Steps are being taken to progress the Sandpiper marine phosphate project offshore of Namibia in compliance with last year’s High Court ruling, Namibian Marine Phosphate stated on Tuesday.

The High Court confirmed the ongoing validity of Namibia Marine’s mining licence on June 30, 2021, and an independent environmental assessment practitioner has been appointed to manage the application and assessment process for the proposed Sandpiper project, Namibian Marine Phosphate stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

Notice of the application and details of public meetings for Sandpiper have been published in newspapers and public meetings will be held in Windhoek on Wednesday and in Walvis Bay on Friday.

Stakeholders as well as interested and affected parties have been encouraged to register their details at the public meetings, or online at/.

The proposed project will employ more than 600 Namibians directly and indirectly for construction and operations in Walvis Bay, said Namibia Marine Phosphate, which added that analysis by the Chamber of Mines of Namibia found last year that seven additional new jobs are created indirectly in the economy by every new mining job. In terms of that multiplication, Sandpiper is expected to create 4 200 jobs.

Marine phosphate mining and processing, the company stated, was also able to provide Namibia with the phosphate concentrate required to develop an integrated fertiliser industry.

Commitment to responsible commercial, social, and environmental development was reaffirmed.

Aim-listed metal processing company Jubilee Metals is poised for growth following the successful recommissioning of its significantly upgraded and fully integrated new Inyoni platinum group metals (PGMs) processing facility, in Gauteng.

“The new integrated facility sets a strong foundation for sustained future growth and is the culmination of Jubilee’s extensive investment into achieving class-leading efficiencies,” the company said in a statement to shareholders on February 8.

The project entailed a complete rebuild of an old chrome plant, which Jubilee acquired in 2019. The plant was previously owned and operated by chrome producer Hernic Ferrochrome.

The R377-million investment programme included the construction of a new 80 000 t/m chrome processing facility – named the OBB Chrome Plant – which has been integrated with the new upgraded Inyoni PGMs circuit.

The new integrated facility can produce up to 44 000 oz/y of PGMs, compared with the previous output of 30 000 oz/y PGMs, as well as 615 000 t/y of additional chrome concentrate. Among the PGMs produced are platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium and gold.

The new processing facility is uniquely able to process both a variety of chrome- and PGM-containing mined ores, as well as historical tailings. Previously the plant was limited to processing only a single feed source.

“Despite this challenging undertaking that lays our foundation for future performance, the team delivered [and] displayed exceptional commitment and ingenuity by implementing on-time and in-budget the complex integration of the newly constructed OBB Chrome Plant, with a fully upgraded and expanded Inyoni PGMs circuit,” Jubilee CEO Leon Coetzer said, noting that the full project was delivered without a single lost-time injury.

Jubilee reported that monthly production levels had risen by 66% in January compared with those recorded in the second half of last year. The higher production levels reflected the new Inyoni facility reaching its full design capacities, the company said.

During the second half of last year, Jubilee further increased its access to both mined chrome and PGMs material, as well as historical tailings, which further supported the targeted processing capacity expansion into the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex.

The company said this expansion would not only offer an offset to the current transport costs incurred for moving this material but would also offer significant growth opportunities in the region.

For the second half of last year, Jubilee reported an increase in chrome concentrate production of 41% to 609 734 t compared with the previous period, illustrating the early contribution from the new OBB Chrome Plant, which was brought online at the end of the second quarter last year and ramped up during the third quarter before being integrated with the Inyoni plant in November.

The new chrome beneficiation facility follows the completion of the Windsor 8 chrome plant in October 2020. The two plants combined raised Jubilee’s chrome feed capacity to 250 000 t a month of both chrome run-of-mine ore and historical tailings.

Moreover, the increased chrome processing capacity directly contributes to increased PGMs feed supply as a tailings stream produced from the chrome processing circuit.

Jubliee told shareholders that the new integrated plant sets the example of the type of facility that it plans to develop as it expands its chrome and PGMs operational footprint in the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex.

“This is a strategic development, demonstrating Jubilee’s ability to continue to grow its business by reinvesting its earnings into high growth projects,” the company said.

Jubilee’s current PGMs operational footprint has historically been largely focused on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex. The eastern limb, however, is now a key focus for Jubilee to expand its PGMs reach and operational capacity following the completion of the Inyoni facility.

“The additional P...

Precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has tabled a revised wage increase offer to employees working at its South African gold mines, after meeting with the four major trade unions that represent their employees on February 4.

This follows after seven months of deadlocked negotiations between Sibanye and unions - Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, National Union of Mineworkers, Uasa and Solidarity.

