In the year of the Queen of England’s platinum jubilee, the coins to be used in the Wimbledon ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles finals coin toss will be made of platinum for the first time in the championships’ history.

This follows the unveiling by the UK Royal Mint in March of its largest ever platinum coin to coincide with the year of Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee.

The Wimbledon toss coins have been specially designed by bespoke jeweller Heirloom London in collaboration with the All England Club to commemorate both the Queen’s platinum jubilee and the centenary of Wimbledon’s Centre Court at the All England Club’s Church Road Grounds.

“This wonderful symbolic gesture will add a special element to proceedings this year at the championships, in a year of double celebration,” All England Club chairperson Ian Hewitt stated.

Made from 95% fine platinum, the coins have dimensions of approximately 43 mm x 3 mm, with each gram of their 70 g pure platinum representing a year of service from Her Majesty.

They are being presented to the championships by the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC), the members of which are South Africa’s Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum, Northam Platinum, Royal Bafokeng Platinum, Sedibelo Platinum and Tharisa.

The ladies’ singles final toss coin is inscribed with the words The Championships 2022 Ladies’ Singles Final Saturday 9 July; the gentlemen’s singles final toss coin with the words The Championships 2022 Gentlemen’s Singles Final Sunday 10 July.

The obverse, ‘heads’, side of each coin carries the official emblem of the Queen’s platinum jubilee and has been inspired by the themes of service, endurance and strength. The design incorporates a quotation from Queen Elizabeth’s speech made on her 21st birthday on 21 April 1947 – ‘my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service’ – as well as an oak leaf motif inspired by the royal badge of the House of Windsor.

The reverse, ‘tails’, side of each coin is inscribed with the famous Wimbledon Roundel, as well as its centenary mark, specially designed for use in centre court’s centenary year. The centre court allusion continues with the use of the inspirational Rudyard Kipling quote, ‘If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same’; words that are famously inscribed above the players’ entrance to centre court.

WPIC, as a global market authority on platinum investment, expressed delight at being able to showcase platinum in this way.

“It is, of course, the pre-eminent precious metal chosen to symbolise a 70th anniversary, a fitting tribute for the most important and memorable of occasions.

“Beyond that, platinum serves our planet by improving air quality and paving the way for hydrogen, particularly green hydrogen, the next generation, zero-emissions fuel – and its associated uses,” WPIC CEO Paul Wilson stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

PLATINUM’S ROLE IN GLOBAL DECARBONISATION

Platinum is the metal that is unlocking the global hydrogen economy, with hydrogen poised to become a mainstream, sustainable fuel which will play a central role in decarbonisation; over 30 countries already have road maps or strategy documents setting out their intentions in this regard.

Owing to its catalytic properties, platinum is fundamental to the technology that enables the hydrogen economy; it is used in the production of green hydrogen from wind or solar power and in fuel cells for zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicles.

Thirty times rarer than gold, around 76% of the world’s reserves of platinum are located in South Africa.

Platinum’s high melting point, high density, ultra-stability and extreme non-corrosiveness make it crucial to many industrial and manufacturing processes, yet it is used to fabricate the finest jewellery in the world.

Platinum is also an investment asset that reflects its value across the demand spectrum from industrial to precious metal. It is included in investment po...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer talks about Botswana Diamonds' plans to potentially build a new mine at its Thorny River property in Limpopo; President Cyril Ramaphosa's call for the country to support the current board and leadership at Eskom; and the need for partnerships, as demonstrated by Chile's Codelco, which is seeking prospect partnerships for 34 projects in that country.

An evaluation carried out by Botswana Diamonds has firmed up the possibility of a diamond mine being developed at the company’s Thorny River property in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

The analysis indicates potential opencast options, the London-Aim and Botswana Stock Exchange-listed company said on Monday.

The evaluation shows potential for operational positive cash flow even at low levels of diamond recovery, Botswana Diamonds chairperson John Teeling commented in a release to Mining Weekly. It is anticipated that drilling in the coming months will extend mineable kimberlite volume.

