An engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contractor has been appointed to design and construct a lithium pilot processing plant at the Uis mine in Namibia, technology metals mining company AfriTin Mining stated on Tuesday.

This follows metallurgical test work results of the London Aim-listed mining and exploration company showing the successful production of a petalite lithium concentrate, indicating the potential for a lithium byproduct at the company’s flagship polymetallic Uis.

Consulmet (South Africa) has been appointed EPCM contractor for a 20 t/h pilot plant with a target commissioning date in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The pilot plant is intended as a proof of concept for a full-scale, integrated lithium beneficiation circuit, which would be added to the existing processing plant, AfriTin stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

Petalite lithium concentrate, with a purity of up to 94%, was produced from bulk ore samples by independent test facilities.

The concentrate is expected to meet demand from premium glass and ceramics manufacturers, and be suitable feedstock for battery-grade lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide converters, the company stated.

The lithium resource is contained within the currently mined orebody, and the lithium concentrate will be a by-product to existing tin concentrate.

“These positive test results allow us to progress to the design and construction of a lithium pilot plant,” said AfriTin CEO Anthony Viljoen.

Earlier techno-economic modelling of the expanded operation highlighted lithium’s substantial revenue potential for Uis.

An 11-tonne bulk sample was collected to produce petalite lithium concentrate samples for distribution to potential offtakers,

Initial phase metallurgical test work showed metal-to-oxide conversion averaging 4.34% and presenting low contaminant levels, qualities typical of petalite concentrates used as lithium feedstock in the high-lithia-to-iron-ratio-requiring glass and ceramics business.

The potential of sensor-based ore sorting technology to produce a lithium pre-concentrate prior to concentration is being investigated. Initial test work by Steinert of Germany demonstrated a hyperspectral signature for petalite using a near-infrared and laser sensor. This has the potential of achieving waste rejection early in the beneficiation process.

Industrial technology company Metso Outotec has launched its new truck body, which is a one-piece, lightweight, hybrid truck bowl that combines the benefits of high-strength steel and rubber.

It was designed to lower hauling costs, in addition to offering a safer working environment and maximising payload.

The new truck body is capable of achieving more tonnage than conventional lined truck bodies, owing to the lower weight of the bowl, for a lower operating cost than steel-lined truck bodies. It also enables a 30% reduction in weight over conventional steel-lined truck bodies. This allows for more payload to be hauled each round, thereby improving operational efficiency.

Metso Outotec Southern Africa sales and service VP Tuelo Benson Segosapelo told Mining Weekly on May 20 that the body would be fabricated locally. He added that the new truck body was indicative of how Metso Outotec was contributing to lowering emissions across the mining sector through producing innovative concepts geared at making mining more sustainable.

Combining a high-strength steel structure with the characteristics of the rubber enabled Metso Outotec to shave off unnecessary heavy steel in the structure, since the rubber takes on the impact and wear from the hauling. This reduced the weight of the bowl.

Metso Outotec bulk materials handling technology manager Keith Blair explained that sticky material build-up in the truck body could be prevented with Metso Outotec’s flexible lining option.

Without this carry-back, he pointed out, the entire capacity of the truck could be fully used to haul payload, thereby improving efficiency and using up to 14 600 ℓ/y less diesel, which translates to 200 t/y less carbon dioxide emissions.

The elastic rubber lining absorbs the energy of every impact, preventing it from reaching the frame. This allows for a lighter-than-usual, high-structural-strength steel frame beneath the rubber. Therefore, the body can absorb maximum shock at the lowest possible weight.

Blair explained that the rubber lining would result in less stress being placed on the truck, thereby reducing maintenance requirements.

Moreover, the lining boasts up to 300% longer wear life than steel, while the modular construction means only worn elements need to be replaced.

The lining is also beneficial to maintenance staff, who do not need to weld or torch cut, thereby negating hazardous fumes and the danger of hot works.

