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Precious and green metals company Sibanye-Stillwater is well positioned as a climate-change resilient business in the future green economy, says CEO Neal Froneman, who emphasises environmental social governance (ESG) as being core to the company’s strategy as it achieves its objective of building an operating portfolio of green metals and related technologies.

The two key aspects of developing a climate-change resilient business are its road to carbon neutrality, already embodied, and the portfolio of green metals, which is driving its external growth strategy. All the sustainability goals of the United Nations feature in supporting ESG commitments.

The Johannesburg- and New York-listed Sibanye-Stillwater’s announcement of the nickel, cobalt and copper Santa Rita and Serrote transaction on Monday augments Wednesday’s purchase of 19.99% of the zinc tailings retreating New Century Resources, along with last year’s Keliber lithium and Sandouville nickel/cobalt transactions, and this year’s Rhyolite Ridge joint venture lithium deal.

Froneman expresses full confidence in the outlook for the transitioning of platinum group metals (PGMs) into the hydrogen economy.

This will take place as Sibanye-Stillwater strengthens its position in the circular economy through the recycling of PGMs and battery metals, as well as through tailings retreatment, which is already substantial through DRDGold.

“Core to our strategy is embedding ESG excellence. It’s the way we do business – and that’s evolved into a sustainability strategy,”says Froneman, who made clear his preference for being known as the company’s chief enabling officer rather than its CEO.

Froneman has led the company’s transformation from its inception as a 1.5-million ounce gold producer and arising out of its sustainability strategy is its portfolio of green metals and related technologies.

The sustainability themes that underpin Sibanye-Stillwater’s ESG commitments are identified as:

embedding human rights and ethics;

developing a climate-change resillience;

entrenching long-term economic sustainability; and

being data driven on the basis of “what you can’t measure, you can’t manage” within what Froneman describes as a “considered-decision-making business”.

All this comes against the achievement of Sibanye-Stillwater establishing itself as an industry-leading dividend payer through its gold business, which still has long life.

After two years of planning, a “considered decision” was taken to enter the platinum group metals (PGMs), initially in Southern Africa and then from 2017 in the US, which gave it access to the circular economy through the acquired Stillwater’s PGMs recycling business.

That provided an in-depth understanding of the underlying demands for the world’s car pool and how that would include battery electric vehicles, which led to two more years of getting to know the electric power train.

In 2019, SFA (Oxford) was acquired to assist in doing that, which led to the development of the company’s fourth sigmoid curve into green metals. (Also se attached graphic).

Now understood are the chemistries important for battery metals, taking in metals including lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite and copper – as well as uranium from gold operations.

“There’s no doubt, there’s strong demand for both battery metals and PGMs. Out until 2030, we see very little change in PGM demand. We do see very significant penetration rates by battery electric vehicles. We see fuel cell electric vehicles becoming more of the demand post-2030.

“But I also want to say that we believe that most assumptions on battery electric vehicle penetration rates are overstated – and that will become evident when you look at the deficits in the metals that are required to achieve that.

“We remain very confident in our very substantial PGM business but we're building a value proposition in getting exposure to the battery metals as well,” says Froneman, who was speaking during an online briefing cove...

Canada-based First Quantum has narrowed its total copper production guidance for the year by 15 000 t to a range of 800 000 t to 835 000 t, as it adjusted expectations for output from Cobre Panama mine, as well as Kansanshi and Senitel, in Zambia.

The lower end of the guidance range for Cobre Panama has been increased by 10 000 t, with the operation now expected to produce between 320 000 t and 335 000 t.

First Quantum lopped off 10 000 t from the top-end of its Kansanshi guidance to 205 000 t and it narrowed its Sentinel guidance by 5 000 t to between 235 000 t and 245 000 t.

Cobre Panama produced a record 87 242 t of copper in the third quarter, and Sentinel had its best quarter for the year with output of 59 931 t, while Kansashi’s production remained steady. Third-quarter total copper output was 209 859 t, up 5% from the second quarter.