The kimberlite has been found to be potentially commercial when applying current industry standard mining and processing costs, Botswana Diamonds MD James Campbell stated.

The likelihood of a commercial mine is based on mid-range diamond values of $170/ct, mid-range mining costs, a discount rate of 10%, a recovered grade of 40 carats per hundred tons and 1.7-million tons of kimberlite mined, the release stated.

In March last year, Mining Weekly reported that Botswana Diamonds had recovered 11 diamonds and abundant kimberlitic indicators from drill samples.

At the time, Teeling stated that the recovery of so many kimberlitic indicators and diamonds boded well for the potential commerciality of “this exciting discovery”.

The result of the latest evaluation – completed by South Africa-based independent mining advisory consultant Practara, together with modelling input from ABGM of Australia –excludes any additional resources from adjacent targets which will be drilled in the coming months.

Conceptual open pit mine plan models were developed under a number of scenarios to assess the open pit mining potential. The models used the results of several drilling programmes.

Grade and diamond value data was based on previous microdiamond and bulk sampling data as well as production results from the adjacent Klipspringer mine and the technical economic and evaluation report on the Thorny River Project, which was announced in June 2018.

The evaluation is indicative of what could potentially be considered for more detailed work and its objective is to identify the best open pit mining option and considered low, medium, and high-cost scenarios for mining.

Botswana Diamonds states on its website that although South Africa has a long legacy as a diamond producer extending back over a century to the early days of the founding of De Beers in Kimberley, in recent years the apparent complexity of doing business in the country combined with a perception that it is the exclusive domain of majors has resulted in mineral exploration activity being limited. Prospecting rights have thus been allowed to lapse on the part of the majors which has paved the way for smaller operators and individuals to stake claims over what would be considered in other domains as highly prospective ground.

It adds that a review of fiscal regimes in Southern Africa has shown South Africa to be most competitive from an investment point of view, mainly due to lower royalties payable to the state on revenues, and lower rates of citizen free carry.

“The country therefore represents a new frontier and an opportunity for diamond exploration. This opportunity has been taken-up by De Beers who have returned to South Africa after a number of years with the granting of a number of prospecting rights over substantial areas in the country,” the website adds.

The board of diversified miner Sibanye-Stillwater has approved a new fund called the BioniCCubE to foster research and development (R&D) of new innovations and technologies, as well as market development, by investing in and leveraging strategic partnerships.

“This will support the company on our path to embracing digital technology and becoming a climate-change-resilient business as a leading supplier of green metals and energy solutions,” Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman and chairperson Dr Vincent Maphai said jointly in Sibanye’s 2021 Integrated Report.

BioniCCubE will operate as a closed-end fund, fully financed by Sibanye with a capital budget of up to 1.5% a year of group-adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for appropriate investments.

Two initial investments have been made by Sibanye.

The first investment was made in financial technology company Glint Pay, which operates in the UK, the US and Japan, and which uses gold as an alternative global currency to enable its clients to instantly buy, sell, save, spend and send their physical gold and other currencies. This is done using the Glint Mastercard and Glint application.

Glint offers no credit facilities, but it allows users to transfer, receive and save real gold, which is secured in security company Brink’s vaults in Switzerland. The partnership with Glint enables Sibanye to support new end markets for gold on an innovative, digital and highly regulated platform, backed by physical gold supervised by a world-class regulator in Switzerland.

The second investment made was into French industrial company Verkor.

Verkor intends to ramp up low-carbon battery manufacturing facilities in France and southern Europe to meet the growing demand for electric mobility and stationary battery storage in Europe.

Verkor’s first gigafactory will be built at the port city of Dunkirk in France, with first delivery of low-carbon high performance batteries for electric vehicles planned for July 2025.

The initial manufacturing capacity of 16 GWh in 2025 is expected to expand to 50 GWh by 2030.

