This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

South Africa's chromite recovery potential has been broadened by Wednesday's joint venture agreement between Glencore Operations South Africa and Sibanye-Stillwater.

"We'll definitely extend our contract terms," Glencore Alloys CEO Japie Fullard noted in response to Mining Weekly questions during a media conference that followed the presentation by Glencore plc of operationally strong 2024 results.

The chrome pooling and sharing venture with Glencore has entered into what was described in a Merafe Resources Johannesburg Stock Exchange announcement as a "mutually beneficial enhancement to the legacy agreement, as well as a new chrome management agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater.

Glencore is listed in London and Johannesburg and Sibanye-Stillwater is listed in Johannesburg and New York, while Merafe's revenue and operating income are primarily generated from the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture, which has a total installed capacity of 2.3-million tonnes of ferrochrome a year.

Earlier this month, Merafe advised that, through its chrome venture with Glencore, a ferrochrome smelting business review might result in the suspension of certain of its ferrochrome furnaces in May, and that work with regulatory authorities was under way to explore all viable alternatives in partnership with organised labour. Additionally, engagement with suppliers was under way to identify cost-saving measures to help improve the current situation.

The negotiated price agreement (NPA) obtained from State electricity utility Eskom last year is reportedly insufficient.

"For us to survive in terms of ferrochrome capacity in South Africa, we need, first of all, to have a better NPA tariff. And then from a governmental position, they have already approved the ore tax and if we do not have some sort of initiatives from government, it will make things extremely difficult for us to survive.

"So what do we need? We also need to be excluded, as the ferrochrome industry, from cross-border adjustment mechanism CBAM tariffs otherwise we're going to be penalised even more, and what's going to put another burden on top of ferrochrome would be the carbon tax. Those would be the areas of relief that we would seek." Fullard explained. CBAM is the cross-border adjustment mechanism.

"We need to be excluded, otherwise we're going to be penalised even more. And also, what's going to put another burden on top of ferrochrome would be the carbon tax. Those would be the areas of relief that we would seek for

South Africa, once the mainstay of global ferrochrome production, today supplies most of the chrome for China to produce ferrochrome, which is used to make stainless steel.

Mining Weekly: Are you aware of the new technology that is available that can cut electricity required for smelting by two-thirds?

Fullard: I can tell you that we are already in negotiations with the owner of this intellectual property (IP). We must all understand, though, that it's still currently at pilot project stage and is not yet commercialised, so we, as Glencore, are looking into partnership with the company that's got this IP and we're aggressively looking at this as part of the solution. I can tell you, however, it's not a short-term solution, and will take time.

SMELTDIRECT

Fullard's IP comment is almost certainly a reference to the promising new Proudly South African technology called SmeltDirect, which is positioned to take the greenness and cleanness of ferrochrome to a new level at a time when the likes of the CBAM imposition are not far off in a region where combatting climate change remains an essential requirement.

SmeltDirect promises to be on the receiving end of value from CBAM carbon credits, giving South Africa an open window of opportunity to regain lost ground with...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

Johannesburg- and New York-listed DRDGOLD on Tuesday, February 18, reported soaring half-year operating profit and 28%-higher revenue for the six months to December 31.

The strongly performing surface gold mining company, headed by CEO Niël Pretorius, declared a dividend for the eighteenth consecutive financial year.

"Dividends for us are no longer just a policy but a value," Pretorius stated during the half-year presentation covered by Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"To take advantage of a very healthy gold price, you need to be able to produce - and our operations managed to do just that," Pretorius pointed out.

"Focusing on paying a dividend requires financial discipline, which extends to the way that we manage our costs," Pretorius added.

The well-led regeneration, climate-conscious, property-renewing and community-uplifting DRDGOLD is maintaining steady state as it moves into the new Vision 2028 organic expansion phase.

The gold price was a 26%-higher R1 478 663/kg amid operating profit leaping 74% to R1 578.7-million and headline earnings darting 65% to just under R1-billion.

Although it was overcast and rainy during the presentation of results, DRDGOLD CFO Riaan Davel made the point that the half-year financials reflected a "very sunny" performance and "really good trends", which included the operating profit of Ergo being a whopping 92% higher at R828.7-million.

