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Notwithstanding the recent softening of the diamond market and issues that have affected production at the Cullinan and Finch diamonds mines, Petra Diamonds remains in a strong position, being considerably more resilient through its strengthened balance sheet and the implementation of its operating model, together with ongoing cash generation.

Petra CEO Richard Duffy highlighted this before reiterating guidance for the company’s financial year 2023 (FY23) and taking comfort from the underlying fundamental market support as a result of the structural supply deficit, regardless of any short-term volatility relating to prevailing macroeconomic challenges. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The London Stock Exchange-listed Jersey-headquartered diamond mining and marketing company produced 763 220 carats in the three months to the end of September, when 3 147 731 t were treated, 520 000 carats sold, and $104.3-million worth of revenue generated.

At the Williamson diamond mine, in Tanzania, ore processed in the three months to the end of September increased 22% year-on-year.

Finsch production was 2% higher than in the last quarter of the 2022 financial year and Cullinan production was down 13% year-on year to 763 220 carats owing to lower grades.

Options for a responsible exit at Koffiefontein diamond mine are being explored as the mine approaches the end of its mine plan. This is being done in close consultation with its stakeholders, in particular the workforce.

The company has maintained its production guidance for the year, although this will likely be towards the lower end of the range for Cullinan Mine and Finsch, the company stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

Lost time injury frequency improved 48% year-on-year, ore processed rose 22%, and gross debt reduced by $143.6-million during the quarter.

Cullinan mined and treated 1.1-million tonnes for the quarter and run-of-mine grades at 33.2 cpht were in line with those achieved in the last quarter of FY22.

This is attributable to a lower run-of-mine (ROM) grade resulting from the previously announced change in the ore make-up of the C-Cut block cave footprint as the production progresses from south west to north east due to cave maturity with a higher proportion of cave waste. Various options are being considered to mitigate this impact.

Finsch tonnes from underground were negatively impacted by a safety stoppage notice and lower tunnel availability on 73 and 75 levels. ROM grade benefitted from enhanced drill, blast and draw controls previously reported on, as well as certain changes effected in the treatment plant.

“We continue to benefit from the operational improvements we have made across the business which provide for greater stability and resilience.

“We will continue to seek to mitigate the impact of the recent challenges experienced at Cullinan Mine and Finsch and remain confident in our ability to generate cash to fund capex, allow further deleveraging and the payment of dividends,” said Duffy.

“While our operations have benefitted from a weaker rand, we continue to closely monitor the current macro-economic uncertainties, particularly the impact of inflation on our cost base, and the impact of sanctions on Russian producers as well as the ongoing implications of Covid on demand in China.

“ The backdrop of structural changes to the supply and demand fundamentals in the diamond market remains unchanged and we anticipate it to remain supportive going forward, although we expect some short-term volatility driven largely by the ongoing lockdowns in China,” he added.

Petra has extended the closing of its second sales tender for FY23 for a portion of its gem and near gem quality goods as a result of unusual market conditions.

These are Duffy’s answers to questions put to him by investors:

What do you see as realistic options for Koffiefontein mine as you look to exit?

As we announced, we had been through a process in looking at options for us to exit Koffiefonte...

During his keynote address at the Council for Geoscience (CGS) Summit, held at the Durban International Convention Centre from October 25 to 27, Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe expressed his belief that coal could “reinvent itself”, given sufficient investment.

Mantashe cited the CGS’s lead role in the pilot carbon capture, utilisation and storage project in Leandra, Mpumalanga. The project, which is expected to become operational in early 2024, will test the feasibility of injecting between 10 000 t to 50 000 t of carbon dioxide a year, to a depth of at least 1 km.

He described the project as one that “gives [ . . .] hope that our Just Energy Transition programme can be attained [using] one of our most valuable commodities. One that has provided baseload for the country.”

On the subject of coal, he noted that, while the government’s commitment to “international protocol on climate change remains resolute”, the transition from a high- to a low-carbon economy might be achieved with coal as part of the solution, should the hypothesis of clean coal prove viable.

He stressed that the energy transition should not hinder electricity access, commenting on the pressure on developing countries to decarbonise, despite their inability to provide access to the vast majority of their citizens.

To that end, he suggested that some activists’ calls for the eradication of coal were short-sighted, pointing to the energy challenges in Europe following Russia’s decision to cut gas supply to the region. He noted that South Africa’s coal exports to Europe rose by 720% as a result.