Froneman and Maphai noted that Verkor also enjoyed the support of several vehicle and technology companies such as Renault, Demeter, EIT InnoEnergy Groupe IDEC, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, Arkema and Tokai COBEX.

Sibanye made a strategic €25-million investment in Verkor through a new convertible bond issuance.

This strategic investment will pave the way for further technical and commercial cooperation between Sibanye and Verkor, Froneman and Maphai said.

They further noted that the development timelines for Sibanye’s Keliber lithium project in Finland, its Sandouville nickel refinery extension in France to target specific nickel battery metal products, and Verkor’s first gigafactory were largely in sync.

“The global shift towards more socially and environmentally aware behaviours and policies continues to gain momentum, with emphasis on climate change. Future investment in renewable energy and other green industrial activity is likely to support demand for commodities required for the green energy economy, especially those produced with minimal negative environmental and social impacts,” Froneman and Maphai said.

In particular, this included the essential metals that Sibanye produced and was targeting as it positioned itself to create sustainable value through further delivery on the company’s green metals strategy.

“We have reconceptualised our battery metals growth intentions previously presented as a fourth sigmoid curve to become part of an integrated portfolio of green metals.

“Our portfolio of metals is complemented by increasingly green production through recycling and tailings retreatment. Including gold, our ultimate aim is to build a comprehensive portfolio that is robust to global dislocations to promote sustainability and contribute to the reversal of climate change,” Froneman and Maphai concluded.

Amid the global transition to renewable energies and the effects of strong commodity prices and supply crunches, there is a scramble to ensure security of supply of critical and battery minerals in Africa.

These factors heighten the importance of African mining and the role of the Investing in African Mining Indaba – to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from May 9 to 12 – states Indaba organiser Hyve Group head of content Tom Quinn.

“For all the negatives of the pandemic, it’s created opportunities through increased online consumerism, which comes on the back of the uptake in electric vehicles, energy storage and growth in renewables investment. These factors are all linked to make these minerals valuable resources.”

There have been price increases in commodities, such as cobalt and copper, from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, for example, and platinum-group metals (PGMs) from South Africa.

Nickel has also enjoyed a significant surge in price, which forced commodities entity the LME to suspend trading in March to drive the price down.

The increased interest in African countries supplying these commodities has encouraged Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema to attend the Mining Indaba.

“He’s looking to reset the relationship between miners and the Zambian government, and provide clarity on the country’s mining code to drive foreign investment. The government has planned an announcement before the Indaba, but the President will be engaging with media to discuss specifics at the Indaba.”

Quinn adds that Botswana President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi will also attend the Indaba.

“As well as heads of State and over 35 Ministers, the Indaba will have the world-exclusive debut at a major event from Anglo American’s new South African CEO, Duncan Wanblad, who will underpin the critical role of mining in the energy transition through his keynote address on The Power of Mining.”

Quinn adds that Wanblad will be joined during the week by executives from the group, including South Africa board chair and current president of Minerals Council South Africa Nolitha Fakude, new Kumba Iron Ore CEO Mpumi Kikalala and Anglo Platinum CEO Natscha Viljoen.

Transition and ESG Investments

Hyve Group portfolio director Simon Ford says one of the key themes that emerged from COP26 last year was the focus on transitioning to renewable energies and the role that Africa can play in providing the minerals and metals for this transition.

Quinn comments that – in line with the Glasgow Pact, which saw countries committing to reducing emissions and combating climate change – environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues are a key theme for the Indaba this year.

The event has also received a significant number of registrations from the global investment community, which also has a renewed focus on ESG performance.

The Indaba will host financial organisations, such as Standard Bank, Nedbank, Absa and Investec, the African Development Bank and the World Bank, as well as other attendees from the international finance community, to participate and consider new opportunities, especially in the battery metals sector.

Hyve, through its programming, has encouraged Indaba attendees to discuss how ESG is being implemented in their operations and how this might affect future investment decisions.

