Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the exciting changes to Copper 360’s leadership; Minerals Council South Africa's belief that public-private partnerships are missing from new draft Minerals Bill; converting grey hydrogen to green hydrogen.

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Following last week's dual listing of Shuka Minerals on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's AltX, two more JSE listings are on the way, one of which is targeting the JSE's main board, mine developer Jason Brewer has outlined to Mining Weekly in an interview

As the CEO of Marula Mining, the executive chairperson of Neo Energy Metals, and holder of the deep-seated shareholding in Shuka, Brewer has made it clear that the dual JSE AltX listing of Neo Energy Metals is next on the list with Marula earmarked for the JSE's main board. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"As a company that's operating here, we have to have a presence on the JSE, so today you've seen Shuka Minerals do the dual listing here. You'll see, very quickly, Neo Energy Metals do a dual listing here, and Marula as well move here onto that main board here. I see South Africa very close to me, great opportunities, and you've got to be involved on the JSE to attract the necessary investor sentiment and support," said Brewer, an Australian whose first as a mining engineering student was in South Africa many years ago.

Today, Marula's Blesberg lithium tantalum mine in the Northern Cape has expanded extensively to include former tungsten mines, Neo's transaction with Sibanye-Stillwater on the old Beatrix 4 uranium and adjoining licences are targeting a major next level, and Shuka is reworking a coal project in Tanzania and finalising the purchase of a lead, zinc, silver and vanadium mine in Zambia.

Mining Weekly: You seem to be here, there and everywhere when it comes to mining in East Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa. What are the opportunities that you see? As an Australian does Africa excite you?

Brewer: It does, because Africa has those resources largely untapped, the potential just hasn't been realised. And look a lot of infrastructure that many countries around the world be crying out for. So, it's got all the necessary ingredients for successful mine development.

What's the latest about the developments under way in South Africa?

South Africa's got something very close to my heart. I'm a mining engineer student, so my first job at a university was here, with Gencor, out at the Kinross mine. So, it's always had a big part of my life and it's so good to be coming back so often. Here in South Africa with Marula Mining, we have our big Blesberg lithium tantalum mine up in the Northern Cape. We have expanded that from 1 800 hectares up to 28 000 hectares in the Northern Cape. We've picked up adjoining licences with former tungsten mines, so big critical metals focus there. Our intention in the Northern Cape is really to create that as a critical metals hub, a big processing facility there, processing the lithium, the tantalum, the tungsten and various other metals that we've identified in that area, hence why we've expanded so much.

The Northern Cape is an incredible place. It really is, so very excited about that with Marula, and then with Neo Energy Metals. Again, Neo is a uranium-focused company. We've just done an incredible deal with Sibanye-Stillwater here on the old Beatrix 4 shaft, the Beisa uranium and the gold there, and on the adjoining licenses there with Charlie Watt's Sunshine Mineral Reserves. We see a great opportunity to become, effectively, South Africa's leading uranium producer over the course of the next 18 months. You've got the infrastructure, you've got the resources, you've got the skillsets, things you don't find in other places. South Africa offers a tremendous amount for what we're doing, where I'm driving, and I love it. With the energy that I find here, we can get things done.

What about this Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Over 100 years old, it does have something sacred about it. Do you find that?

It's the...

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The Northern Cape copper mining company Copper 360 has announced a leadership transition as it embarks on a new phase of accelerated hard-rock mining growth.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange AltX-listed company has appointed Graham Briggs as its new CEO, with effect from June 1.

Best known for his tenure as Harmony Gold Mining Company CEO, Briggs brings extensive experience and strategic skill within the mining and resources sector with his operational output and industry insight embracing gold mining not only in South Africa, but also Australia, Canada and Papua New Guinea.

Shirley Hayes, the current Copper 360 CEO and controlling shareholder, highlighted Briggs' appointment as an important step in the strategic roadmap to transform Copper 360 into a disciplined, multi-mine copper producer. Hayes will assume a nonexecutive Copper 360 board position and serve as chairperson of the newly established risk committee.