He commented that the CGS’s role in the Just Energy Transition (JET) was to ask members to foster a discussion around energy solutions, adding that current engagements were too polarising.

In addition to pointing out that South Africa’s future energy mix would incorporate a variety of energy sources, including nuclear as a potential replacement for baseload supply in the longer term, he stated: “As we seek all manner of sources of sustainable energy sources, sources such as geothermal must be considered in South Africa. The preliminary research undertaken by the CGS illuminates this prospect, albeit at early stages. Every effort must be put into confirming the prospects to enrich our energy basket.”

The CGS also has a key role in helping South Africa find and extract critical minerals. “Any new technology, any green technology, requires [inputs] that are grown, or mined”, and the CGS acts as a repository of the geological information and data that underpins the mining industry.

“We have allocated an additional R500-million to the CGS in the current cycle of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework to accelerate geomapping in support for exploration,” he added, highlighting that the Geoscience Act empowers the CGS to undertake exploration.

The Minister stressed that he was expecting the organisation to work with the private sector to re-catalyse exploration activities in the country, in line with current geological potential.

“As the world’s economic trajectory demands a new suite of minerals deemed to be critical minerals for lower carbon footprint, there has never been a better time for the geoscience communities to work together and prepare to unravel the possibilities of South Africa as a source of these minerals.”

He added that the trend toward modernising geological mapping required a greater need for rapid collection, interpretation, and integration of mapping data and the dissemination of the products to clients and stakeholders in digital formats that were accessible using the Internet.

As such, the government has taken a deliberate decision to resource the CGS to embed applications of artificial intelligence in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Mantashe also lauded the CGS for assisting with the problem of illegal mining. “I appreciate the responsiveness of the CGS in speedily developing illegal mining tracker technique using geoscienti...

The board and management team of Gold Fields have unanimously recommended the implementation of the Yamana Gold transaction, Gold Fields chairperson Yunus Suleman stated in a letter to shareholders on Monday.

An independent evaluation has estimated Yamana's mineral asset value at between $6-billion and $8-billion, in line with Gold Fields' initial all-share offer of $6.7-billion.

“What we are seeing now is an underlying valuation on a fairly conservative basis. It has actually confirmed the value and the upside we can see in addition to that certainly shows that there’s sufficient value and upside value available for both sets of shareholders in the combined company report,” Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith said during a conference covered by Mining Weekly.

“We’re hoping for the outcome to be positive,” added Griffith of the transaction, which Suleman stated has the potential to drive strong near-term cash flow to support prioritising shareholder distributions and internally finance capital spend.

The all-share transaction requires the approval of 75% of Gold Fields shareholders, while Yamana needs 66.67% support.

A transaction circular has been issued for an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on November 22. Application will be made for the admission of the Gold Fields shares to be issued pursuant to the transaction listing and trading on the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, as well as the New York and Toronto stock exchanges.

Under consideration for acquisition are:

100% of Jacobina, an operating underground gold mine in Brazil with life-of-mine (LoM) payable production of 5.7-million ounces of gold;

a 50% joint venture (JV) interest in Canadian Malartic, an operating opencast and underground gold mine located in Canada with LoM payable gold production of 5.1-million ounces of gold on an attributable basis;

100% of El Peñón, an operating opencast and underground gold and silver mine in Chile with LoM payable production of 1.5-million ounces of gold and 42.9-million ounces of silver;

100% of Minera Florida, an operating underground gold and silver mine, with zinc deposits, in Chile with LoM payable production of 1.7-million ounces of gold and 3.3-million ounces of silver;

100% of Cerro Moro, an operating opencast and underground gold and silver mine in Argentina with LoM payable production of 0.6-million of gold and 28.4-million ounces of silver;

A 56% JV interest in MARA project, a copper, gold, silver and molybdenum development-stage project in Argentina with LoM payable production of 1.4-million ounces of gold, 22.1-million ounces of silver, 5 467-million pounds of copper and 150-million ounces of molybdenum on an attributable basis; and

100% of Wasamac project, a development-stage gold project located in Canada with commercial gold production planned for the fourth quarter of 2027, and a LoM payable production of 2.3-million ounces of gold.

As at June 30, year-to-date production for the operating assets of Yamana are 97 000 oz of gold from Jacobina; 168 000 oz of gold from Canadian Malartic, on a 50% attributable basis; 88 000 oz of gold and 1 288 000 oz of silver from El Penon; 34 000 oz of gold from Minera Florida; and 56 000 oz of gold and 3 268 000 oz of silver from Cerro Moro.