Important industry bodies including the International Council on Mining and Metals, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the United Nations and the World Gold Council will all feature in panel sessions clarifying the relationship between ESG, investors and the mining industry.

“These decisions are impacted on by incidents such as miner Rio Tinto’s destroying Aboriginal rock shelters in Western Australia last May. A Rio Tinto delegation is attending this year, including new CEO Sinead Kaufman, and we’re working on a briefing with them to discuss the report Rio Tinto made public earlier this year regardi...

Diversified miner Anglo American has reported a 10% year-on-year decrease in production in the first quarter of this year and adjusted downward its full-year guidance for platinum group metals (PGMs), iron-ore and metallurgical (met) coal production.

This “normally slower” first quarter was still impacted by Covid-19-related absenteeism, in addition to high rainfall in South Africa and Brazil, and some operational and safety challenges at the miner’s met coal and iron-ore operations.

The company is also adjusting upward its unit cost guidance for most product groups, to reflect the latest exchange rates and inflationary pressure on input prices, particularly diesel.

For the quarter ended March 31, Anglo’s iron-ore production decreased by 19% year-on-year to 13.2-million tonnes, owing to high rainfall and plant issues at the Kumba Iron Ore and Minas-Rio operations.

Full-year guidance for iron-ore has been revised down to between 60-million and 64-million tonnes, compared with the previous estimate of between 63-million and 67-million tonnes.

Met coal production was 32% lower in the quarter under review at 2.2-million tonnes, owing to the delayed longwall move at the Moranbah operation and the end of production from the Grasstree operation.

However, the suspended Grosvenor operation and Aquila life-extension project both started operations in mid-February.

Operations at the Moranbah mine have subsequently been suspended, following a fatal underground incident late in March.

Full-year guidance for met coal has been set at between 17-million and 19-million tonnes, down from the previously expected 20-million to 22-million tonnes.

Copper production also came in 13% lower year-on-year at 140 000 t for the quarter under review, mostly owing to planned lower grades, while metal-in-concentrate production from the PGM operations decreased by 6% to 956 000 oz, primarily owing to high rainfall at the Mogalakwena operation.

Full-year guidance for PGMs has been revised down to between 3.9-million and 4.3-million ounces, compared with the previously expected 4.1-million to 4.5-million ounces.

Unit cost guidance for the full-year is anticipated to increase to $105/t, compared with the previous cost guidance of $85/t, reflecting the impact of lower volumes, a stronger Australian dollar and inflation, and higher fuel costs.

On a positive note, rough diamond production increased by 25% year-on-year to 8.9-million carats in the first quarter of the year, which reflects a strong operational performance and lower rainfall impact, primarily in Botswana.

Outgoing CEO Mark Cutifani comments that progressing the company’s Sustainable Mining Plan priorities has never been more relevant or urgent, most notably those related to energy security, costs and emissions.

“During the [reporting] quarter, we partnered with EDF Renewables to secure 100% renewable energy for our operations in South Africa. This ecosystem approach is a major step towards reducing our on-site energy requirements, the largest source of our operational emissions, building on the 100% renewable electricity already secured for our South American operations by 2023.

“We also expect to have the world's largest hydrogen haul truck to be in action in the next few weeks, which will displace up to 80% of our on-site diesel emissions.”

London Aim-quoted gold mining company Chaarat Gold is looking forward to “very green and sustainable gold production” coming out of the Kyrgyz Republic, where it is developing two gold projects.

The first of these is Tulkubash, a near-term opencast heap leach project, and the second a far larger, higher-grade and longer-term underground Kyzyltash project.

Chaarat, which operates the Kapan mine in Armenia, is planning to increase its 2021 production level of 63 000 oz gold equivalent to around 450 000 oz gold equivalent a year within five years, at an all-in sustaining cost of $900/oz.

“One of the opportunities that we’ve been talking to the multilaterals about is participating in a project to either produce our own hydroelectric requirements or additionally connect to the grid, which is around 20 km away, which will allow us to have clean power.