The interim dividend declared was 50% higher than last year's corresponding half-year payout.

Not having to make use of the credit facility resulted in the company's cash being a well-grounded R600-million plus, clearing the way for the board to declare a dividend one and half times the previous interim payout at 30c a share.

Half-year cash operating costs were a 6%-higher R866 221/kg, which is consistent with the rate of inflation.

Capital expenditure was a 12%-lower R947.6-million owing mainly to the completion of key projects and reduced commissioning activities on reclamation sites. Moreover, recourse to bank debt was absent from these capital re-investments.

An important achievement for the period was the integration of the solar plant and battery energy storage system into the national grid, which is providing ongoing direct cost reductions and shielding the Ergo gold-from-waste recovery operation on the East Rand and soon also Far West Rand Gold Recoveries on the West Rand from higher electricity costs and any supply interruptions.

As and when accounts have been transferred into the name of Far West Gold Recoveries, there will be the benefit of electricity wheeling as well.

Sixteen per cent less Eskom electricity was used in the half-year, even though more electricity was needed to accommodate the higher tonnage. That is the result of the commissioning of the Ergo solar plant, which is now up and running.

DRDGOLD COO Jaco Schoeman outlined how the power transition initially started off with a small solar plant of only 20 MW, which grew to 60 MW, with the battery story being similar as it worked its way to a capacity of 187 MW.

"For us to shut down the plant in a controlled manner, we need at least two hours of battery capacity," Schoeman explained.

Ergo has now changed to higher volume sites and slightly lower head grades, bringing down the rand per ton profile.

Vegetation of tailing dams is ongoing and the slight increase in potable water consumption is not a bucking of the downward use of fresh water over the years.

Construction of the regional tailings storage facility at Far West Rand Gold Recoveries has progressed to a point where more than two-million cubic metres of starter wall ground has been moved and the basin and return water dams levelled. Civil work on the Driefontein 2 plant will continue to b...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

The acronyms are becoming more intense, with PTE, which stands for porous transport electrodes, the latest one, amid the already tried and trusted proton exchange membrane (PEM) popping up for decades now in the context of platinum group metals (PGMs), which South Africa hosts in the greatest volumes.

PEM and now PTE are a reflection of PGM and green hydrogen good fortune, with PTE following an earlier ruthenium breakthrough to ensure supply at an acceptable price of iridium, which, in turn, assures the generation of affordable green hydrogen. Further good news for South Africa arises when fuel cells, which also require PGMs, turn the green hydrogen in net-zero green electricity to power trucks, trains, buses, ships, planes, buildings, factories, mines and mini-grid-served communities.

Crucially, PGM-catalysed electrolysers and fuel cells are all there is to ensure a low-carbon to no-carbon world and credible protection for a planet hit by climate change.

PTE has arrived to magnify the efficiency of PEM water electrolysis using the lowest amounts of iridium, which Heraeus Precious Metals has been going all out to do on its own and will now do to a far greater extent with the help of Smoltek Hydrogen.

Smoltek has entered into a strategic collaboration with Heraeus to elevate the functional efficiency of PTEs in PEM electrolysers to new heights.

"We've won another great ally in our quest to develop highly efficient catalyst solutions for PEM water electrolysis," Heraeus Precious Metals business line hydrogen systems executive VP Philipp Walter enthused in a LinkedIn comment.

Smoltek is combining its nanostructure technology with Heraeus' advanced catalyst formulations in a bid to significantly lower cost by further advancing the limits of iridium efficiency.

"We have very exciting times ahead. We're thrilled to join forces and push PEM efficiency to new levels," Smoltek Hydrogen president Ellinor Ehrnberg said in response about this latest step to support the global energy transition with scalable and sustainable solutions.

The new-generation PTE's electrolyser electrodes are required to carry water, hydrogen and oxygen from and to the PEM, while simultaneously serving as electrode and catalytic carrier, Heraeus has informed Mining Weekly in a media release.