"Bringing Graham on board as group CEO is a calculated, forward-looking move in unlocking the value of the vision of the company. Securing the leader who steered Harmony Gold through some of the industry's toughest cycles - turning complex assets into sustained returns - is a major achievement for Copper 360 and our stakeholders.

"Graham's proven ability to convert asset into long-term value will accelerate our transition to steady-state hard-rock production, while I, as chair of our newly formed risk committee, will keep a sharp focus on the risks that could impede that value creation," was Hayes' comment to Mining Weekly, in which she expressed full commitment to support the delivery of the company's vision.

"This transition is part of a deliberate succession strategy I initiated to secure Copper 360's future beyond its founding phase. Graham's arrival is not just a personnel change; it's a signal to the market and to all of us that Copper 360 is maturing into a disciplined, resilient company with ambition far beyond its past constraints. This is our next first mile - and it's going to be extraordinary," Hayes added.

In February, Copper 360 reported that it had successfully executed the first on-ore blast at its Rietberg mine, which is expected to ramp up to full production of about 40 000 t a month by the end of 2025.

Copper 360 has a dozen opencast and underground mines within 13 km of one another, across more than 19 000 ha.

All will reportedly process their ore in Nababeep, the Namaqualand copper town, 19 km north-west of the town of Springbok, which is Hayes' birthplace.

In addition to Rietberg are Jubilee, Homeep, Klondike, Wheal Julia North, Whyte's West, Koeëlkop, Hoogkraal and Waaihoek.

While the mines are geographically close, they differ in size, ore grade, stage of development, and operational status, reflecting a form of risk-lowering that diversification normally provides.

Briggs, who will be supported by Hayes in a structured handover, expressed great excitement about joining the company at "such a pivotal time".

"Copper 360 has a vast inventory of copper in the ground and proven processing capability that is scalable. I look forward to working closely with the board, management, and the dedicated operational team to unlock the true potential of the company," he added.

Under Hayes's tenure, Copper 360 focused on creating a platform for hard rock mining with consistent grade and mineralogy, while concurrently transitioning out of broken rock processing.

Currently nonexecutive chairperson of Salamander Magnesium, Briggs is a former VP of the then Chamber of Mines of South Africa, which is now Minerals Council South Africa.

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South Africa needs to see far more harnessing of the capital of the private sector, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane told the Junior Indaba on Tuesday.

Regarding the absolutely essential but extremely long-awaited South African cadastral system required for exploration, Mthenjane reiterated the Minerals Council's advocacy of enlisting the private sector to assist with the introduction of a cadastre.

"Now, many other issues have emerged where I think there's a need to bring in the private sector to try and overcome these and to demonstrate a sense of urgency," Mthenjane commented at the event chaired by Bernard Swanepoel. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Also taking part in the panel discussion and covered by Mining Weekly were ENS head of natural Resources and environment practice Ntsiki Adonisi, who moderated, Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) director-general Jacob Mbele, Council for Geoscience CEO Mosa Mabuza, and NSDV director Lili Nupen.

In an update on the introduction of the absolutely essential but extremely long-awaited South African cadastral system, DMPR deputy director general Tseliso Maqubela confessed that the department was again at risk of repeating what had taken place on 1 October 2013, which is now a business school case study on how not to roll out a project.

Revealed is that the new cadastre is going to be regionally implemented. "There won't be one roll out nationwide," Maqubela disclosed.

"We've decided that we'll start with the Western Cape. We're still targeting completion in June 2025, as we had committed," said Maqubela, on the grounds that the Western Cape is a manageable jurisdiction with the highest number of operational mines and zero backlog.

"So, we'll be we'll be able to test the efficacy of the system using that jurisdiction. It also doesn't have an appreciable backlog. There's no backlog in Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Free State, so we chose those deliberately.

"There are also a limited number of appeals that are outstanding in the Western Cape, which will soon be followed by Eastern Cape, and then all the other regions will follow after that.

"We know that there are regions with complexity that we're going to have to deal with, and we don't want any comebacks, so currently we're doing data migration, particularly for the region where we're going to start validation of that data, making sure that it is audited.