The lining results in a 97% reduction in vibrations when compared with steel bodies, as well as a 10 db reduction in noise levels from about 95 db to about 85 db.

Blair said the new truck body would not constitute a major change to the truck itself. He explained that installing the new truck body was similar to changing one’s car tires to another brand.

He assured that it would not impact the CE marking, which means the product meets European Union safety, health and environmental protection requirements, or the warranty of the truck.

Moreover, Metso Outotec will ensure that it acquires the necessary original-equipment manufacturer’s approval.

Metso Outotec offers an optional service contract with the truck body, which includes regular inspections, maintenance and repairs, spare lining, thereby benefitting from fixed and foreseeable costs, as well as common development goals.

“Based on our experience, long-term collaboration is the surest way to get the best possible outcome and reach customer targets. Working side-by-side and combining the knowledge the client has of [its] process with our wide offering and experience, creates the prerequisite for success,” Metso Outotec Africa president Ian Barnard said.

Terrafame’s Sotkamo multi-metal mine, in Finland, was one of the first mines globally to test the Metso Outotec truck body. The abrasive ore mined meant that wear protection was high on the agenda in every part of the process, as was the need to increase payload and improve driver comfort.

The Metso Outotec truck body was installed o...

Yearly production of clean hydrogen would need to increase more than sevenfold for the world to hit net zero in 2050, say the leading founders of McKinsey & Company’s platform for climate technologies, Bernd Heid of Cologne, Martin Linder of Munich, and Mark Patel of San Francisco, who add that reaching net-zero emissions will require “an immense effort” to invent, refine and deploy climate technologies expressly intended to accelerate decarbonisation.

In South Africa, PwC states that 80% of South African organisations surveyed by it have not yet made a net-zero commitment and are lagging their global peers in adopting environmental, social and governance (ESG).

Regarding green hydrogen, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed South Africa’s keenness to harness the opportunities of the green hydrogen economy, declaring in his keynote address to the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town that South Africa aims to be an important hub for the production and export of green hydrogen and green ammonia.

In February of this year, the South African Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), published a Hydrogen Society Roadmap, and DSI estimates that up to three-million jobs can be created from green hydrogen.

PwC ESG lead for Southern Africa Lullu Krugel emphasised in PwC South Africa’s report that the risks associated with climate change –­ which green hydrogen can help to combat – have many social implications, including unemployment, food insecurity, increasing health risks and migration.

“All of the risks mentioned also increase the risk for social unrest and upheaval, emphasising the need to evaluate the social impacts of climate risk, rather than dealing with it in isolation,” says Krugel in the PwC release to Mining Weekly.

PwC’s twenty-fifth ‘Global CEO Survey’ found that six out of every ten of South Africa’s CEOs polled are also moderately, very or extremely concerned about physical and transition risks associated with climate change. However, eight out of ten respondents indicated that their company had not yet made a carbon-neutral or net-zero commitment.

The McKinsey team emphasise that global long-duration energy storage capacity, which supports the use of renewable energy, must increase by a factor of 400 by 2040 to help the power sector achieve net zero by that year.

Moreover, in a scenario where the world reaches net zero by 2050, capital spending on equipment and infrastructure with relatively low emissions intensity would average $6.5-trillion a year – more than two-thirds of the $9.2-trillion in annual capital spending during that time.

Almost all of those low-emissions assets, they point out, would likely include these ten groups of climate technologies:

solar, onshore and offshore wind and grid innovation;

electric-vehicle batteries and long-duration energy storage;

hydrogen electrolysers, fuel cells and methane pyrolysis;

advanced biofuels and e-fuels;

battery recycling, chemical cellulosic recycling, heat recovery and plastics recycling;

monitoring and verification for forests, peatlands and mangroves;

building technologies involving geothermal heating, heat pumps and electrical equipment;

point-of-source carbon capture and direct air capture;

electrification of heat sources, green steelmaking and green cement production; and

precision agriculture, crop preservation, regenerative technology and alternative proteins.