Trade union Solidarity reports that the mining company resumed negotiations after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) issued a certificate granting trade unions the right to embark on strike action.

“It would appear as if an agreement may now be within reach with Sibanye after a marathon negotiation session last Friday,” notes Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis.

He confirms that the trade unions will this week consult with their members about the revised offer.

Solidarity says it will encourage its members to consider the new offer favourably.

Sibanye’s previous offer for the miners, artisans and officials represented by Solidarity was a 4.1% increase in year one; a 4.7% increase in year two; and a 4.7% increase for year three.

The offer has been increased to grant a 5% increase to this category of employees for each of the three years.

Sibanye confirms that the 5% offer is higher than 2021’s average inflation rate, and is higher than the average inflation forecasts for 2022 and 2023, as forecasted by the South African Reserve Bank and National Treasury.

The company’s previous offer to category 4 to 8 employees was an increase of R520 for year one; a R610 increase for year two; and a R640 increase for year three, but has been amended to offering an increase of R800 in each of years one, two and three.

“It was a frustrating seven months of negotiating during which parties negotiated with each other mainly through CCMA facilitation,” Du Plessis points out.

The unions will present the offer to its members, and, after finalising agreements, wage negotiations for Sibanye’s platinum mines will start.

A combination of renewables, storage and flexible gas are needed to create a stable and resilient energy system that provides a reliable source of electricity while transitioning away from carbon-intensive coal-fired power, marine and energy technology company Wärtsilä Energy Europe and Africa VP Kenneth Engblom has told Engineering News.

“Making such smart strategy decisions will lead to more resilient electricity systems and save billions of dollars in the process,” he said in a February 3 interview.

Engblom said Wärtsilä experts believed that, by 2030, the ideal energy mix in Africa would comprise a mix of flexible power plants based on internal combustion engines, large solar photovoltaic (PV) plants and storage solutions.

Wind and solar PV would complement one another well and, therefore, Engblom said an ideal system would incorporate both.

He said Africa needed cheap and reliable energy to support its developing economy. However, the continent suffered from poor electricity infrastructure despite increasing electricity demand.

Moreover, global pressure to decarbonise had further complicated matters.

The upside was that Africa was home to significant renewable energy resources, such as sun, wind and water. Engblom said that, owing to the lower cost of building renewable energy capacity and the low cost of operating such technologies, many African governments had adopted ambitious renewable energy targets.

While renewable energies provided cheap electricity – which should be maximised as much as possible – they were inherently intermittent. Moreover, the demand for electricity also varied widely throughout the day, Engblom explained.

“To maintain a balanced system, flexible forms of electricity must be available to ramp up output at the same rate that wind or solar output fluctuates. Systems need to respond across different timeframes, from seconds, to minutes,” he said.

In a grid with a high renewable quotient, gas engines would be the “ideal” technology to provide both the baseload and peaking capacity to meet fluctuating energy demand, as well as balance the fluctuating renewable energy production, Engblom explained.

“A lack of flexibility would incur a high indirect cost, as it would limit the amount of cheap renewable energy that can be economically integrated into the system,” he said.

Engblom believes that, using a hybrid approach, ambitious renewable objectives in Africa are not only achievable, but will also be optimal from a cost-system and grid stability point of view.

However, it would be conditional on electricity systems being balanced by a sufficient amount of flexible thermal and storage capacity to counterbalance the intermittence of renewable energy.

Studies conducted by Wärtsilä in Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and other countries globally – using advanced energy systems modelling – indicate that this strategy would provide efficiencies worth billions of dollars over the next few decades, he said.

Engblom said the most advanced African countries in terms of their decarbonisation journeys were South Africa, Morocco, Ethiopia, Egypt and Kenya, which are all ramping up investments in renewable energy and decarbonisation.

Wärtsilä provides solutions in energy storage, engine-based power plants and hybrid power plants. The company also provides a range of support services, including lifecycle services such as operation and maintenance.

The company’s flexible engine power plants are capable of running on 100% synthetic and carbon-neutral methane and methanol. They are also capable of using hydrogen or natural gas blends containing up to 25% hydrogen. Engblom said the company was developing a pure hydrogen solution as well.

He said that, while some might decry the burning of natural gas – since it is still a fossil fuel that emits some carbon dioxide – it is much cleaner than coal.

Moreover, Engblom said that denying Africa the opportunity to use gas at a grid level would introduce instability to the grid,...

A consortium of South African and European experts will be developing new seismic, electromagnetic and magnetic methods for deep exploration targeting.