For this purpose, PTEs are coated with ultra-thin iridium- and platinum-containing catalytic layers.

The key target is to decrease the necessary amount of PGMs, especially the very scarce iridium and to accelerate green hydrogen production at significantly lower cost and resource usage.

Key factors for an ultra-low iridium solution are a high addressable surface, smallest particle sizes and the formulation of the particles itself, and this is where the skillsets of the partners combine to a unique constellation:

The collaboration combines Smoltek's ultra-low iridium nanostructure technology for the PTE with Heraeus' expertise in advanced catalyst formulations.

Smoltek has already achieved 0.1 mg/cm iridium loading in PEM electrolysers, and this partnership is expected to further reduce the iridium content, by applying Heraeus' ruthenium-iridium catalyst on Smoltek Hydrogen's nanostructured PTE.

"Together, we aim to achieve a significant leap in catalyst efficiency and provide solutions that meet the needs of a growing hydrogen market," said Walter.

NEW PGM-CATALYSED ADVANCES

Many green hydrogen and fuel cell advances continue to be made.

For example, Toyota's new third-generation hydrogen fuel cell system, which reportedly offers improved performance, fuel efficiency, and cost reduction, is expected to be introduced in Japan, Europe, North America, and China after 2026.

In Germany, Accelera by Cummins will supply a 100 MW PEM electrolyser system for bp's ...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

One of the major subjects the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) was at the Investing in African Mining Indaba to talk to governments about is how to move what is an informal gold mining landscape to a formal one.

"What you otherwise find is that the informal becomes illegal, which becomes criminal and can lead to the tragedy, such as at Stillfontein," LBMA CEO Ruth Crowell remarked to Mining Weekly in an interview.

Much better, in her view, is to have the conversation around how informal miners can be formally embedded in the economy and brought out of poverty.

"One of the things I was most excited about this week is coming from the World Bank and their work in Côte d'Ivoire doing exactly that.

"We've seen models in Peru where you're taking informal artisanal ASM miners and giving them formality and licence to operate on some parts of concessions and it seems that model is being replicated in Côte d'Ivoire and we'd like to encourage it and hope it can happen in other major producing countries like Ghana and Senegal," Crowell said.

"When the informal becomes illegal the Mr Bigs can take advantage. If you can give other options to people, they're going to make that good business. That's going to be the choice.

"I think the challenges around the world is that the gold business has been good business. But we need to work both from a law-enforcement perspective and also a market dynamic perspective to make that business good business and to incentive miners to become formalised to see the benefits."

In January, LBMA launched a digital database for gold bars to improve transparency in the precious metals market, expecting all LBMA-accredited refineries to come onboard in 2025.

The LBMA's "good delivery" list currently includes 66 gold refiners and 82 silver refiners around the globe, which must source gold responsibly under the accreditation requirements that give them access to the London hub, the world's largest for over-the-counter gold trading.

While also at the Mining Indaba, LBMA chief technical officer Neil Harby pointed out to Mining Weekly that up to 20% of the world gold supply is from artisanal (ASM) sources that is not coming through the LBMA good delivery rule structure.

What can be termed scrap or recycled gold is often ASM gold transported and converted in another country and coming back as legitimate recycled gold.

Much supply chain work has thus been done on the true definition, recycled, scrap or preconsumer and post-consumer gold.

"There's been a lot of collaborative work on that throughout the industry to make sure that the gold coming into the supply chain is correctly identified for what it is, where it has come from, and it is not trying to pass itself off as something else," Harby explained

LBMA is an international trade association, representing the London market for gold and silver Bullion with a global client base. This includes the majority of the gold-holding central banks, private sector investors, mining companies, producers, refiners and fabricators.

LBMA has 174 member companies across 23 countries: financial institutions and mining, refining, transportation, trading, vaulting and manufacturing companies. Joining the LBMA provides a seat at the table of an internationally respected body and offers wide-ranging benefits.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses Barrick’s MoU with Zambia to boost mining and exploration; Brics's role in beneficiation on the African continent; and the big aluminium producer in KwaZulu-Natal that is planning to go ‘green’ to attract higher prices globally.