While copper production increased, sales were lower at 194 278 t, owing to shipping challenges.

The miner reported that anode shipments in Zambia were impacted by a global shortage of container shipping capacity, as well as port congestion in Durban, Walvis Bay and Dar Es Salaam. Consequently, a number of planned shipments were rolled into the fourth quarter. These logistlical challenges for Zambian sales and for increased finished good inventories were expected to continue into the fourth quarter.

Total gold production for the quarter was 78 124 oz, a 4% decrease from the second quarter of the year. While gold production remained steady at Cobre Panama and Kansanshi, Guelb Mogrein experienced lower production levels.

The total gold production guidance for 2021 has increased by 10 000 oz to a range of between 290 000 oz and 310 000 oz on stronger performance at Cobre Panama.

First Quantum delivered a strong financial performance, driven by higher metal prices and strong operational performance.

On a quarter-over-quarter basis, reported comparative earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortisation of $886-million came in slightly below the $902-million reported in the second quarter 2021.

Net debt decreased by $449-million during the quarter, with a total reduction of $1.1-billion during the nine months year-to-date, bringing the balance down to $6.3-billion at September 30.

With the current strength in the copper price and ongoing strong operational performance, a significant further reduction is expected in the last quarter of this year.

JSE- and NYSE-listed Sibanye-Stillwater has entered into investment agreements to acquire a 19.99% shareholding in ASX-listed New Century Resources, which owns the Century tailings zinc retreatment operations in Queensland, Australia.

Sibanye says the transaction, which is expected to close by December, represents a unique opportunity to generate long-term value for its stakeholders, while enhancing its profile as a premier, global tailings retreatment leader that is uniquely positioned to play a key role in future supply chains for a sustainable circular economy.

“This investment in New Century represents a significant next step in our strategy of building a leading global tailings retreatment business, diversified by commodity and geography, and is aligned with our sustainability strategy of building a climate change resilient business.

"We have been impressed with what the New Century management team has achieved in developing a globally significant zinc-producing business through the reprocessing of tailings, while facilitating the rehabilitation of an old mine site.

"We are pleased to partner with New Century Resources in this exciting next phase of their growth at Mt Lyell and support their vision of growing their tailings management advisory service business model globally, to produce green metals and address environmental legacy issues,” comments Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman.

This investment in New Century complements Sibanye's existing investment in South African gold tailings retreatment company DRDGold.

It also gives Sibanye a foothold in Australia and allows for the potential sharing of technological best practices and synergy realisation across Sibanye's various investment platforms, further advancing Sibanye as a global environmental, social and governance- (ESG-) focused industry leader in tailings reprocessing.

The Century zinc operations were placed on care and maintenance in 2016 following depletion of the original openpit reserves.

After acquiring the operations, New Century converted existing processing infrastructure to enable the reprocessing of legacy tailings waste dumps. The infrastructure refurbishment was completed in August 2018 and the operations have been re-processing tailings since.

The Century zinc operations have a mine life up to 2027, with indicated and inferred resources holding a further opportunity to extend the mine life beyond 2030.

The operations produced about 128 000 t of zinc in the 2021 financial year.

Meanwhile, New Century has entered into a binding term sheet with Vedanta Limited for a two-year option agreement to acquire the Mt Lyell copper mine, in Tasmania.

The Mt Lyell mine has mineral resources of about 1.1-million tonnes of "green" copper and about one-million ounces of gold. New Century sees potential for an accelerated restart of the operation through tailings reprocessing and existing infrastructure.

New Century’s investment in the Mt Lyell copper mine will also provide an opportunity for sustainable green copper production, large-scale tailings reprocessing and rehabilitation. Through this investment, Sibanye further increases its exposure to green metals.

"As New Century develops its environmental liability management advisory service to large mining clients globally, and on the back of increased scale and visibility, we expect New Century to benefit from a re-rating in line with recyclers and waste management providers.