“We certainly believe that by the time we get to the Kyzyltash project, that will be resolved and we’ll be able to have a very green and sustainable production out of the Kyrgyz Republic,” Chaarat CEO Mike Fraser, who is well known in South Africa as the former COO of South32, told Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Among the multilateral developmental institutions active in the Kyrgyz Republic and Central Asia is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which is reportedly very interested in being part of the investability of the Kyrgyz Republic’s mining sector.

“Chaarat, for many people, has been off the radar. It’s a very small company today within the Aim sector. I do believe that there is a dearth of real quality midtier gold miners that have the opportunity to deliver the growth that Chaarat has got in its portfolio.

"The nice thing is that Chaarat is a company that is fairly undervalued in our opinion and for those that stay the journey with us, we believe that Chaarat will be a good place to be.

"If we can deliver on our growth ambitions, this should be a good story. Hopefully people who don’t know us, will start following us,” said Fraser

DISPUTE RESOLVED

When Tulkubash’s bankable feasibility study was put out in May last year, the plan was to kickstart the project in January this year. However, this coincided with the Kyrgyz government taking control of the Kumtor mine from Canada-based Centerra Resources.

The dispute between Centerra and the Kyrgyz Republic was a slow-burn issue. It had been around for many years until the resolution announced on April 4, which involves the Kyrgyz Republic taking over the long-term operation and ownership of the Kumtor mine in exchange for some of the shares it held at the corporate level in Centerra.

“The resolution of that dispute is an important step forward for us. Many of our financing partners were waiting for that resolution to be announced before they would re-engage on the funding and the financing of our projects in Kyrgyzstan,” said Fraser.

Completion of the financing of the Tulkubash project is now expected in the second half of this calendar year, which should give Chaarat the ability to pour first gold by probably the backend of 2024, early 2025, which is perfectly aligned to the company’s overall growth plans.

Tulkubash will provide 95 000 oz to 100 000 oz a year of gold equivalent for between five and ten years as the precursor to the main Kyzyltash, which will provide 300 000 oz of gold equivalent a year for 20 years.

“These will be very low cost and competitive ounces to add to our portfolio,” said Fraser, who believes Chaarat has the capability, experience and capacity to add more ounces to this portfolio.

He believes the share price is trading at a very big discount to its underlying asset value and that progressing the projects will certainly enable the company to create value for all stakeholders.

In the 12 months of 2021, Chaarat lifted its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation by 45%, reported cash on hand of $11.1-million and halved i...

LSE-listed Petra Diamonds has reported a 33% year-on-year increase in revenue to $140.6-million for the quarter ended March 31 – the third quarter of its 2022 financial year.

In an unaudited trading update released on April 20, Petra said the higher revenue was driven by strong prices achieved in the fourth tender in March, with like-for-like prices up 37.6% when compared with the third tender in December.

Revenue for the financial year-to-date (YTD) increased by 43% year-on-year to $405.4-million, driven by exceptional diamond sales contributing $83.3-million, coupled with the upward trend in diamond prices.

Notable for the third quarter was the sale of one exceptional diamond in the March quarter – a 157.88 ct Type IIa white diamond recovered at the Cullinan mine – for $5.5-million.

“Petra has benefitted from strong diamond prices during the quarter, underpinned by a strong operational, cost and safety performance. Although we anticipate some pullback in diamond prices from the elevated March tender levels as a result of the economic impact of the war in Ukraine, the structural shift in the diamond market continues to provide positive momentum.

“This, coupled with our operational improvements driving margin and cash generation, supports a positive outlook for the business with the potential for further reductions in our debt levels,” said Petra CE Richard Duffy.

Notwithstanding the revenue increase, carats sold were down 31% year-on-year for the March quarter and 16% for the YTD, given that there was only one sales tender in the quarter.

Expected sales volumes for the full year are anticipated to remain within guidance, with further tenders to be held in April and June.