“This is not to say that innovation and the adoption of climate technologies will be straightforward. More likely, these processes will be disruptive. During the net-zero transition, the world’s energy system, as well as its stock of emissions-intensive equipment and infrastructure, will be re-engineered—through climate technologies—to work with renewables instead of fossil fuels. That means not only making and using renewable energy but also transporting it to end markets from production centres, such as sunny regions that generate solar power inexpensively. A...

Public–private partnership for innovation the Mandela Mining Precinct’s (MMP’s) test mine is poised to deliver value to mining companies, original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other stakeholders while contributing to the industry’s sustainability.

This partnership, aimed at assisting South Africa’s mining industry on its journey to safe, profitable mining, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in April with Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) to establish a test mine at RBPlat’s Maseve North mine, 50 km north of Rustenburg, in the North West.

RBPlat acquired the Maseve mine and associated assets from Canadian miner Platinum Group Metals in 2018.

The transaction was motivated mainly by an ambition to increase RBPlat’s processing capacity. The infrastructure of the Maseve concentrator is currently used to process ore from its nearby Styldrift mine. The Maseve South shaft is sealed off, while the Maseve North shaft is under care and maintenance.

The test mine is being developed as an industry site for research, development and innovation, allowing for technology demonstration and testing, in efforts to make the industry more sustainable, modern and safe. It will also serve to make the industry more competitive, according to the MMP.

Previously, research organisations and OEMs relied on the goodwill of mining companies to provide test sites for the evaluation of components or technologies.

However, this has limitations, as such mine sites are often in remote areas and difficult to access, with the testing process often perceived by staff members as a disruption to mining operations.

Two mines, both on care and maintenance, were offered in 2019 to the MMP as test sites. A feasibility study on the Maseve North mine revealed it to be the superior choice, owing to its shallow nature and established accessibility by a twin decline system.

According to a detailed market survey undertaken by a third party for the MMP, there is “certainly appetite for an easily accessible testing facility, particularly one involving real mining conditions”.

The MMP has started with work on its advanced orebody knowledge programme on site, which is aimed at providing mine planners, rock engineers, geologists and other decision-makers with information and knowledge that will contribute to optimal extraction and zero-harm operations.

Working for Industry

MMP programme manager Jurgens Visser tells Engineering News & Mining Weekly that the test mine will provide a facility for the testing and demonstration of locally and internationally manufactured mining equipment, as well as research and development activities aligned to the South African Mining Extraction Research Development and Innovation (Samerdi) mining research programme.

The MMP was launched in 2018 to implement Samerdi’s strategy, which is to modernise mining in South Africa.

The Samerdi strategy is implemented through five thematically applied research focus areas: the longevity of current mines, mechanised mining systems, advanced orebody knowledge, real-time information management systems and the successful application of technology centred around people.

With funding from the Department of Science and Innovation, four Samerdi research centres are being established in partnership with various universities and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

A research centre being established at the University of Pretoria, for instance, will establish expertise in automated condition and performance assessment of rock and equipment from the parameters obtained during drilling and blasting operations.

The Maseve test mine, for its part, is being established as a research centre to provide synergistic opportunities for research projects undertaken by the Mine Health and Safety Council to be trialled and tested, and to further research work conducted through universities.

It will also enable undergraduate and postgraduate students to conduct vacation work, research and vocational train...

Several reports published during Platinum Week indicate that in 2021, platinum jewellery consumed anywhere between 1.6-million ounces to two-million ounces of platinum, which makes it still the second demand source after automotive, coming in at around 25% of total platinum demand.

Positive momentum for platinum jewellery is being maintained in the US, which shone like a star in 2021, and Japan, where platinum jewellery commands more than half of all jewellery sales.

This year, US and Japan are already above pre-covid levels, exceeding 2029 data in terms of total ounce consumption – and India has seen quite strong V-shaped post-covid recoveries.