"Therefore, the investment itself is expected to have embedded re-rating potential as New Century grows and develops its strategy with the assistance of Sibanye as a partner," Sibanye notes.

"With the strategic investment by Sibanye and the option over the Mt Lyell copper mine, New Century is in an enviable position to grow its ESG-focused business through potential near-term 'green' copper supply, while also developing a client-focused tailings management services division," comments New Century MD Patrick Walta.

The investment in New Century will be...

Representatives of the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP) and five labour unions on October 26 signed an agreement on the terms of reference for the parties to collaborate on modernising the South African mining industry, resulting in the formation of the MMP – Organised Labour Consultative (OLC) forum.

The agreement was signed by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, the National Union of Mineworkers, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Solidarity and Uasa.

The MMP – OLC forum is designed to facilitate stakeholder participation in the research and development planning required for a modernised mining industry at a strategic and policy level.

Similar to the MMP, Minerals Council South Africa regards organised labour’s participation and input as critical to the success of future mining modernisation work.

The inclusion of organised labour has been long anticipated and was initiated through the South African Mining, Extraction, Research, Development and Innovation, as well as the Successful Applications of Technology Centered Around People programmes.

This, the MMP says, goes some way towards ensuring meaningful involvement of organised labour in the modernisation agenda.

Minerals Council president Nolitha Fakude says organised labour is the voice of one of the largest stakeholders in mining – its 450 000 employees.

“It is critical to have unions meaningfully involved in the modernisation journey and it is vital that unions recognise that modernisation of mining is an imperative to extend the lives of mines, save current jobs in mining and create new opportunities in South Africa.”

The MMP – OCL forum will engage regularly with the management of the MMP on current research, deliverables and future projects.

“We are incredibly pleased that five trade unions have agreed to come onboard,” says Minerals Council modernisation and safety senior executive Sietse van der Woude.

He adds that the collaboration is historic because it is the first time that organised labour, as a “critical stakeholder in the modernisation journey”, will actively participate in research, development and innovation (RDI) initiatives in South Africa.

“Their inclusion in, and signing of the terms of reference, demonstrates their commitment to global competitiveness of mining, not only [in terms of] economic metrics, but also on the very important environmental, social and governance measures, through modernisation,” he says.

Van der Woude notes that the signing ceremony marks the commitment between all stakeholders to work towards a more sustainable mining industry that contributes positively to a better world for individuals and society at large.

INDUSTRY SUSTAINABILITY

Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis says progress, as well as the sustainability of the mining sector, is of the utmost importance, not only for the South African economy and job creation, but also for the creation of job security within the sector for those already employed in the sector.

“For Solidarity, the latter is of particular importance as Solidarity has quite a number of members in the mining sector and is committed to working on solutions to ensure the survival of this sector.”

He adds that the agreement could also serve as a blueprint for other economic sectors regarding the way in which trade unions and industry players can work together in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As such, Du Plessis emphasises that such cooperation holds various benefits for employers and employees alike.

“We concur that the modernisation of mines should be a people-centred process, with safer mines, where machinery performs the work in areas where employees’ safety and health are endangered, being the main benefit. Similarly, the life of a mine can also be extended by using modern mining methods,” he says.

However, Du Plessis says it is important that this agreement should be of particular benefit to individual miners. “Apart from a safer work environm...

Precious metals major Sibanye-Stillwater on Tuesday announced its fourth transaction in the battery metals sector, with the $1-billion acquisition of the Santa Rita nickel mine and the Serrote copper mine, in Brazil, from private-equity fund Appian Capital Advisory.

Santa Rita is a big nickel/cobalt sulphide openit mine with potential for an underground project, while Serrote is an openpit copper mine, currently in ramp-up, developed at a cost of $195-million.

CEO Neal Froneman said that the transaction represented a unique opportunity for Sibanye-Stillwater to acquire significantly predeveloped and precapitalised, low-cost, producing nickel and copper assets.

