MiningWeekly.com Audio Articles

Minerals Council South Africa member companies could deliver up to 3 900 MW of renewable energy projects worth an estimated R60-billion, which, if built, would relieve pressure on State-owned power utility Eskom and go a long way towards meeting the industry’s commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter told a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee last week that the utility needs an additional 4 000 MW to 6 000 MW of generating capacity to conduct an effective and sustainable reliability maintenance programme on its existing fleet of power stations without disrupting national electricity supply.

Minerals Council CEO Roger Baxter said on November 23 that the mining industry was involved in various stages of building plants, conducting studies, planning and applications for up to 3 900 MW of renewable solar, wind and battery energy projects that could provide Eskom some of that much-needed supplemental capacity.

“There is a pressing need for the mining industry to supplement Eskom electricity supply. But the benefits extend to diversifying supply, reducing exposure to continued high increases in prices, unpredictable supply and to reduce Scope 2 and 3 emissions in line with the sector’s commitment to reach a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” he said.

Minerals Council member companies have increased the number of renewable energy projects and the result is a 146% jump in electricity generation from the planned 1 600 MW the industry spoke about during 2020.

The licensing-exemption concession for embedded generation projects of up to 100 MW was a major factor in this increase and it is probably the government’s biggest structural reform in two decades, said Baxter.

“Renewable energy projects in the mining sector could go a long way towards easing the pressure on Eskom to the benefit of other industries and the country as a whole. These projects must be expedited through a ‘smart tape’ system. Environmental authorisations take too long and should be materially shortened.

“In addition, policy issues related to wheeling charges and surplus offtake to other users are required,” he elaborated.

Electricity prices have increased more than six-fold over a decade and are now the second-largest cost component after salaries for deep-level and electricity-intensive mines. The renewables projects, in total, will account for about a third of the mining sector’s annual electricity consumption.

In addition, the Minerals Council said the mining industry would not completely replace Eskom supply, as it would need 24-hour baseload electricity to operate mines safely, productively and efficiently, something renewable energy sources are unable to provide at present.

Eskom will remain an important large baseload supplier of electricity to mining for many decades into the future, the council said, highlighting that the sector’s 3 900 MW is “purely supplemental” and will not detract from Eskom’s critical baseload capacity.

Meanwhile, the government’s carbon tax will add billions of rands of additional expense for mining companies. A 2019 study of 18 large mining companies indicated they would have to pay more than R5-billion a year in Phase 2 of the tax.

The Minerals Council noted that renewable energy projects would reduce member companies’ exposure to carbon tax, make mineral production greener and provide a new but limited source of cheaper electricity, helping stabilise South Africa’s strained electricity supply, which is characterised by frequent and unpredictable power interruptions because of Eskom’s aging, unreliable fleet of power plants, and the inability to bring the new Medupi and Kusile plants to sustainable performances.

“The Minerals Council reiterates its support for Eskom [and De Ruyter] and the leadership team who are all doing the right things to fix and maintain Eskom’s assets.

“Their departure at this critical stage will only exacerbate the problems within Eskom and for the country at...

The Minerals Council South Africa has reiterated its full commitment to the transformation of the mining sector.

This follows after Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe on November 23 told Members of Parliament in the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Petroleum that the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) would not appeal a September High Court judgment, which set aside certain provisions in the 2018 Mining Charter.

Among the provisions that were set aside was a rule that an ownership target of 26% for empowered investors would remain in perpetuity. The once empowered, always empowered principle will instead be implemented.

The council noted concerns raised by committee members about the implications of the High Court judgment for transformation of the mining sector.

The council said it was willing to engage the committee members to address any concerns and to demonstrate that its members continue to be fully committed to the socioeconomic transformation of the mining industry.

Senior Minerals Council leadership met with Mantashe and other senior DMRE officials soon after the judgment and recommitted the industry to transformation of the sector, it added.

Mantashe has also acknowledged this commitment as one of the reasons for not lodging an appeal against the judgment, the council said.

“Mining companies continue to be bound by the underlying terms and conditions incorporated in mining permits and licences, which governs obligations under transformation and social and labour plans. These are not affected by the judgment,” the council confirmed.

In line with Section 2(d) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, which requires mining companies to “substantially and meaningfully expand opportunities for historically disadvantaged persons, including women to enter the mineral and petroleum industries,” the Minerals Council’s independent Mining Industry Transformation Progress Report for 2019, showed the significant achievements of the sector.

Trade union Solidarity on November 23 also welcomed the DMRE's announcement that it would not appeal against the recent High Court ruling on the Mining Charter.