In those three markets, continued 2022 strengthening is in sight, with only China the big concern.

“We expect China to remain in negative territory, unfortunately,” Platinum Guild International CEO Huw Daniel told Mining Weekly during a Zoom interview, but India is seen as having considerable potential. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"India is a very, very exciting market. That saying ‘don't put all your eggs in one basket’ is a good thing here. When we see China demand continuing to be soft, it's really important that we're doing what we can in India, because that really is the next frontier for platinum," said Daniel.

Platinum Guild International has contributed more than 80-million ounces of platinum demand since being established in 1975 by first identifying opportunities for platinum in jewellery and then develops them with partners.

“It’s interesting, when you come to something like Platinum Week, there's obviously a lot of energy around auto, a lot of energy around hydrogen, and what I would say is 'that's all very well, but platinum jewellery demand is demand in the hand, today and tomorrow'.

“When it's very important that the industry plans for the next generation of demand, let's not forget that we already have 25% of platinum demand coming from jewellery, and that doesn't happen automatically.

“Our sponsors have been amazingly committed to platinum, led by Anglo American and Impala Platinum, with contributions also from Northam and Royal Bafokeng.

“Those four companies really have stuck by us, and I would just say there’s so much potential for platinum in the jewellery space. The world needs a high quality pure white precious metal, there's a market for that, and it's up to us to develop it,” Daniel emphasised.

Platinum Guild International’s just-released 2021 report shows that platinum is continuing to create sustainable business for jewellery brands.

During height of the pandemic, in those markets that did not experience a complete lockdown, platinum was able to benefit from the significant shift in consumer spending towards watches and jewellery.

In addition, the platinum price is in a favourable position compared with gold, certainly for Western and developed markets, not so much for China.

“The Chinese really need to see a bull market when it comes to the price of platinum for them to really get in there and commit to it.

But certainly in the US, Japan we've not seen such favourable pricing for a while, so there has been quite a bit of substitution of platinum for 18 carat gold, which is our main competitor in those markets,” said Daniel.

To boost demand still further, Platinum Guild International is working with the bigger players who are the market makers.

“We find we get a lot of traction when we partner very closely with these big companies and get their C suites to focus on platinum,” said Daniel.

“The main brands are the retailers, so we've made a concerted effort to leverage branded collections as a way to offer retailers a product that's differentiated and a product that’s got a story,“ he said. A

In China, Platinum Guild International has pivoted upstream to work more closely with the jewellery industry to promote faster innovation.

In Japan, where it is highly dependent on an aging consumer base, it has made concerted efforts in the last couple ...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses CSIR CEO Thulani Dlamini's belief that collaboration in research, development and innovation is needed to make South African mining competitive; Sibanye-Stillwater’s Marikana K4 project which has just hoisted its first tons; and Southern Palladium's $19-million in IPO, ahead of its ASX listing.

"My genuine sense is that we are going to see a growth in the mining sector of an order of magnitude we haven't seen.

"I also think that we're going to find that the need for minerals is going to force the world to think that if we can’t get minerals on our shore, where else do we get them from?

"When we think about the electric vehicles and their batteries, we are thinking about as much as 30 years of supply of matters based on today's demand.

"When we started to industrialise, we started with people being poor, and as we became more affluent, demand grew.

"We are affluent now. We want and can afford our cars now. We want and can afford our appliances now. We just want them wired differently.

"This is demand of the order of magnitude we have never seen and therefore it is unlikely that we have enough minerals to meet that demand. So, the question of where else do we find them is the biggest question that we have yet to answer."

These are the words of Sheila Khama, a nonexecutive director at Tullow Oil plc (FTSE 250) and The Metals Company (NASDAQ), and former CEO of De Beers Botswana, former director of Debswana, and former policy extractives adviser at the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Khama spoke to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Included in her in-depth responses were:

the need for Africa to step up minerals exploration;

the need to counter the perception that the regulatory environments are unstable and therefore unattractive for miners who take a long view;

the need for Africa to benefit by being part of the ripple effect that the new critical mineral economic wave has the potential to generate.