At the general meeting, Gold Fields CEO Chris Griffith will discuss the proposed transaction in which Gold Fields will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares in the share capital of Yamana, in a share-exchange transaction.

Gold Fields’ commitments include ongoing delivery of South Deep gold mine in Gauteng and the Salares Norte project in Chile.

Yamana assets are described as representing a combination of asset quality, jurisdictional profile, extensive portfolio and growth optionality, environmental, social and governance credentials and alignment to Gold Fields’ core competencies.

The three letters PEM, which flag platinum-using green hydrogen and fuel cell solutions, are written all over the American green hydrogen company Plug, which is accelerating into what is calculated to be advancing towards becoming a potential $10-trillion-a-year sector.

Plug’s PEM electrolyser solutions produce carbon-free green hydrogen using renewable electricity and water, and PEM fuel cells are powering the cleanest of clean electrical mobility. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

What began 15 years ago with Plug putting fuel cells into forklift trucks has grown into the provision of green hydrogen fuel, the building of green hydrogen refuelling stations, the provision of after-market service, and recognition of the importance of a green hydrogen ecosystem.

While battery electric vehicle mobility has grabbed most of the headlines, green hydrogen solutions are providing emission-free mobility in a growing number of commercial applications.

Hydrogen is really the Swiss army knife of the energy transition, Plug CEO Andy Marsh highlighted at the US company’s green hydrogen symposium covered by Mining Weekly.

Quoting Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs as hydrogen being on its way towards providing 20% of world energy, Marsh added: “It could be a $10-trillion a year opportunity – huge.”

The role of making green hydrogen economical, easy, and ubiquitous was emphasised by Plug chief strategy officer Sanjay Shrestha emphasised, amid US’s new Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 being a gamechanger for green hydrogen generation. The Act provides financial incentives to businesses that improve energy efficiency, cut down on carbon emissions, and develop new forms of energy.

What the Act does, said Shrestha, is make green hydrogen economical compared with every single form of grey hydrogen in the market today.

Plug is working on a large integrated renewable energy and green hydrogen plants, which will have capacities ranging up to the level of 1 000 t of green hydrogen a day.

It is also working with several partners on the proposed construction of a dedicated green hydrogen pipeline as well as long-duration green hydrogen storage.

“If you really think about a long-distance dedicated hydrogen pipeline with mega hydrogen sites, you are going to be able to move low-cost renewable energy from the point of generation to the demand centres.

“That will help to stabilise the electric grid and then all of a sudden you’ll see hydrogen become a solution that not only decarbonises transportation, or industrial applications, but also our electricity grid as we think about the whole climate solution going forward,” said Shrestha.

In 2023, Plug is looking at revenue of about $285-million from its merchant fuel and cryogenic equipment business and expects that revenue to approach close to $4-billion towards 2030.

“But here is, I think, the best part. Based on what we’re doing with the build out of our green hydrogen plant, even with some of the existing industrial gas contracts, we are expecting to exit 2023 with an operating break-even performance in our fuel business. That’s been a drag for us for a very long time, but that’s what we believe is going to happen as we exit 2023, and that’s going to be a big shift.

“Finally, on the overall numbers, we’re looking at a mid-20% gross margin for our merchant fuel, as well as the cryogenic business in 2023. But that number will be well above 30% beyond that as we continue to bring these plants online,” an upbeat Shrestha added.

PRODUCTION TAX CREDITS

US production tax credit (PTC) is improving the total cost of ownership for stationary and mobility power to an extent where the demand for green hydrogen is expected to be so much larger than originally envisaged, improving plant payback.

Payback of some of Plug’s first plants was eight to 12 years, but with the passing of the PTC for green hydrogen, that payback will improve by at least four to five years, and capital formation undergo major change, along the...

Global demand for platinum group metals (PGMs) is forecast to taper off beyond 2030, despite a robust outlook for increasing automotive sales, according to platinum group metals producer Impala Platinum (Implats) corporate affairs executive Emma Townshend, who addressed a PGMs students colloquium hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, in Pretoria, on October 20.

“Legislation is shifting more from focusing on engine-out emissions to decarbonisation, resulting in very strict government policies that are forcing the adoption of electric fleets – and battery electric vehicles don't need PGMs,” she explained.

She revealed that Implats’ platinum, palladium and rhodium (3E) PGM demand mix during 2021 leaned 63% towards the automotive sector, with 24% coming from the industrial sector and 12% going into jewellery.