The assets are managed by a Brazil-based teams, led by former Anglo American executive Paulo Castellari. The entire 3 387-strong workforce of Santa Rita and Serrote, including the management teams, would transfer to Sibanye-Stillwater.

“The transaction is a significant additional step in Sibanye-Stillwater’s ongoing strategy to position the business for continued value creation during our transition into a climate change resilient business, and follows and complements the Keliber, Sandouville and Rhyolite Ridge transactions announced earlier this year,” said Froneman.

Sibanye-Stillwater, like many other major mining companies, is investing in so-called green metals, crucial for the decarbonisation of the global economy. Appian said it had received interested from many groups globally, looking to gain exposure to decarbonisation metals.

The South Africa-based major was selected for the strength of its bid and its focus on environmental, social and governance.

The group won the bid on having a risk-free proposal, Froneman commented.

Sibanye-Stillwater would pay $1-billion in cash on closing of the inter-conditional transaction agreements for the Appian subsidiary companies which are the owners of Santa Rita and Serrote, as well as a life-of-mine 5.0% net smelter return (NSR) royalty, which would come into effect following the cumulative production of 252-million pounds of nickel-equivalent metal.

Appian acquired Atlantic Nickel, the owner of Santa Rita, out of bankruptcy in 2018. The same year it also purchased MVV, owner of the Serrote greenfield asset.

Santa Rita is one of the top ten global producing nickel sulphide mines, producing 16 000 t/y of nickel-equivalent, at a C1 operating cost of $1.97/lb. The conventional openpit operation has a seven-year mine life, but a preliminary economic assessment-stage underground project will extend that to 27 years.

Santa Rita has mineral reserves of 43.3-million tonnes at an average grade of 0.31% nickel, 0.11% copper and 0.01% cobalt, containing 134 000 t of nickel, 49 000 t of copper and 5 000 t of cobalt. Its mineral resources contain about 1.38-million tonnes of nickel, 446 000 t of copper and 25 000 t of cobalt.

The Serrote mine has a reserve life of 13 years and significant resource and optimisation potential. The mine is currently in ramp-up phase of 18 months and will achieve commercial production before year-end. The mine will produce an average of 20 000 t/y of copper-equivalent at a C1 operating cost of $1.11/lb copper.

Serrote has mineral reserves of 50.4-million tonnes at an average grade of 0.6% copper, 0.10 g/t gold, containing 299 000 t of copper and 159 000 oz of gold. Its mineral resources contain about 609 000 t of copper and 347 000 oz of gold.

Appian stated that the successful restart of Atlantic Nickel and commissioning of MVV, combined with support from strong base metals markets, in particular nickel and copper for electric vehicles and decarbonisation, provided a logical time for the group to exit the assets.

“These exits – the fourth and fifth from Appian this year – further underline the strength of our unique operating model, with our ability to identify, acquire and develop projects effectively,” said Appian founder and CEO Michael Scherb.

This year, Appian has sold Roxgold to Fortuna Silver for C$1...

Platinum group metals (PGMs) are lifting the performance of an alkaline electrolyser, which is helping to lower the cost outlook of green hydrogen.

PGMs have been incorporated in the catalytic coatings of the electrodes of the prototype Advanced Alkaline Electrolyser (AAE) alkaline electrolyser of Hydrox Holdings, of Strijdom Park, Randburg.

As PGMs normally go hand-in-hand with proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers, this is atypical for alkaline electrolysers.

As reported by Mining Weekly, platinum sparked an exponential performance improvement after a smattering of only 9% platinum was tried last year.

Hydrox has more than 20 years of experience in the research and development of various methods of extracting hydrogen from water and is the first company to demonstrate a fully functional membraneless electrolyser through its internationally patented DEFTTM technology.

Its zero gap liquid alkaline electrolyser is on its way to becoming Africa's first locally produced electrolyser.