The project team includes researchers from universities, geological surveys, equipment manufacturers and mining companies from both continents and will support the exchange of knowledge and experiences across zones.

The consortium is made up of experts from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), gold miner Gold Fields, and the University of Venda, in conjunction with European counterparts, including Uppsala University in Sweden, Polito University in Italy, seismic equipment manufacturer Sercel in France, Swedish government agency Geological Survey of Sweden and Swedish iron-ore mining company Nordic Iron Ore.

In a statement issued by Wits earlier this week, it was claimed that the methodologies being developed would have “unprecedented penetration, sensitivity and resolution”.

The project aims to advance high-resolution imaging and modelling of the host rock and any mineralisation between tunnels and the surface, and in the down-dip direction.

Uppsala University's Professor Alireza Malehmir noted that the consortium would employ fibre-optic sensing technologies and unmanned aerial vehicle- (UAV-) based magnetic and electromagnetic surveys for high-definition target generation and subsurface imaging.

The project, named “Future: Fiber-optic sensing and UAV-platform techniques for innovative mineral exploration”, will start in April and will continue for about two years.

The project has a total budget of R21-million and will be funded by the South African Department of Science and Innovation, Swedish government agency Vinnova, the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research and the French National Agency for Research through pan-European research funding organisation network ERA-NET Confund on Raw Materials.

Wits said the discovery of new metal and mineral resources was necessary to supply raw materials for emerging technologies, and that these technologies were required to meet the public expectations and demand for higher living standards.

The university noted that the geological conditions of Africa and Europe suggest that various critical metals and minerals may be found in these regions, but that their discovery would require nondestructive, high-resolution and deep exploration techniques.

Wits Seismic Research Centre director and Future project leader Dr Musa Manzi said the project sought to develop innovative, environment-friendly and cost-effective technologies for deep exploration, primarily in the challenging mine environment.

EXPLORATION SITES

The Blötberget iron mine in Ludvika, Sweden, was identified as one of the two target sites for research owing to the wealth of information available from previous studies. The mine has significant iron-oxide deposits.

There continued to be high demand for iron-ore products in maturing economies – including Europe, Japan, China, Africa and, increasingly, in the Middle East and India, Wits said.

Higher iron-ore grades are needed to facilitate improvements in the automotive sector, the construction sector, as well as other demanding types of specialised infrastructure. Other technology developments are driving increased demand for sophisticated forms of steel.

The second site identified for research is Gold Fields’ South Deep mine, in Gauteng, where mining at depth increasingly requires an improved understanding of potential resources deep below surface and the relevant host rock structures.

At more than 2.5 km deep, South Deep is one of the deepest and largest gold-producing mines globally. Given the deep nature of the mining operation and the prevailing rock stress fields, the mine is geologically complex and subjected to comparatively high levels of mining-induced earthquakes.

Wits said South Deep was ideal because the Future project might improve the life of the mine by mapping the mineralisation between the surface and...

JSE-listed Tharisa has signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MoU) with renewable energy independent power producer Total Eren and Africa-focused transitional energy company Chariot.

The MoU, which is a precursor to the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement for the supply of electricity on a take-or-pay basis, envisages the partners developing, financing, building, owning, operating and maintaining a solar photovoltaic project that will supply power to the Tharisa mine, on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex.

The plant is anticipated to initially provide 40 MW and will adequately cover the mine’s current energy requirements.

In September 2021, Tharisa outlined its commitment to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% by 2030 and become net carbon neutral by 2050.

The reduction in the use of grid power by the Tharisa mine will be accelerated through the implementation of this and other renewable energy projects.

"We are very pleased to be entering into this MoU with Tharisa. Through our partnership with Chariot, we are keen to assist mining companies in Africa to reduce their carbon intensity and energy costs, via implementing renewable power solutions into their operations,” says Total Eren business development global head and executive VP Fabienne Demol.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks Anglo American's low-cost renewables; Ubuntu principles in going green; and clean energy opportunities in Mpumalanga for the GreenCape organisation.

Failure to wholeheartedly embrace the generation of renewable energy is out-and-out business folly.

Anglo American and Engie made this perfectly clear on Thursday when they revealed that renewables come in at less than half the price of South Africa’s currently high-priced carbon-intensive power – which is set to rise even further this year.

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) CEO Natascha Viljoen, who is also the deputy chairperson of the Energy Council of South Africa, summed it up with these words: “The cost of renewables comes in at less than 50% of what we are currently paying for energy.”