"Come the first of July, you won't be able to use Samrad to apply in the Western Cape, you will have to apply using the new cadastral system.

"One key feature is that we've introduced what is called a grid, and when you click on the grid and you say, I want to apply here, it will either give you a red that means you can't apply there, or it will give you a yellow to say that you need to have some conversations with people because you may be encroaching, and then the green will allow you to submit your application.

"The size of the of the grid is going to be a hectare, so you can expand the grid as much as you want, so what I can say is that we're on track to deliver a robust, transparent and efficient, cadastral system.

"We are resolving challenges as they emerge and when we launch, we'd like to get feedback so that we can make the necessary adjustment," Maqubela added.

In a video played to provide an overview of what was described as the new South Africa mining licensing system, logging in came with a personal dashboard, and the steps involved in the application process were indicated at the top of what was described as the application page.

Drawing attention to South Africa's 40% unemployment rate, Mthenjane pointed out that South Africa's mining industry has the capacity to a huge role in alleviating this country's w...

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It's important to understand that the market for green hydrogen is already there because the world is consuming 100-million tons of hydrogen a year that are polluting "polluting like hell", the French company Lhyfe emphasised this week as it drew attention to the steps it is taking to convert grey hydrogen - and the use of proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology to do so also got a word in edgeways, which is music to South Africa's ears as PEM and platinum group metals (PGMs) go hand-in-glove.

Lhyfe is a France-based public company that sells its green hydrogen at a price comparable with fossil fuels across Europe, which currently consumes seven-million tonnes of grey hydrogen, a major carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter.

At question time, Sasol's production of 2% of the world's grey hydrogen also came into the picture.

"There's nothing that's easier to do when decarbonising a customer, a plant, an industrial player, than switching from grey hydrogen to green hydrogen, so that's what we're doing," Lhyfe founder and CEO Matthieu Guesné outlined during the online presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

"Decarbonising existing industry is as important as decarbonising mobility because 23% of CO2 emissions are linked to energy usage by industry, so it's important to understand that the market for green hydrogen is already there," Guesné pointed out.

The 100-million tons of grey hydrogen emits a billion tons of CO2.

"Whether you believe that green hydrogen is the silver bullet of energy transition or not, hydrogen is a necessity, and it has a tremendous market, and it needs to decaronise. Green hydrogen is 20 to 35 times less intensive in terms of CO2 emissions, so that's a good solution.

"It's as important to decarbonise industry as it is to decarbonise mobility, because 23% of the CO2 emissions that are linked to energy usage in the world are linked to industry, and the same percentage, 23%, is linked to energy usage for transportation, so it's the same challenge to decarbonise transportation as it is to decarbonise industry," Guesné noted.

A lot of hydrogen is needed because of its use in the production of glues, inks, paints, fertilisers, explosives, and many other items.

"If you go to IKEA and you buy a shelf, 60% of the shelf is made from glue and particle wood that is glued. That glue is made from methanol, which is in turn made from carbon and hydrogen.

"Basically, with six chemical compounds, the chemical industry can produce everything, so you have soda, chlorine, nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen, and those chemical compounds, form the basic elements for doing plastics, glue, inks, paints, explosives, and fertilisers, all produced from those basic compounds, and that's why you need a lot of hydrogen," Guesné reiterated.

Displayed on the screen was a Lhyfe hydrogen production plant that purifies seawater ahead of electrolysing it into green hydrogen. Shown as how this plant is connected to a wind farm that has wind turbines dedicated to the hydrogen production.

Lhyfe's commercial scale plant has made more than 500 deliveries of green hydrogen to 50 customers, using a fleet of nearly 70 containers. The company employs 200 people and operates in 12 countries across Europe and Canada.

"We did a lot of hardware and software to achieve that. But we did not manufacture the components themselves. We bought the components from companies in Europe to do our plant.

"We did the funding and construction of the plants. We use our money, or bank money, to fund the plant, and we operate the plant. We have our own training centres for our own operators, and then we deliver to customers.