Townshend noted that, while the electrification of vehicles globally was expected to have a limited impact on PGMs in the medium term, it posed an existential demand threat beyond 2030 with the envisaged phasing out of internal combustion engines.

Electric vehicle numbers are expected to rise from ten-million in 2020 to 100-million in 2030, which makes up about 7% of the global fleet of vehicles.

“The path of electrification has created very substantial demand forecasts. However, in our mind, it's creating uncertainty in terms of production plans and the outlook for South African production in the medium term,” she said.

She noted that South African PGM producers typically produce about twice as much platinum as palladium.

“One of the big trends that's hurt platinum over the past decade is the substitution of diesel for gasoline engines, which is continuing. Diesel market share in Europe has halved over the last five years.

“Meanwhile, hybrids, which are electrified, are actually positive for PGM loadings. We estimate PGM loadings are 10% to 15% higher for hybrid engines versus pure combustion engines,” Townshend explained.

However, she said that, thanks in part to research and development done in collaboration with diversified mining major Sibanye and German chemicals company BASF, Implats expected to see the switching of palladium with platinum in gasoline engines, which she said would ignite a rerating of the platinum price relative to relative palladium.

Townshend noted that, in South Africa, current revenues were being driven by record palladium and rhodium pricing, but the threat of electrification means that those pricing tailwinds are going to fade over time.

She noted that the existential threat of electrification, the wish to move away from labour-intensive, deep, capital expenditure intensive, conventional assets that perform poorly in terms of environment, social and governance metrics, has meant that capital expenditure from the industry has not accelerated in line with profitability, which has implications for future supply.

“Companies are focused on low-risk, low-cost, high-quality defensive production, but that doesn't necessarily give us the price security for the metals with the best demand outlook,” she said.

Western Limb life-of-mine is a key potential risk to South Africa’s ability to produce and maintain its role as the driver of PGM markets in the future, Townshend said, noting that market development activities needed to carefully consider the “balancing of the basket”.

Townshend noted, however, that the hydrogen economy would play a key role in unlocking future demand for PGMs.

“When we look at the medium to longer term, we recognise the role that hydrogen can play in terms of hedging deteriorating automotive production. From a South African perspective, because the industry is nascent and still developing, we have an opportunity to develop with it.

“It's a huge opportunity for South Africa to play a leading role in terms of industrial development in the sector, which has meaningful demand implications for platinum, iridium and ruthenium in the future,” she said.

South Africa’s minerals potential is not in doubt, with known geological opportunities in chrome, platinum-group metals, gold, iron-ore, titanium minerals and diamonds, as well as several other minerals regarded as critical for the global energy transition.

Nevertheless, there is widespread frustration at the slow pace at which the country is moving to ensure that the framework is in place to allow for a genuine assault on the country’s stated goal of attracting 5% of global exploration expenditure in the near term.

Council for Geoscience CEO Mosa Mabuza emphasised the potential to turn South Africa into a minerals “exploration site” during a webinar held by Minerals Council South Africa last month.

Reiterating the 5% target, Mabuza highlighted the potential still available, even in the well-known Witwatersrand basin, following a council review of old boreholes, which yielded new information about the basin’s ongoing potential.

He also highlighted Aggeneys, in the Northern Cape, as having potential for the economic exploration of a sedimentary exhalative, or sedex, deposit.

“The world is moving towards renewable- energy sources and the nature of these energy sources is that they are minerals intensive. We should have already begun to look at these critical metals required, and organised ourselves – as a country – to search for these minerals. Exploration is an ecosystem, and there are elements that need to be in place to explore this opportunity.”

He also emphasised the presence of a pegmatite belt in the Northern Cape and that the council has geologists working on the belt.

“We’ve confirmed that the belt is 67% more than what we originally understood it to be. We published the map sheets covering the pegmatite area in March. We’ve immediately seen an increase in prospecting rights applications in that area. Pegmatites are lithium- bearing. This gives a sense of value creation, and the correlation between investing in geosciences and how this information translates into economic activities.”

The council has persistently championed the importance of investing in geology, particularly after it had been directed in 1994 to pursue commercial projects to safeguard its continued existence.

“Now we’ve secured funding. We’ve reorganised our programmes as we have an idea of the areas we believe are hot spots. We took an integrated, multidisciplinary approach. We look at physical mapping, we analyse geochemistry and we look at various forms of geophysics and surveys that study structural geology.”