On renewables’ intermittency, Engie thermal supply and hydrogen Africa MD Jonathan Debasc, outlined how hydrogen was able to assist significantly on the energy storage front by helping to solve the problem presented by a sun that did not always shine and a wind that did not always blow.

Viljoen emphasised, during the Business Day Dialogues webinar covered by Mining Weekly, the huge role that renewables and storage could play in slashing energy insecurity.

“I certainly think that we’re absolutely underestimating the value that renewables can have for us as a country,” said Viljoen, in reference to the economic stimulation that could be provided by stable and secure solar, wind and storage (SWS), which provided the opportunity to deliver near-zero-marginal-cost excess green energy.

The webinar once again brought home the crucial message that concentration on SWS had the power to reverse the huge opportunity loss that South Africa had suffered through load-shedding, as well as bring with it significantly lower electricity costs, while green hydrogen could be stored for deployment when needed.

Moreover, Amplats market development principal Fahmida Smith said the green Hydrogen Valley project being developed in Limpopo, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal had the potential to contribute:

$4-billion to the gross domestic product of the South African economy;

$900-million to the fiscus in tax revenues;

14 000 jobs a year by 2050; and

invaluable increased demand for the platinum group metals, which South Africa hosts in abundance.

“There is huge opportunity for us as a country,” Smith emphasised.

Debasc, who leads the African division of a far-reaching global energy and services group, spoke of South Africa being “in a great space” for the hydrogen economy.

He rated South Africa’s sun and wind as being amongst the best in the world and on a par with those of Chile, Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Given that 50% of the cost of the green hydrogen arose from the energy used to produce it placed South Africa in a very competitive position.

In addition, the thousands of square kilometres needed for renewable energy generation were available in abundance in South Africa.

“If you take only 1% of South Africa’s land, you can generate 10-million tonnes a year of hydrogen, which is also a competitive advantage,” said Debasc.

Moreover, South Africa’s overall hydrogen knowledge base was decades long and now needed to be applied to green hydrogen.

The country already had the assets and the people who knew how to manage it.

With the Hydrogen Valley being developed, close-proximity demand would be available for locally produced green hydrogen.

With those pillars, South Africa could eventually be transformed into an exporter of green hydrogen to those countries unable to generate their own green hydrogen.

“It’s a big opportunity,” said Debasc, who spoke of action having to be taken to respect the 1.5 °C global warming trajectory.

“Governments today are aiming at not only reducing the carbon footprint, but completely going to net zero. There are different dates, but they’re all aimed in the same direction,” said Debasc, who added that a similar pattern was evident in the independent power producer market in particular, where the share prices of companies that had managed to transition from coal and gas, and establish green footprints, were considerably higher.

The webinar w...

Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore has entered a battery recycling joint venture (JV) with strategic partner and battery pioneer Britishvolt, a UK battery cell technologies and research and development investor.

The JV will develop an ecosystem for battery recycling in the UK. This ecosystem will be anchored at a new recycling plant located at the Britannia Refined Metals (BRM) operation in Northfleet, a Glencore company. BRM will continue with its current production and trading operations.

The project sees a return to recycling for BRM, securing existing jobs and creating new ones, Glencore stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

Once complete, the plant will be Glencore and Britishvolt’s first battery recycling facility in the UK, with an expected processing capacity of a minimum of 10 000 t of lithium-ion batteries a year, including but not limited to valuable battery manufacturing scrap, portable electronics batteries and full electric vehicle packs.

The facility, which will process all Britishvolt’s battery manufacturing scrap from its Gigafactory in Blyth, is expected to be operational by mid-2023 with the long-term aim of being 100% powered by renewable energy.

The partnership will also look to develop other recycling activities such as the refining of black mass into battery grade raw materials.

The JV will leverage Glencore’s multi-decade recycling experience across end-of-life materials such as discarded electronics, copper/alloy scraps and black mass.

Both companies believe that battery recycling will form a key part of the energy transition, efficiently recovering the critical metals needed for the energy transition.

The bold aim, the media release stated, is to help support the creation of a genuinely circular economy that supplies recycled materials and minerals back into the battery supply chain.

Glencore head cobalt trader David Brocas expressed excitement at Glencore’s deepening partnership with Britishvolt, making the point that both companies are united in their ambition to further the energy and mobility transition.

Brocas spoke of Glencore’s decades of recycling experience across multiple disciplines such as electronic waste, copper scrap and batteries.

“This recycling partnership complements our long-term supply agreement for responsible cobalt from our operations in Norway and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said.

Expressing the belief that the opportunity to use BRM’s operations as a cutting-edge battery recycling would help to support the development of the UK battery recycling industry, he said it would also play a part in furthering UK’s climate change ambitions “as well as Glencore’s, as we work towards net zero total emissions by 2050”.