Production for the March quarter increased by 18% to 830 456 ct, compared with the 704 498 ct produced for the same period last year, while YTD production increased by 7% to more than 2.6-million carats, compared with more than 2.4-million carats for the same period last year.

Petra attributed the increase in production to a resumption of production following a period of care and maintenance at the company’s Williamson mine, in Tanzania.

Additionally, the remedial steps taken at the Finsch mine, in the Northern Cape, following waste ingress during the second quarter of last year positively affected the quarterly comparison.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer talks about the need for South Africa to promote the use of fuel cell electric vehicles to ensure clean mobility in the heavy-duty vehicle segment; the potential size of the South African hydrogen sector; and a multiyear cobalt supply agreement between diversified miner Glencore and vehicle manufacturer General Motors.

The overall geopolitical situation is lending strong support to the hydrogen evolution, which in turn continues to drive the demand for platinum group metals (PGMs).

Hydrogen Europe and the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance are now calculating that 2030 will see the generation of 320 GW to 400 GW of green hydrogen, at least half of which is forecast to be brought about with the help of PGMs.

If, by 2030/2033, the world reaches the point of 6% of vehicles and many heavy-duty trucks being hydrogen-using fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), the amount of platinum being consumed by the automotive sector will double.

PGMs and hydrogen have such unique chemical performance that many new applications are on the horizon.

The versatility of PGMs is already evident in electronics and their use in batteries is under scrutiny.

In South Africa, energy and chemicals giant Sasol is keen to get the green hydrogen economy going on a big scale, with FCEV mobility scheduled to be showcased in the next 12 to 18 months in partnership with Toyota.

Sasol’s first project will be to produce green hydrogen at its Sasolburg plant, using existing 60 MW electrolysers to make 3.5 t/d of green hydrogen for FCEV mobility and proving to big-fleet users that they have security of hydrogen supply.

Sasol’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project, being carried out under the auspices of the German government, has an ambitious timeline of creating its first green hydrogen-biomass product by 2025 – another boost for platinum which features as a catalyst.

Sasol envisages that every major airport in the world will be able to have its own production facility, making jet fuel at the site of the market possible, and doing away with the jet fuel or SAF having to be transported all over the world.

Sasol is intent on co-creating the energy transition in South Africa through the bolstering of the green hydrogen economy, which is seen as being crucial owing to the positive manner in which it is able to contribute to a just energy transition.

While PGMs will continue to curb tailpipe emissions for some time to come, their stronger-for-longer ongoing traditional use will simultaneously overlap into their new major role of helping the world along the energy-transition path through decarbonisation.

In the years heading up to 2030, proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers are expected by 2030 to have a 50% share of the electrolysis market, which will drive demand for platinum and iridium PGMs.

Hydrogen strategies already opening the way for large FCEVs will in time extend to small FCEVs.

These and many more points were made during this month’s 2022 PGMs Industry Day during a far-seeing webinar in which AP Ventures co-founding partner Kevin Eggers chaired a discussion covered by Mining Weekly, which also saw Heraeus Precious Metals executive VP new business development Dr Philipp Walter, Sasol senior manager sustainability Viran Pillay, Platinum Guild International Hong Kong CEO Huw Daniel, and World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) CEO Paul Wilson taking part.

Venture capital fund manager AP Ventures has 23 portfolio companies, has investment from companies including Anglo American, Impala Platinum, and the Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, as well as nine others spread across the globe.

Questioned by Eggers on PGMs market development opportunities, Walter singled out hydrogen as the one most prominent right now. “This is really developing and, of course, this will have a positive impact not only platinum, but also iridium and ruthenium.

“Talking more as a chemist, platinum group metals and hydrogen belong together. They have a unique chemical performance and chemical potential. From this perspective, I think there will be more applications coming out also related to hydrogen. There's a lot going on in terms of startups and developments around ammonia. Ammonia synthesis under low pressure, ammonia splitting, and you're also talking about everything you do wit...