"We have a sales force that sells each and every kilogram of green hydrogen that we produce. The plant is running and it's delivering its hydr...

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On the eve of next week's Junior Indaba, strong emphasis was this week placed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) being open and ready to welcome junior miners.

"We've got colleagues speaking at the Junior Indaba next week and at those engagements, we say to South African companies, the market is open, we're ready to welcome you on to the JSE, and capital is available for quality opportunities," JSE origination and deals head Sam Mokorosi spelt out to Mining Weekly following this week's dual JSE listing of London AIM-listed Shuka Minerals. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Newly listed Shuka has a coal project in Tanzania, and is finalising the purchase of a lead, zinc, silver and vanadium mine in Zambia.

"We have a long-standing dual listing framework on the JSE for international companies that have a premier exchange listing overseas, to do a list here.

"What that does is give access to a trillion-dollar investor base in South Africa that is looking for quality assets, quality businesses to invest in, be they large mega caps, be they smaller AltX listed companies that are looking for upside growth. South African investors are hungry for good quality assets.

"We have a good pipeline. There's another listing happening in June, and one that's been promised in September, and some of the folks that attended this morning's listing are also promising us one more inward listing.

"The momentum is looking strong. We had a really great 2024 with the likes of We Buy Cars and Boxer and Cilo Cybin listing, so we're looking forward to maintaining that momentum," said Mokorosi.

"We are very supportive of mining. Our roots as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange come from the Gold Rush in the late 1800s, which is the time that the JSE was formed, and so we're excited to see junior miners come to the market to access capital.

"I think dual listing really helps. If you look at a company like Orion Minerals, they were able to use instruments in Australia, because they're listed there, to raise capital from investors in South Africa, so you can see those kinds of synergies cross border in terms of access to capital, and that's what dual listings allow companies like Shuka to achieve," Mokorosi added.

The JSE is currently ranked in the Top 20 largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalisation, and is the largest stock exchange in Africa, having been in operation for 137 years.

Mining Weekly: Why is the AltX attractive?

Mokorosi: The AltX is really our board for junior miners, for smaller companies. The entry requirements are a bit lower than the main board. The ongoing obligations are a bit softer, and really what we're saying is, without reducing investor protections, we want our listing rules and requirements to be fit for purpose. A big trillion-rand company must have higher corporate governance requirements than a company that's R20-million, R30-million, R50 million in market capitalisation, and so the AltX is fit for purpose for your smaller listed companies.

We've been really enthralled by the support that we're getting from the London market. We've had a couple of inward listings from London recently, including Supermarket Income REIT, Primary Health Properties, Assura plc, so there seems to be a good theme in terms of properties and junior miners inward listing from London. So, part of our exercise to attract listings is spending a lot of time there in the markets, speaking to market participants and making sure that the good story of our deep capital markets is well known. However, we are also very active in the South African market. Our engagements with the ecosystem are ongoing.

For explorers, developers and investors, the 11th Junior Indaba is taking place in Johannesburg next Tuesday and Wednesd...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses London's Shuka Minerals being listed on the JSE; the new technology that uses sound to recover 92% of platinum from hydrogen fuel cell stacks; and a Beijing jewellery retailer including platinum investment bars in its offering

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The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's newly listed Shuka Minerals states in its listing presentation that it is already experiencing the "fresh approach" of the government of Zambia to mining as its sets out to revive a base metals mine once run by Anglo American.

The Zambian zinc-and-lead Kabwe mine operated for 88 years before closure at a time of commodity price downturn and Shuka is now intent on "breathe new life" into the asset, which benefited from very few modern exploration techniques when in operation from 1904 to 1994.

"We still have to finish the process of purchasing the project on the 11th of June, which is coming quickly, and it's the matter of final Competition Commission clearance in Zambia and the funding, which one reason why I'm here in Joburg.

"We've been finalising that now, so we should be in good shape for the 11th, and then we're off to the races on the geology," Shuka CEO Richard Lloyd told Mining Weekly at the JSE listing on Wednesday, May 21. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

During its 88 years of operation, Kabwe produced 12-million tons of zinc and lead ore, but has never had a modern gravity or magnetic survey completed.