“We are pleased with the department’s decision, especially given the legal certainty it brings. We believe this decision will lead to more investment in the mining sector, which is needed for job creation in the mainstream economy,” Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis said in a statement.

With its vast potential for wind and solar energy, Namibia is excellently placed to become a global player in green hydrogen production, the Africa Green Hydrogen virtual conference heard on Monday, when green hydrogen was highlighted as the key decarbonisation vector in the global fight against climate change.

While Namibia was described as an attractive partner for a large number of countries in the global transition towards green energy, it is Germany that is first past the post to sign a formal preparation agreement with South Africa’s neighbour, which not only has 3 500 sun hours a year but also vast unused areas of land that are traversed by perfect wind speeds that can be utilised for profitable wind energy production.

It is anticipated that a kilo of green hydrogen from the Southern African country will cost between €1.50/kg to €2.00/kg – a world-record cost that places Namibia ahead of other hydrogen hot spots, conference attendees were told.

These costs arise even after adding in environmentally sound seawater desalination on-site and meeting Namibia’s local electricity supply. The hydrogen is separated out of seawater by electrolysers that make use of platinum and iridium, both platinum group metals that are hosted overwhelmingly in Southern Africa.

With costs as low as these, Namibia has the potential to rapidly become a key player in the green energy market of the future. As soon as its own energy needs are covered, it can export to country’s elsewhere.

Germany, which has already clinched the first understanding with Namibia, also has the companies that can supply the green hydrogen technology that Namibia needs and also train up the human resource capacity needed to realise several projects that are likely to follow the imminent release of a green hydrogen atlas for Namibia and many other Southern African countries, including South Africa.

In doing so, Germany can meet its tightened climate targets and simultaneously chart the course of sustainable development in Namibia.

Moreover, hydrogen generation in Namibia also provides a testing ground for German technology developments and research institutes.

Earlier this month, Mining Weekly reported that the Namibian government had stolen a green hydrogen march on its larger neighbour South Africa, announcing at COP26 the selection of HYPHEN Hydrogen Energy as the preferred bidder for a $9.4-billion green hydrogen project to be developed in the Tsau //Khaeb National Park, near the coastal town of Luderitz, in southern Namibia.

HYPHEN is a joint venture between Nicholas Holdings Limited, a strategic investment and infrastructure project developer, and ENERTRAG South Africa, a unit of an independent German energy company that has a portfolio of renewable energy projects and which has also been producing green hydrogen since 2011.

Cranmore managing partner Yusuf Macun led a panel made up of African Hydrogen Partnership chairperson Dr Innocent Uwuijaren, Hydrogen Europe CEO Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) project facilitation director Ahmed Badr, Hydroma chairperson Aliou Diallo, and Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies (Iresen) head Samir Rachidi.

The African Hydrogen Partnership was described as representing the entire African continent in taking up the opportunity to leverage off green hydrogen development.

Irena has launched a $1-billion fund for green hydrogen development.

Hydrogen Europe is the 320-member European association dealing with hydrogen technologies.

Iresen is a research institute created in 2011 by Morocco’s Ministry of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment, with the participation of several key players of the energy sector in Morocco.

Cranmore recently published a country ranking for the green hydrogen economies investability criteria, which highlighted Europe as being a key green energy leader.

Hydroma has been engaging with Canadian and South African mining companies who are decarbonising.

Chatzima...

The global green transition and electrification of transport has started a paradigm shift in the demand dynamics of metals, which are required for a low-carbon future, and are set to experience a significant boost in demand in the coming decade at least, says research agency Fitch Solutions.

Battery-grade nickel, or Class 1 nickel (which contains more than 99.8% nickel content), used in rechargeable batteries is a major beneficiary, especially as the configuration of lithium/nickel/manganese/cobalt (NMC) oxide batteries used in electric vehicles (EV), is changing, with a shift from a 1:1:1 ratio (meaning nickel, manganese and cobalt were used in the same proportion) to 5:3:2, and then to the latest 8:1:1 (with eight parts nickel to one part of manganese and cobalt each).

In fact, Fitch Solutions says Class 1 nickel “will see demand outstripping supply in the

coming years as EV production and adoption accelerate”. It attributes this to a severe lack of sufficient new Class 1 nickel mining projects in the pipeline and strong EV production and sales forecasts by the agency’s autos team.

Fitch Solutions’ autos team forecasts EV sales to increase from the 5.6-million units sold this year to 26.7-million units sold in 2030 and sees strong upside risks to these estimates.

The team explains that Class 1 nickel supply suitable for battery production represents about half of global supply, although less than 20% is available to be processed into powder and briquettes that could be used to produce nickel sulphate.