Britishvolt global COO Timon Orlob stated that the “exciting project” added much to his company’s existing relationship with Glencore involving the supply responsibly-sourced cobalt.

“Recycling is key to a successful energy transition and has always been a major part of Britishvolt’s business model. We’ve been looking for the perfect partner to help kick start a UK battery recycling industry and FTSE 100-listed Glencore has expert historical experience in recycling. This JV will help us both to create a truly sustainable battery value-chain, create jobs and develop new battery recycling technologies,” said Orlob, who emphasised the full commitment of both companies to reducing carbon across the supply chain.

The partnership also aims to research how to make the recycling of electric vehicle batteries easier and more cost effective, maximising their supply chain value and influencing legislation, including increasing regulation of recycling and environmental social and governance requirements.

It will also allow Britishvolt to assist its original equipment manufacturer customers on their path to sustainability, by offering hedging opportunities against swings in raw materials prices.

The media release stated that Britishvolt’s Gigaplant wo...

Diversified mining and marketing company on Wednesday reported 43% higher ferrochrome production in its full year 2021 production report.

The South Africa-centred ferrochrome output rose from 1 029 000 t in 2020 to 1 468 000 t in 2021.

Also up was oil output, which was 34% higher, 20% more coking coal was produced totalling 9.1-million tonnes, and cobalt was 14% up at 31 300 t.

Otherwise, the outputs of all other commodities were down, including overall coal being 3% lower, copper declining by 5%, zinc down 4%, lead down 14%, nickel 7% down, gold 12% down and silver4% down.

Glencore CEO Gary Nagle described the 2021 operating environment as remaining challenging, with the Covid-19 pandemic again dominating the daily lives of many colleagues, families, local communities and society at large.

“As a responsible operator, our top priority is to protect the safety and health of our people and the communities that host our businesses. Maintaining production in 2021 became increasingly important as many of our products, so crucial for decarbonisation, energy supply and industrial output, saw higher levels of demand.

“Overall, our operations largely performed in line with guidance expectations. We completed the Cerrejón acquisition and Ernest Henry disposal in January, such transactions being consistent with our continued strategy to simplify and align our portfolio with the materials needed for the energy transition and the responsible decline of our coal business,” Nagle stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

Own sourced copper production of 1 195 700 t was 62 400 t lower than 2020 owing mainly to the disposal of Mopani (23 800 t), lower copper grades at Antapaccay (14 800 t) and lower copper by-products from Glencore’s mature zinc and nickel mines (26 600 t).

Own sourced cobalt production of 31 300 t was 3 900 t higher than 2020 due to the limited restart of production at Mutanda mine in 2021. Mutanda, a large opencast copper/cobalt mine in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was closed temporarily in November 2019.

Own sourced zinc production of 1 117 800 t was 52 600 t lower reflecting mainly the decline of Maleevsky mine in Kazakhstan, being lagged by the slower than expected ramp-up of replacement Zhairem mine tonnage of 19 600 t; Mount Isa producing additional metal from ore stockpile drawdowns in the base period (24 400 t); and Kidd lower grades at Kidd (13 800 t). These factors were partly offset by stronger zinc production at Antamina, which was suspended for part of 2020 owing to Covid restrictions.

Nickel production of 102.300 t was 7 900 t lower than in 2020, mainly due to the lengthy scheduled statutory shutdown and maintenance issues at Murrin Murrin earlier in the year.

Attributable ferrochrome production was 439 000 t higher owing to South Africa’s national lockdown in the prior year, and a strong operating performance.

Coal production of 103.3-million tonnes was 2.9-million tonnes lower, reflecting Prodeco’s care-and-maintenance status and lower domestic power demand/export rail capacity constraints in South Africa, offset by higher production at Cerrejón, following a Covid suspension and strike in 2020.

Oil entitlement interest production of 5.3 million boe was 1.3 million boe higher mainly owing to commencement of the gas phase of the Alen project in Equatorial Guinea. There was no production from the Chad fields in 2021.

In early January 2022, Glencore completed the acquisition of the two-thirds of Cerrejon which it did not already own. The Ernest Henry copper mine disposal was completed in early January.

Deutsche Bank Research analysts described Glencore’s fourth-quarter production as being slightly softer than expected, and full-year production as being at the bottom end of guidance for each division. Although production guidance had been left unchanged, the analysts expressed the view that the bottom end of guidance appeared the more realistic scenario given supply chain issues.

Edi...