Orebodies 1 to 6 are previously mines deposits, with orebody 2 bearing untouched silicates. The remaining resources are untouched sulphides.

"We've got 16-million tons of ore running at 12% to 14% zinc and about 3% to 4% lead. That's four million tons of contained metal, and you can do the sums. On the current zinc and lead prices, that's metal in the ground of about $6-billion. Now, obviously you've got to get it out, but with a ship with a market cap of $3-million," Lloyd pointed out.

Orebody 2 is seen as the one with the most immediate and the highest potential. Its silicate resources average 11% zinc and 1.7% lead, with silver, vanadium and gallium also existing, according to a 2023-dated Behre Dolbere report.

"We've identified a few of the funkier critical metals, such as gallium, which probably nobody had even heard of in 1904," Lloyd noted.

A $145 200 capital expenditure (capex) is being lined up for Shuka's other asset, Rukwa in Tanzania, from which coal is mined to local Tanzanian cement plants. The capex is designed for a phased restart and will be spent on excavators and loaders, wash-plant upgrades and repairs.

Mining Weekly: What do you think the JSE listing can do for Shuka?

Lloyd: The rationale and the thought process behind it was to come here early to allow the South African investors to take part at what I call our base. I only started as CEO four months ago and my strapline for next week's Junior Indaba is breathing life back into Rukwa and Kabwe, which will be our two assets going forward. It's to enable the South African investor to take part at an early stage…and get people to understand the company, believe in what we're going to do.

The name Shuka reminds one of East Africa and the red garments of the people.

Yes, Shuka is the traditional dress of the Maasai. My non-executive director, Edu Ruheni, is Maasai himself. He grew up on the border of Kenya and Tanzania. He's critical to working with the communities. The Rukwa mine in Lake Tanganyika has been under care-and-maintenance for the last year. We need to bring that back to life, breathing life back into Rukwe and Kabwe, and the critical thing now is working with these communities.

Mining Weekly noticed that South Africa, and Southern Africa were also on your list of investment possibilities.

Yes, we're in discussions on a South African project that may link with the Zambian operations, and, yes, we'll look at these projects, we'll assess them. There's a lot on my plate at the moment with we're getting Rukwa up and running again, and obviously Kabwe, with the geology, the drilli...

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Shuka Minerals, which is primarily listed on the alternative investment market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), on Wednesday sealed a secondary listing on the alternative exchange of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

"It's exciting to bring Shuka Minerals to the JSE," an upbeat Shuka CEO Richard Lloyd exclaimed as he and Shuka director Edu Ruheni beat the African drum with great gusto, ahead of a high-premium early share purchase bid being flashed across the big JSE trading screen. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The JSE, which has been in operation for 137 years, is currently ranked in the Top 20 largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalisation.

Newly listed Shuka is immersed in the development and operation of mineral assets, currently operates a coal project in Tanzania, and is finalising the purchase of a lead, zinc, silver and vanadium mine in Zambia, the Kabwe mine.

"We're going to redevelop that," Lloyd declared at the high-spirited event, covered by Mining Weekly.

Previously operated by Anglo American and Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, Kabwe was mined for 88 years before being closed in 1994 during a period of low commodity prices.

"It's a matter of understanding the geology," said Lloyd, who has a geologist background.

"We'll need to dewater various pits. We need to be very careful of what we do with it, so the ESG and the corporate and social responsibility side of things is paramount. It probably wasn't in 1904 when it first opened.

"We are going to have to be careful when we work with the communities up there, but we've met with the District Commissioner, all the people there, and everybody's absolutely excited about the future of Kabwe.

"The town grew up on Kabwe and everybody's eager to get back to work, get their jobs back, dewater the pits and get going, and bring it back to its former glory," Lloyd added.

JSE origination and deals head Sam Mokorosi spoke of the listing not only being a corporate milestone but also a reflection of the vision to transform natural resources into shared prosperity - and to do so with deep respect for the people of Africa.