Khama foresees that for some African countries, the benefit will be from scale-up rather than a change of direction, while for others, it has the potential to be nigh transformational.

These are the questions and responses.

Mining Weekly: Firstly, what do we mean by critical minerals?

Khama: I think this is an important question to answer because it's not self-evident. When we speak about critical minerals, we are talking about metallic substances whose supply is critical to a particular industrial innovation or particular industrial development phase, in our economic development. We mean that for us to achieve that end state industrially, the contribution of those minerals is central. That's basically what we mean by a mineral being critical. It is not inherent, and it is not in the nature of any one specific mineral.

What is the difference between critical minerals and rare earth elements?

When you listen to some, they use critical minerals and rare earths as being interchangeable. The first thing is that they're not, though they're also not mutually exclusive. You could have some rare earth elements that are critical to some development, but rare earths themselves really are part of if you think about your school days, the periodic table and they sit in the purple space. They are rare, not because they are rare in their occurrence, but they are rare because they very rarely occur in economically feasible quantities, and they include substances like plutonium, and they tend also to have certain qualities like being magnetic and have certain applications that are strategic, but they are not necessarily all critical in nature.

So, does this mean that minerals are not inherently critical?

Yes, it means that minerals are not inherently critical. It means that the critical nature of minerals is driven by demand and sometimes scarcity, and sometimes technological trends that suddenly put that mineral at the centre of industrialisation. For instance, in our time, minerals like nickel, manganese, cobalt, and lithium are critical for the decarbonisation of the world's economy because they're critical to the manufacturing of batteries to store energy. They have become critical because we made a decision to move away and then somebody innovated. If this innovation changes, a...

JSE-listed construction materials, industrial minerals and bulk commodities supplier Afrimat performed well in the financial year ended February 28, on the back of favourable iron-ore prices, an expeditious turnaround of the Nkomati anthracite project and a return to normal volumes in both the construction materials and industrial minerals segments.

Afrimat posted an operating profit of R1.11-billion, compared with a restated operating profit of R1.06-billion in the prior financial year.

Headline earnings a share grew by 22.9% year-on-year to 542.9c.

The group has maintained its dividend policy, declaring a total dividend of 186c apiece for the year, compared with a total dividend of 148c apiece paid in the year ended February 28, 2021.

All three of the company’s segments – construction materials, industrial minerals and bulk commodities – reported strong growth in the year under review.

Afrimat explains that the industrial minerals business delivered returns comparable to pre-Covid-19 volumes across all regions in which it supplies products, delivering an increase in operating profit of 70% year-on-year to R94-million.

The company says the acquisition of a feed lime business called Agri Lime has strengthened Afrimat’s footprint in the agricultural lime market.

Similarly, the construction materials segment reported pre-Covid-19-level volumes across all regions, delivering an increase in operating profit of 83% year-on-year to R192-million.

CEO Andries van Heerden attributes the segment’s growth to general volume recuperating after the passing of the worst of the pandemic, as well as a strong focus on operational efficiencies on the company’s part. He points out that construction activity remains below desired levels.

Meanwhile, Afrimat’s dedicated business development team continues to identify and pursue opportunities in existing markets, as well as new high-growth areas in Southern Africa, to diversify the business further.

The group has a record of augmenting acquisitions as part of its diversification strategy.

MINING UPDATE

The bulk commodities segment benefited from a strong iron-ore price in the reporting year, as well as contributions from its new mine, Jenkins, in the Northern Cape, which produces iron-ore for the domestic market.

The company is in the process of ramping up production at Jenkins.

Further, although the Nkomati anthracite operation, in Mpumalanga, made a loss for the first five months of the financial year under review, it turned into a profitable business from August 2021 onwards, recovering the majority of the losses.

Afrimat has optimised the Nkomati life-of-mine plan by opening two opencast pits and plans on starting underground operations as well.