With Class 1 nickel to experience a major demand boost from the green transition, the main impediment facing the market is sufficient Class 1 supply and the main game changer would be the successful conversion of Class 2 nickel (with less than 99.8% nickel content) to Class 1 nickel.

However, at present, Fitch Solutions says, global production of nickel is roughly equally divided between Class 1 (46% of global) and Class 2 (54% of global), and that, in terms of global nickel demand, about 74% stems from stainless steel production, which can use both

Class 1 and 2 nickel, while only between 5% and 8% of demand currently stems from batteries that require only Class 1 nickel as the quality and performance of batteries depend on the quality of nickel used to make them.

Class 2 nickel, on the other hand, is produced from saprolites and limonites, which are popular for their use in the stainless steel industry due to their iron content and potentially low production costs.

“Indeed, the presence of iron and other contaminants, including copper, that need

to be separated, are the main concerns with regard to the quality of nickel, differentiating between Class 1 and 2 nickel.”

Fitch, therefore, expects demand from batteries for Class 1 nickel to accelerate dramatically in the coming decade at least.

However, ultimately, how rapidly a potential shortfall in Class 1 nickel supply emerges will depend on several factors, including the speed of EV adoption, the choice of battery technology, mining companies’ willingness to restart Class 1 production projects after many were idled during the last five years owing to low prices, the potential for technology breakthroughs in cost-competitive refining of nonferrous Class 2 products and the potential for increased Class 1 nickel recycling.

“We believe miners will increasingly be pressured to meet technical and sustainability criteria surrounding battery metals, as various jurisdictions define requirements and restrictions in relation to the raw materials they use,” the agency says.

It expects the battery market will gradually demand a differentiated range of metal products in terms of their quality and impurities, while simultaneously necessitating that these products are “clean” from both a social and environmental standpoint.

In particular for the battery-grade nickel sector, from a greenhouse-gas (GHG) emission

perspective, a recently completed study by Energetics found that high-pressure ...

Mining technology integration partner Dwyka Mining Services this week launched US-based robotics developer Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robot, known as Spot, in South Africa, targeting specifically a variety of mining applications.

Dwyka MD Jamie van Schoor says Spot can be used in the mining industry for seismic surveys, gas detection, laser scanning, conveyor belt line and tunnel inspections and search and rescue operations.

He adds that Spot also has a particular application to work on no-go or low-manoeuvre areas as it is able to traverse difficult terrain at both its normal height and in a crouching mode. Spot is also easily able to recover from falling over, in addition to constantly maintaining good balance from knocks.

Spot has been designed to conduct autonomous operations, such as routine “autowalks” of aboveground plant and operations, as well as underground.

However, Spot can also be controlled remotely by an operator, who has 360o visibility as a result of forward-facing, side and rear cameras, enhanced in low-light environment by infrared capability off the shelf.

Dwyka demonstrated two versions of Spot to South African mining companies, including Spot Explorer and Spot Enterprise, the latter being more adaptable to autonomous operation as it can dock itself to a charging and data offloading station that also offers a quick charge function.

Wheeled and tracked robots are limited by stairs, gaps and ground-level obstructions such as cabling and staged materials and minor height differences in flooring.

Alternatively, aeriel drones work well for exterior site and facade monitoring but struggle when it comes to constrained environments, battery life, payload and path repeatability, according to Boston Dynamics.

In this regard, Spot’s animal-like mobility enables it to navigate these environments easily without the same constraints faced by drones or wheeled/tracked robots. Spot can also easily traverse stairs.

Spot can carry various payloads of up to 14 kg, including a high-resolution and zoomable camera; light detection and ranging sensors; thermal imaging; auditory sensors to identify audible leaks such as that of compressed air; and food, water and medical supplies for search and rescue operations.

In search and rescue operations, Spot can also be configured to carry lights, a microphone and speaker to facilitate two-way communications to trapped persons.

A dedicated Spot Arm version is also available. This Spot comes fitted with a manoeuvrable arm, which cannot be removed, that can interact and collect items, and open doors.

Spot can be controlled using a remote controller based off of Xbox gaming consoles, thereby enabling anyone who has used an Xbox to more easily adapt to using Spot robots.

Early adopters of Spot used the robot to document construction progress, monitor remote or hazardous environments and provide situational awareness.

Spot robots have been used in a variety of environments, including power generation facilities, decommissioned nuclear sites, factory floors, construction sites and research laboratories.

Spot has also been used to explore projects for creative industries, such as dancing on stage and performing in theme parks.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks Zambia’s pledges around green energy and copper as it seeks to attract investment; mining graduates should expect to be unemployed from the age of 40; and green hydrogen activist Andrew Forrest had some strong opinions about oil and gas in a recent interview with CNN.

TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines’ Kamoa Copper subsidiary has awarded China Nerin Engineering the basic engineering contract for the planned, direct-to-blister flash smelter at the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex that will incorporate leading-edge technology, supplied by Metso Outotec, and have a nameplate capacity of 500 000 t/y of about 99% pure blister copper.

The contract was signed on November 18 by Kamoa Copper CEO Mark Farren and Nerin GM Wu Runhua, at a virtual ceremony held at the Kamoa-Kakula mine and Nanchang City.

The planned Kamoa-Kakula smelter is to be built adjacent to the Phase 1 and Phase 2 concentrator plants and is designed to use technology supplied by Metso Outotec and to meet the International Finance Corporation's (IFC’s) emissions standards.

The smelter has been sized to process the majority of the copper concentrate forecast to be produced by Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 concentrators.

With a nameplate capacity of 500 000 t/y of blister copper, it is projected to be one of the largest, single-line blister copper flash smelters in the world, and the largest in Africa.

In a statement on Thursday, Ivanhoe co-chairpersons Robert Friedland and Yufeng Miles Sun said the smelter is expected to be built concurrently with the project's Phase 3 mine and concentrator expansion, and the upgrading of turbine five at the Inga II hydropower complex.

The additional 162 MW of renewable electricity from the Inga II upgrade project will be needed to power the Phase 3 expansion and on-site smelter.

The next stages in the smelter project development will be the completion of basic engineering, which is expected to take about seven months, and the ordering of the long-lead equipment, followed by earthworks which are expected to start in the second quarter of 2022.

The awarding of the engineering, procurement and construction management contract is expected to occur shortly after the commencement of the earthworks.

The overall execution timeline will be dictated by the basic engineering, but is expected to be about three years, with an expected capital cost in the region of $700-million for the enlarged smelter, and it will be financed with cash flows from Kamoa-Kakula.

JSE- and NYSE-listed Sibanye-Stillwater has, in an effort to to reach common ground with unions, tabled an amended conditional three-year settlement offer that takes into account t that the cost of living has increased and is above the average inflation rate of 3.6% over the past year but considers the sustainability of the company's South African gold operations.

The offer was tabled on November 18 during the ongoing conciliation process between the company and labour unions under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

The conditional settlement offer was made on the basis that it is accepted by the coalition which comprises all unions and would mean that:

Category 4 to 8 employees would receive an increase of R570 in year one, R640 in year two and R670 in year three, which includes a R40 increase in the living out allowance each year.

Miners, artisans and officials would receive an increase of 4.5% in year one, 4.9% in year two and 4.9% in year three.

The company also made proposals on other non-wage and process issues.

The conditional settlement offer will increase Sibanye's wage bill at its gold operations by R1.4-billion by July 1, 2023 and excludes concessions made in respect of non-wage demands.

In rand terms, this offer would mean that, over the next three years, the average guaranteed income for entry-level category 4 underground production employees, who make up 29% of the total workforce, would increase to R16 730 in year one, R17 510 in year two and R18 326 in year three.

This excludes employee earnings through performance bonuses that make up a significant proportion of employee remuneration.

“We have stabilised and significantly extended the lives of the old Gold Fields mining operations since we acquired them in 2013. After five years of solid operations, our gold operations suffered severe disruptions in 2018 during the five-month strike which ended in April 2019, and most recently due to Covid. Our gold operations have only recently stabilised and returned to normalised and planned operating levels.

“At the same time, we have had to manage significant cost pressures. Over the past eight years, electricity tariffs have increased by 132% - that is, 79% above inflation – while total guaranteed income for entry-level underground employees has more than doubled. In making the conditional offer, we have carefully considered what our gold operations can afford. Above-inflation wage increases or any operational disruptions will jeopardise the sustainability of our gold operations and will negatively impact the many stakeholders that depend on them," Sibanye South African gold operations EVP Richard Cox said.

The labour unions would no be given time to consider the offer.

The parties plan to meet again on November 24.

Glencore has set the ‘just transition’ in promising motion with a highly successful winter wheat pilot project in Mpumalanga, South Africa’s province of coal mining and coal-fired power generation.

The programme, which began in April has been described as being hugely successful in demonstrating the value of the combination of remediated coal-mine land, mine water and agriculture.