The small-scale demonstration AAE unit is scheduled to be operational next month and the first 1 MW unit is due to be tested with full scale production next year. Installation is scheduled to commence in 2023.

On the prospect of the electrolyser meeting the challenge of generating green hydrogen at a cost of $4/kg by 2030, Hydrox CEO Corrie de Jager stated in a media release: “We at Hydrox believe that this goal can be reached much earlier.”

By incorporating PGMs in the catalytic coatings of the electrodes, hydrogen densities of more than 700 mA/cm2 are being achieved at an operating voltage of 1.8 VDC and the company is confident that its AAE unit can hold its own against PEM electrolysis technology counterparts.

Hydrox affirmed its readiness to play a major role as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the hydrogen economy and pointed out that an electrolyser needs to ideally operate for 24 hours a day to offset capital costs.

The Hydrox team is confident that these electrolysers will lower the cost of hydrogen by reducing both capital and operational costs.

The company's engineers have based their calculations on the 1 MW AAE unit operating at the stated energy density over a 20-year period, with stack replacement every eight years.

A news release just received states that Nel Hydrogen US, a subsidiary of Nel ASA of Norway, has received a contract for PEM electrolyser equipment from a stationary fuel cell OEM. The purchase order has a value of approximately $2.6-million, and the equipment will be delivered between 2022 and 2024. Nel will also be providing design consulting services as part of the project.

Hydrogen systems are not only going to be green, clean and low emission but they are also going to be local – and Canada’s First Nations see them as an indigenous reconciliation opportunity.

“They’re going to be local energy systems,” Change Energy principal Rymal Smith said in response to Fasken hydrogen and energy advisory team co-lead Dan Brock, who moderated the webinar in which Bimaadzwin CEO Isadore Day, who presented the case for indigenous communities, and Change Energy principal Al Davidson also took part.

Once a hydrogen microgrid energy system is up and running, it becomes a full-on utility with water management and, depending on the system, clean water production. As waste heat is captured from the system for space heating, it has heat production. Its electricity production can also be used in a number of different ways.

All that infrastructure built on site by mining companies can be left as legacy equipment that can then provide that energy system for the benefit of communities.

“Whether the hydrogen system is put adjacent to the town and the services are shipped to the mine, or from the mine brought back to the town, people living locally can manage those facilities on into the future,” Smith told the Fasken hydrogen and mining webinar covered by Mining Weekly.

Resourcing being a big issue can result in local technicians being trained to operate the systems, providing the potential for an entire ecosystem being developed around hydrogen microgrids for the benefit of the community as well as the mining industry.

Day, a former First Nation chief and an advocate of First Nation participation in the mainstream economy, has recently been paying attention to hydrogen energy as an opportunity for socioeconomic growth within indigenous First Nation communities.

Day highlighted the growing importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) in the way the world was dealing with climate change.

He said that the issues around climate change for those in the remote north of Canada were acute, impacting on the daily lives of individuals.

“The level of poverty that exists in our communities is getting us to focus on these types of solutions in a way that gets us to think a little bit further,” Day said.

“The relationships that indigenous communities across Canada are having are based on nationhood versus just an individual First Nation that once had very little to say about development in the territories.

“First Nations are very much affixed to their territories, have a long history that is even pre-confederate, and nowadays governments are recognising that indigenous people are going to play a much deeper role in development.

“When it comes to hydrogen, I think our starting point in the relationship is that of not just having the rights to the territory but our responsibility to establish the jurisdictional intelligence around how we work with that, how we make decisions.

“Furthermore, how the government invests in that scenario, is going to have a lot more weight when we sit down across the table with indigenous negotiations,” said Day, who has an interesting take on ESG in that he adds two more letters to the acronym, to create ESGIR, with the IR standing for indigenous reconciliation.

When it comes to the I, Day pointed out that may of the communities would once have said that the I stood for Indian, meaning the Indian Act, a piece of legislation that confined indigenous communities, now called First Nations, to pieces of land where there was full control by the federal government.