In pointing out that the JSE's 278 listed companies have a combined market capitalisation of R20-trillion-plus, Mokorosi highlighted the exchange's fast-track listing process, from which Shuka benefitted.

Last year, the JSE expanded its fast-track universe allowing secondary listings for companies primarily listed on 14 international exchanges including the LSE, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd and New York Stock Exchange.

The JSE's fast-track listing route offers an expedited approval process, reduced listing fees and minimises the resource requirements typically associated with a pre-listing statement. This forms part of the JSE's ongoing efforts to enhance accessibility and efficiency for international companies.

JSE capital markets director Valdene Reddy spoke of the listing reflecting the success of ongoing efforts to create a more enabling regulatory environment and broaden the range of investment opportunities available on the exchange.

JSE trading operations head Martin Koch provided a live demonstration of the technology prowess of the JSE's 9 am to 5 pm trading day, which takes in a staggering 20-milllion-plus orders a day, which translates into 300 to 500 orders every second.

"If you blink for 300 milliseconds, we would have sent that order to London and back and then to London again," Koch told the audience.

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New technology, which uses sound to recover 92% of platinum from hydrogen fuel cell stacks and provide a major boost to the platinum economy, is emerging from Johnson Matthey, a company which, interestingly, has a long-standing South African presence.

Earlier this year, the company founded in 1817, reported in a White Paper that the growing need for platinum group metals (PGMs) cannot be met through conventional below-surface mining alone.

Now, it has put its money where its mouth is though research and development that uses what journalist Angie Bergenson described in the latest edition of Hydrogen Fuel News as "acoustic cavitation - that's basically bubbles formed by sound waves - to gently, but effectively, break apart the membrane structure".

The technology has the potential to recover a lot more PGM material, augment mining in a far cleaner way, and may also work for water electrolyser recycling, another key piece of the green hydrogen puzzle.

The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) material disassembled by the technology is the central part of platinum-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) green hydrogen fuel cells that provide emission-free mobile and stationary energy arguably with the greatest holism and effectiveness.

A fuel cell stack consists of many single cells stacked up so that the platinum-based cathode of one cell is electrically connected to the anode of the adjacent cell. In that way, exactly the same current passes through each of the cells.

The World Platinum Investment Council this week saw fit to draw attention on LinkedIn to this new technology, which is seen as being poised to contribute significantly to the circular economy and to ensure that recycling makes a greater contribution to the availability of PGMs, some of them far scarcer than others, besides being very clean and green.

This innovation, in which the UK's University of Leicester features prominently, is described as marking "a big step toward closing the loop in platinum recovery and pushing us closer to a future where clean tech gets smarter, greener, and a whole lot more sustainable".

Interestingly from a local viewpoint is that if you drive down Henderson road in Germiston South, you will come across the name Johnson Matthey Pty, which is part of "an ambition to be a world leader in sustainable technology solutions, transforming energy and reducing carbon emissions, for a cleaner, brighter future", through collaboration with customers, partners, academic research institutions, and innovation ecosystems.

Significantly lowered through all of this is also the involvement of fluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or what are known as PFAS, sometimes referred to as "forever chemicals".

In 2023, it was reported that Johnson Matthey had signed an investment agreement with the Jiading District in Shanghai to help accelerate the hydrogen economy in China by building a new catalyst-coated membrane production facility, providing production capability for multiple PEM fuel cell applications and PEM electrolysers, which turn water into hydrogen and oxygen.

Catalyst-coated membranes typically consist of platinum cathodes and iridium anodes, which are applied to solid membranes in a way that reportedly maximises hydrogen production.

Water flows into the catalyst-coated membrane, where an iridium catalyst uses electrical energy to break water molecules into oxygen, protons and electrons. The electrons are driven through the external circuit and protons then cross the membrane. A platinum catalyst puts the protons and electrons back together to form hydrogen.

This membrane is a key performance-defining component in fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). China has said it aims to have a million FCEVs on its roads by 2030.

TURNING GREY ...