The bulk commodities segment, comprising the Nkomati and Jenkins mines, as well as the Demaneng iron-ore mine, contributed 74% of the group’s overall operating profit. The segment posted an operating profit of R820-million, compared with R735-million in the prior financial year.

In the year under review, Afrimat undertook the first blast at the Driehoekspan iron-ore mine, which is poised to replace the Demaneng mine, in the Northern Cape, once it reaches the end of its life in three years’ time.

Driehoekspan, coupled with the Doornpan iron-ore deposit, both in the Northern Cape, have a combined mine life of more than 15 years.

Meanwhile, Afrimat expects its Gravenhage manganese project, in the Northern Cape, to start contributing revenue in the 2024 financial year. The company currently awaits the grant of a water-use licence. Afrimat is targeting 750 000 t/y of production intitially, ramping up to 1.5-million tonnes of manganese a year.

Commenting on the R250-million Phase 1 Glenover acquisition the company undertook at the end of 2021, Van Heerden mentions that the included vermiculite and rare earths mining right, as well as phosphate stockpiles, as part of the acquisition, positions Afrimat to enter new commodities for further diversification and s...

Diversified mining company South32 is assessing the potential expansion and modernisation of rail loading infrastructure at its Wessels manganese mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape, says South32 CEO Graham Kerr.

Kerr, who presented at the Bank of America Global Metals, Mining & Steel Conference covered by Mining Weekly, describes the manganese ore that the Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed company mines as being of high quality.

South32 has increased its overall manganese ore volumes – including those in Australia – by 21% since it demerged.

Besides assessing the boost to manganese rail loading infrastructure at Wessels, it is also undertaking studies and exploration programmes to extend the life of its Australian opencast Gemco manganese mine.

In placing emphasis on its shift of focus to low-carbon commodities, South32 speaks of manganese having the potential to displace cobalt in lithium-ion batteries.

South32 notes that aluminium, which it produces in locations including Hillside Aluminium in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal, benefits from higher intensity of use in electric vehicles and substitution of fossil fuel-based plastics in packaging.

It describes copper, which it has through the acquisition of 45% in Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile, as being key to electric vehicles, charging infrastructure and renewable energy, and highlights zinc’s use as coating in wind turbines and solar panels, which could increase tenfold in the 1.5o scenario.

The reduced demand for lead batteries in motor cars, it says,is partly offset by higher demand for use in energy storage systems.

“So, what does South32 look like in 2022? The short answer is, very different to the South32 of even 12 months ago and significantly different to how we looked at the time of demerger in 2015.

“Beyond 2023, we have further significant growth potential, with study outcomes for our world class development options in North America underlining their potential to supply critical minerals into the future. None of this would be possible without our consistent execution and strong balance sheet,” Kerr emphasises.

Grindrod’s Matola terminal at the Port of Maputo says it has welcomed its second coal train from Botswana. The terminal also managed to successfully discharge the 50 wagons using the terminal’s tipplers.

The first train arrived at the port in April, marking a milestone for Grindrod’s Mozambican drybulk terminal.

This rail consignment of 40 wagons each carried around 2 000 t of mineral coal. The train originated from Palapye, in Botswana, transiting through Zimbabwe via the Chicualacuala rail network, to the final destination in Maputo.

Grindrod loaded the cargo on a vessel destined for Europe.

This follows the dispatch of a sample load to the Matola terminal, in order to confirm the compatibility of the Botswana wagons with the terminal’s tipplers.

This successful collaboration between African Railway Company, Botswana Rail, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Mozambican Railway Company (Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique) and Grindrod, has managed to create a new export route for Botswana coal producers.

It is envisaged that the corridor could realise a yearly export volume of 350 000 t to 400 000 t of coal from Botswana.

Botswana is attempting to develop a number of new coal mines, but as it is a landlocked country it requires a cost-effective, efficient crossborder export route.