Mabuza stated that the council had also started to map offshore prospects, with targets for onshore and offshore mapping set at a scale of 50 000:1.

For offshore, the council started at 0%, and aims to achieve 0.5% coverage within the exclusive economic zone by the end of the year. For onshore, it began at a coverage of about 3% and is aiming to achieve an 11% coverage of particular targeted areas by year-end.

The council had also been allocated an additional R500-million for the next financial year to support geomapping for exploration.

Meanwhile, the council has identified shortcomings in the current South African regulatory framework for exploration and presented them to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), along with the suggested amendments for removing barriers to entry for exploration companies.

“We’ve also launched a data management portal – the first time that the Council for Geoscience has launched a portal to make information available. South African financing institutions have little appetite for exploration funding. The risk is high, but that risk is mitigated when you have ideal geological information, and you have a value proposition that can reduce that risk.”

Speaking at the Joburg Indaba earlier this month, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter described South Africa’s geological prospectivity as “fantastic”.

This is despite only 15% of the country’s surface area having been mapped at a high reso...

This week, Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses China becoming the largest market for platinum-using fuel cell electric vehicles, which could spell good news for South Africa; Anglo American and Thyssenkrupp’s memorandum of understanding to decarbonize steelmaking; and Sasol and Freeport Saldanha IDZ's memorandum of understanding.

Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed Orion Minerals has agreed funding terms with South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) involving the advance of R250-million (A$22-million) as a senior secured, convertible debt facility to fund early works at Orion’s project at its flagship copper/zinc mine in the Northern Cape.

“This is a huge milestone for all our stakeholders,” an upbeat Orion MD Errol Smart said of the arrangement which will enable predevelopment work to get underway at the fully permitted Prieska copper/zinc mine.

The funding is particularly beneficial for the shareholders who have supported the company and the local communities that stand to benefit as this region-enhancing new mining project comes to life.

Orion, Agama Exploration and Mining Proprietary Limited – the wholly owned Agama subsidiary of Orion – and Prieska Copper Zinc Mine Pty – a majority-owned subsidiary of Orion – reached the non-binding term sheet accord, the proceeds from which will be applied to mine dewatering and trial mining operations to complete the mine’s previously announced early production plan to bankable feasibility accuracy.

The R250-million IDC funding package satisfies a key condition to the previously announced A$10-million Triple Flag early funding arrangement to support predevelopment, Orion stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

The combined predevelopment funding from the IDC and Triple Flag, now totals more than R350-million (A$32-million).

This will allow the commencement of dewatering at 500 m3 per hour from the Prieska underground mine workings.

“It will also provide funding for us to carry demonstration trial mining on the +105 crown pillar and selected remnant pillars available above the current water level,” added Smart.

Orion has now securing the IDC as project partner at Prieska and at its Okiep project hub, which is also in the Northern Cape.

IDC support has been pivotal to Orion’s efforts to unlock what the company described as high-quality base metal assets.

The trial mining phase and revised bankable feasibility study are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2023, allowing project financing to proceed to supplement the $80-million Triple Flag stream financing announced in May 2022.

The R250-million sets the mine on its way to the facilitation the final investment decision for mine development, for which dewatering is critical in that it provides access to the main orebody. As the dewatering progresses, additional pillars will be exposed.

Orion and IDC anticipate executing the definitive agreements for the convertible loan before year-end, with the funding expected to be available for drawdown late this year.

Dewatering is well advanced, with underground storage dams and pump site construction completed and the shaft platform installed to facilitate pump installation.

In what is a major plus for platinum demand and consequently South Africa’s local mining economy, China is poised to become a leading market for platinum-using fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), which provide the zero-emission mobility that the world so desperately needs to combat rampant climate change.

In addition, China’s plans to boost climate-friendly green hydrogen generation are also supportive of FCEV penetration.

Just launched in China is the first mass-produced passenger FCEV – the Changan Shenlan SL03 – which follows heavy-duty FCEVs being deployed in significant numbers. In 2019, China had about seven-million heavy-duty trucks – or one-third of the world’s 20-million heavy-duty trucks.

The Asian giant is also at the forefront of the FCEV bus market, its 5 290 FCEV bus fleet giving it a global share of close to 94%; statistics of the International Energy Agency Advanced Fuel Cells Technology Collaboration Programme show that, at the end of 2020, there were 5 648 FCEV buses globally.