“That has since changed. Indigenous issues have now become the platform for solutions and reconciliation between crown governments and First Nations, i.e. indigenous communities, and have now advanced in the area of social justice, economic justice and access to decision-making.

“When you look at the baseline standards that business development relationships are building on, in environmental, social and governance, or ESG, indigenous is...

Precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater is in talks to buy nickel and copper assets in Brazil, as it looks to step up supplies of raw materials that are key to the transition to low-carbon energy sources.

The South Africa-based miner on Monday confirmed that it was in negotiations with affiliates of funds advised by London-based private equity fund Appian Capital Advisory, regarding the acquisition of the producing Santa Rita nickel/copper/cobalt mine and Serrote copper/gold project, in Brazil.

Sibanye-Stillwater did not disclose the valuation under discussion, but The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story earlier on Monday, said that the transactions could be valued at about $1-billion, including debt.

Sibanye-Stillwater has been stepping up its presence in the battery materials supply chain in recent months. The miner has invested $490-million in a lithium/boron mining project in Nevada, US. It has also previously struck deals to acquire a stake in the owner of a lithium project, in Finland, and to buy a nickel hydrometallurgical processing facility, in France.

Globally, mining majors are racing to increase their exposure to metals key to a low-carbon future. BHP Billiton and Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest are both trying to secure an undeveloped nickel, copper and chrome asset in northern Ontario, Canada.

Appian took the Santa Rita mine out of bankruptcy and brought it back into production in late 2019. The previous owner, Australia’s Mirabela Nickel, spent about $1-billion on the mine, which has a processing capacity of 6.5-million tons of ore a year. Appian last year delivered a preliminary economic assessment to extend Santa Rita’s life from eight to 34 years.

Serrote, meanwhile, is a greenfield project that was completed in mid-2021 with the first shipment of high-grade copper/gold/silver concentrate scheduled for November. Serrote will produce an average of about 22 000 t/y of copper equivalent over an initial 14-year mine life from a low-strip, openpit mine supplying a 4.1-million-ton-a-year processing plant. The Serrote project was delivered for about $200-million.

Coal miners Exxaro and Seriti Resources are joining forces with State-owned power utility Eskom to jointly develop renewable energy projects.

The landmark memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the parties on October 25 spells out the companies’ development plan to lower their carbon footprints.

Additionally, the parties aim to create jobs and re-skilling opportunities for communities living around and working at their respective operations.

Exxaro and Seriti are the largest coal suppliers to Eskom, contributing about 80% of Eskom’s coal supply a year. By implementing renewable energy solutions at their Eskom-tied operations and at related Eskom sites, Seriti and Exxaro aim to achieve both carbon reduction and cost savings in the generation and use of electricity at these mines.

“This is symbiotic with Eskom’s mandate to provide electricity in an efficient and sustainable manner, which includes decarbonising its supply chain,” the companies explain in a statement.

Phase 1 of the envisaged project pipeline will result in the construction of various solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities both on mine sites and at Eskom sites. These may be off-grid or wheeled solutions, or a combination of the two.

The partners aim to start with the projects as soon as possible, subject to regulatory approvals.

In particular, Seriti wishes to achieve a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of up to 350 000 t/y, which amounts to half of its emissions currently, through lowering the use of coal-fired electricity.

Exxaro aims to reduce its emissions by 130 000 t/y at the Matla coal mine, which represents a 70% greenhouse-gas emission saving when the mine is at full production.

“Eskom continues to explore means to lower the cost of coal supplied to its power stations, and this investment enables Eskom to take advantage of the low cost of PV power.

“This is one of the many initiatives Eskom has embarked on to achieve net-zero status by 2050,” Eskom CEO André de Ruyter states.

Exxaro CEO Mxolisi Mgojo says the MoU marks a significant development in South Africa’s energy transition to a low-carbon economy for three of South Africa’s largest players in the mining and energy sectors.

