's State-backed mining company ZCCM-IH. The investment is seen as a win for Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema, who is targeting the trebling of Zambia’s yearly copper output.

An example of recent measures to make Zambia more competitive is the removal of duties on imported capital equipment for mining.

This week Hichilema won applause from visiting US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who emphasised the importance of a business environment that is free of corruption, resplendent with human rights and not weighed down by debt. Yellen has asked for China’s cooperation in lowering Zambia’s external debt, with Zambia reportedly owing China close to $6-billion.

Hichilema’s government has expressed commitment to private sector-led economic growth, buttressed by ongoing public–private dialogue.

Munkotachi, meanwhile, expects to harvest three to four tons of hass avocado this year, and to double production on a yearly basis thereafter.

It adds value to community and cooperative agricultural production by seeing to packaging and making the exportation arrangements.

“The government is trying to support SMEs in so many ways, as well as cooperatives, so that people out there can benefit and improve their livelihoods,” said Lesa, who is intent on establishing what he refers to as an avocado belt.

Within its $600 000 asset base, Munkotachi is planning to plant two-million hass avocado trees on 5 000 ha in four regions of Zambia and expects to employ more than 30 000 small scale farmers in conjunction with Schweizer Agriculture, represented during the interview by its ebullient executive director, Joas Chihangu.

Financial assistance for SMEs is negotiable from institutions such as the Zambia Export Development Fund and National Savings and Credit Bank.

Agriculture and agribusiness have been contributing around 20% of Zambia’s gross domestic product in recent years and about 12% of the country’s national export earnings.