Also highly supportive of FCEV growth is further expansion of China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) industry under the country’s 2060 carbon neutral directive.

Based on Bloomberg New Energy Finance predictions, by 2040, half of the world’s heavy-duty trucks will be powered by clean energy.

Recent World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) research indicates that it is just a matter of time before demand for platinum from FCEVs equals the current level of platinum automotive demand, which is forecast to be over 3 000 000 oz this year.

FCEV platinum demand, under WPIC’s ‘commercially-enhanced’ scenario, could exceed 3 000 000 oz as early as 2033, should effective government policies and initiatives spur on the growth of the FCEV market, with production and infrastructure critical mass resulting in economies of scale sufficient to promote widespread FCEV adoption on the grounds of costs and practicable usability.

Under a more conservative policy-only based scenario, platinum FCEV demand would equal current automotive demand a little later, by 2039.

According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers statistics, 8 922 FCEVs were registered in 2021. Recent plans under the NEV Industry Development Plan and NEV Technology Roadmap 2.0 will help to stimulate the market for FCEVs further.

By 2035, the market share of NEVs in China is expected to exceed 50%, with the number of FCEVs reaching around one-million units, WPIC stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

GREEN HYDROGEN

Green hydrogen production capacity additions in China comprise 36% of all planned projects globally. These additions support the roll-out of infrastructure such as hydrogen refuelling stations that are needed to make FCEVs a viable consumer option.

Green hydrogen generation requires electrolysers and the platinum-based PEM electrolysers used are showing steady market penetration.

China, which has taken an ambitious stance on hydrogen refuelling stations growth compared with other countries, is targeting 1 000 hydrogen stations by 2030 – an objective that is likely to be met well in advance of that date.

In comparison, the next most ambitious targets are South Korea, at 310 hydrogen stations by 2022, and Germany, aiming for 400 hydrogen stations by 2023.

At a local level, more than 20 regions of China have so far issued phased plans for the promotion of FCEV deployment, with Shanghai, for example, recently proposing a 2023 target of 100 hydrogen refuelling stations, 100 billion yuan of industry output, and 10 000 FCEVs deployed.

NEW WPIC RESEARCH DIRECTOR

With former research director Trevor Raymond now WPIC CEO, Edward Sterck has been appointed as new WPIC director of research from November 1.

Anglo American has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with longstanding customer Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG to collaborate on developing new pathways for the decarbonisation of steelmaking.

This follows Anglo signing of an MoU with Japan-headquartered Nippon Steel in July to develop solutions for lower-carbon steelmaking and optimise the premium lump ore it produces at Kumba Iron Ore.

As a supplier of high-quality iron-ore to the steelmaking industry, the London- and Johannesburg-listed Anglo is helping to shape a greener future for steel, the backbone of global infrastructure.

In its Climate Change report of October 2021, Anglo recognised the steel value chain as being key to Scope 3 emissions reduction.

As the steel sector advances its efforts to transition from traditionally carbon-intensive production methods to cleaner, more sustainable processes, high quality iron-ore products, such as those supplied by Anglo, are sought-after enablers of low-carbon steel production at scale.

The focus with Thyssenkrupp will be on accelerating the development of high-quality feedstock for lower-carbon steel production, using both conventional blast furnace and direct reduction iron (DRI) steelmaking.

DRI is recognised as being a less carbon intensive method that requires iron-ore of a particularly high quality.

When using green hydrogen as a reducing agent, the DRI process can be made largely carbon-dioxide free.

Anglo has developed a close association with green hydrogen, which it plans to generate from electrolysis on its mine sites, using renewable energy sources.

At its Mogalakwena platinum group metals mine in South Africa, it is piloting a 500 t green hydrogen truck and intends rolling out this emission-free technology across its other operations in the years to come.

With Thyssenkrupp, Anglo is setting out to combine the premium physical and chemical qualities of its minerals with Thyssenkrupp's innovative technology to drive more sustainable operations – “all the while responding to society’s growing expectations for climate-responsible production practices,” Anglo American marketing business CEO Peter Whitcutt stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

ThyssenKrupp CTO Dr Arnd Köfler stated: "We want to decarbonise the steel value chain inside and outside our plant boundaries.”

Thyssenkrupp manufactures carbon flat steel for a wide range of industries, including automotive, energy generation, appliances and packaging.

“We are making our own production low-carbon through a combination of direct reduction plants with innovative melters. In addition, we are working with many partners to make steel low-carbon from A to Z,” Köfler added.