A panel of seven, in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly on Thursday, illustrated the sort of far-reaching work that needs to be done to limit negative impacts and maximise opportunities for local communities living within the region. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Taking part on the Zoom interview were Business for Development (B4D) director Africa operations John Cook, International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM) environmental stewardship manager Dawn Brock, Mpumalanga Mine Water Coordinating Body programme manager Carla Hudson, Glencore environmental manager (defunct and decommissioned collieries) Kubashni Mari, B4D CEO Karen James, Glencore agronomy and field operations manager Chiedza Sibanda, and Glencore environmental and long-term water group manager Nico Dooge.

The idea behind this programme, based at Umsimbithi’s Wonderfontein colliery, came from a workshop involving the Mine Water Coordinating Body, Glencore and Anglo American, at the start of 2020.

It determined that there was an opportunity in Mpumalanga to look at the assets of mining and the benefit they may potentially have for community agriculture.

On the basis of strong support from ICMM, Glencore, Anglo American and the Mine Water Coordinating Body, B4D spent some time thinking about how it might be able to instigate a programme to see whether mine water and remediated land could contribute to community agriculture – and hopefully provide the basis of future industries for the community that in time might replace the employment and incomes being earned from coal-fired power generation and coal mining.

Winter wheat was specifically targeted because a cereal company in South Africa felt that the grain could potentially be of use in the manufacture of its cereals, while underlining the currently pervasive environment, social and governance (ESG) principles adopted by mining companies.

Go-ahead followed Glencore, the Mining Water Coordinating Body, ICMM and Anglo American demonstrating a willingness to explore the outcome of mining assets underpinning agriculture.

Research is now being completed to ensure that there are no inadvertent residuals coming from either the water or the remediated land that would be injurious to using the grain grown for food consumption.

The programme is now on the brink of being a very successful demonstration of ‘just transitioning’ from coal to agriculture, with renewable energy and potential value addition spinoffs creating considerable enthusiasm.

Awaited are the last pieces of evidence to support this as being an idea that has huge merit and it warrants a close consideration by the many other mining companies contemplating giving community members a stake in to residual land assets and potentially water resources.

Mining Weekly: What important benefits can regenerative uses of coal land provide to regional economies and the avoidance of ghost towns. Does a programme like this help?

Cook: In my view it does because ultimately the business of agriculture is that more often than not what is being grown becomes the basis of happy people with food security. If you pick your crops properly, you then have the opportunity to supply product into industrial markets and when you think about the volume of grain used by cereal companies that can generate very substantial amounts of and activity for farmers and also create the ability to get into value addition by processing the grains, by milling and potentially making products from the grains. So, we’re starting with, I guess, growing agriculture and then building the scale of those operation...

Construction of Aim-listed Jubilee Metals’ Project Roan is quickly nearing completion, with commissioning activities targeted to start during December, slightly ahead of the anticipated timetable and notwithstanding international freight and logistics challenges.

Project Roan, which is targeting production of 10 000 t/y through the integrated copper processing plant in northern Zambia, remains on track to start delivering copper concentrate to the upgraded Sable Refinery during the first quarter of 2022.

In addition to Project Roan, Jubilee is also targeting the construction of a further two such copper concentrating facilities as part of its Northern Zambian refining strategy, as the company targets the delivery of in excess of 25 000 t/y of copper by the end of 2023.

On the back of positive results from the preliminary work undertaken at the Troulli copper project, in Cyprus, coupled with the fact that Caerus Mineral Resources has successfully increased its prospective rights, which offers the potential of greater scale to the project, Jubilee has reached an agreement with Caerus to extend its option agreement for a further 18 months, with both parties working towards a possible joint venture during the first quarter of 2022.

Jubilee is, meanwhile, planning to upscale its engineering team in Cyprus as it advances its test programme at the Troulli project.

In terms of its platinum group metals (PGMs) projects, Jubilee has completed the $21-million construction and commissioning of the extensive upgrade capitalisation programme at the Inyoni PGM operations.

The upgrade programme has significantly enhanced Inyoni’s processing capability by providing the flexibility to process a variety of third-party PGM feed materials, making it one of the only large-scale PGM plants capable of processing blended ores.

The capitalisation programme was undertaken over an 11-month period and included a chrome recovery circuit together with a new feed blending and classification circuit with a significantly expanded PGMs recovery circuit with the capability, based on its design, to process up to 75 000 t a month of chrome and PGMs-rich material.

Inyoni is now uniquely positioned to capitalise on the variety of PGM feed materials offered to the market, Jubilee said in its statement on November 17.

Jubilee’s PGM operational target for the current financial period remains at 50 000 oz, despite the interruptions to operations during the construction and commissioning of the upgrade programme.

In the meantime, Jubilee continues to review the available options to expand its processing footprint into the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex’s PGMs-bearing region.