“The investment in decarbonising our mining operations is a systematic and responsible approach to the energy transition without introducing risk to the country’s electricity generation.

“The collaboration amongst Exxaro, Seriti and Eskom is exemplary of the possibilities achievable through cooperative and constructive relations between business and government in securing livelihoods and a future for South Africa,” he notes.

Seriti CEO Mike Teke adds that his company recognises the need to decarbonise; however, he emphasises the need for the transition to be done responsibly so as to not destroy South Africa’s industrial base or the lives of people that rely on these companies for jobs, enterprise and support.

In achieving its own just transition, Seriti has formed a new subsidiary called Seriti Green.

Mine operators need to take hydrogen and fuel cells very seriously as a pathway to decarbonisation, a webinar hosted by law firm Fasken heard this week.

“There’s no pathway to zero carbon that does not include hydrogen and fuel cells,” H2GO Canada CEO Bob Oliver stated emphatically in response to Fasken hydrogen and energy advisory team co-lead Dan Brock, who moderated the webinar in which Bimaadzwin CEO Isadore Day,Change Energy principal Rymal Smith and Change Energy principal Al Davidson also took part.

“The marginal cost of emitting carbon into the atmosphere is rising exponentially,” Oliver said during the discussion covered by Mining Weekly.

Heavy industry, confronted with the prospect of bringing the carbon intensity of their operation to zero, needed all the end uses possible to get to zero, and hydrogen was able to fill the gap left by processes unable to be electrified, said Oliver, who himself drives a hydrogen fuel cell Hyundai Nexo car.

Oliver spoke of the technical and economic performance of hydrogen and fuel cell technology having reached the point of 30 000 to 40 000 hydrogen fuel cell powered forklifts doing materials handling and logistics work and 10 000 fuel cell electric vehicles providing transport around North America.

The properties of hydrogen that made it attractive as a pathway to decarbonisation, he said, were that hydrogen was a carbon-free molecule, useable for power, mobility and heat, and able to be stored indefinitely.

Hydrogen could also be burnt for heat, without emitting any carbon dioxide, in addition to fuel cells being able to generate electricity.

Hydrogen production and certain key hydrogen technologies rely on the special catalytic properties of platinum group metals (PGMs), hosted overwhelmingly in South Africa. Widespread use is, in particular, being made of proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cells, which are catalysed by PGMs.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the energy of a chemical reaction directly into electricity, with heat and water as byproducts. Platinum and ruthenium play large roles in hydrogen fuel cells, Unlike batteries, hydrogen fuel cells never "run out", states the International Platinum Group Metals Association. Moreover, green hydrogen is generated with the help of platinum and iridium, another PGM.

Smith reported that he and Davidson had built several hydrogen refuelling stations ahead of his running of the hydrogen village programme for the federal government of Canada.

As part of the hydrogen village programme, 20 major demonstration projects were deployed throughout the greater Toronto area, including five hydrogen vehicle refuelling stations.

“There is the ability to make low-carbon intensity hydrogen in the north and apply it to mines and that’s going to be an improvement over what is now a diesel-centric operation where diesel arrived sometimes by plane sometime in the early days and it’s extraordinarily carbon-intensive,” said Davidson.

Smith added that there were going to be places where it would be easy to make hydrogen and mining operations that were very appropriate for the use of hydrogen.

“It's finding those mixes and developing them, almost on a case-by-case basis to determine what that value proposition is,” said Smith.

During Fasken’s webinar discussion in March, Hydrogen Optimized CEO Andrew T Stuart spoke of all mines having the opportunity to generate their own green electricity, no matter where they were located in the world, owing to the ubiquity of the world’s sun and wind.

In that way, carbon could be removed from the mining process to the greatest possible extent, with the potential for new value to open up for mines from customers wanting green products, said Stuart.

“Some places will be better than other places”, but it really is green electricity anywhere for everyone, Stuart emphasised in outlining the growing customer preference for green production, including green steel from green iron-ore that enable...