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

While 'high-carbon' is the value-lowering label being put on aluminium from South Africa's Hillside Aluminium in KwaZulu-Natal, the Sydney-, Johannesburg- and London-listed South32 benefits from the value-enhancing 'low-carbon' premium status of its other two aluminium producers, namely Brazil Aluminium and Mozal Aluminium.

The carbon-intensive description given to Hillside stems from its use of coal-fired electricity, but the good news is that competitive decarbonisation is continuing to be intensively investigated for Hillside, the largest aluminium smelter in the southern hemisphere and the producer of a good percentage of primary aluminium for South Africa's value-adding secondary aluminium product producers.

As Hillside directly and indirectly supports more than 31 000 jobs and contributes nearly R10-billion to South Africa's GDP, it would be a major advantage if optimum public-private attention could be given to 'greening' Hillside, which is responsible for a whopping 94% of South32's total Scope 2 emissions, South32 CEO Graham Kerr spelt out in response to Mining Weekly questions followed the company's strong start to financial year 2025 (FY25), amid portfolio transformation to support the world's clean energy transition.

"Engagement with government has been good," Kerr revealed.

South32's approach to climate change embraces operational and value chain decarbonisation.

"We've been studying this technically and commercially for many years to see what's possible for the business," South32 COO Noel Pillay emphasised.

"More recently that culminated in a request for information from the market, so we went to market to test what's possible, because our technical studies concluded that we could make Hillside work with solar PV and wind, obviously with backup investment.

"That process was actually over-subscribed, so lots of interest, and in isolation that was competitive. We are talking with Eskom, so there's various options we're looking at," he said.

These include both nuclear and renewables, as well as investigating new renewables projects together with Eskom to establish the semblance of a one-stop shop.

"That's all work in progress with much more work to do to give us clarity on how we go forward," Pillay pointed out.

Just energy transition considerations for Hillside require the switch to low-carbon energy to be planned in collaboration with a broad range of government and community stakeholders.

Meanwhile, investment has been made in the low-energy consumption AP3XLE technology.

"We're trying to pull every lever that we can within what we can control and we're halfway through converting all of our potcells to AP3XLE. But what we can control is very limited. The real issue here is the power source, which is what we're working to find," Pillay added.

FY25 production guidance for Hillside is 720 000 t, which on its own is more than double the combination of the 130 000 t expected from Brazil Aluminium and the 350 000 t from Mozal.

In the half-year, overall aluminium production increased by 5% and copper production by 16%, which enabled the group to capitalise on improved commodity prices, with underlying earnings increasing by 44% to $1-billion.

An interim ordinary dividend of $154-million was declared, with $171-million remaining to be returned to shareholders.

"We are focused on continuing our strong operating performance into the second half, unlocking value from our growth pipeline and continuing to reward shareholders as our financial performance improves," Kerr stated.

"Our second climate change action plan, to be released in August, will detail our approach and the actions we are taking to address the risks and opportunities that climate change presents for our business."

Meanwhile, in the six mo...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

Gold and copper mining company Barrick has clinched an agreement with the government of Zambia aimed at boosting exploration and mining in the well-endowed central African country.

This collaboration with the New York- and Toronto-listed Barrick aligns with Zambia's vision to increase annual copper production to 30 million tons in the coming decades, South African-born Barrick CEO Dr Mark Bristow disclosed on Wednesday, while delivering another set of outstanding financial results despite the issues it is having to deal with in Mali. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) is with Industrial Resources Limited or IRL, a subsidiary of the Zambian government's Industrial Development Corporation..

The purpose of the MOU is to establish a strategic partnership aimed at unlocking the maximum mineral potential amid Barrick's own Lumwana Super Pit copper expansion in Zambia advancing full permitting status with the feasibility study is now complete.

When Barrick acquired the Lumwana copper mine in 2011 it was unprofitable, which resulted in a $5-billion write down in the past five years.

A focus on cost discipline and exploration has added significantly to reserves, extending the life of mine by more than 20 years.

"Today, the mine is sustainably profitable and a pillar of our copper growth strategy," Bristow pointed out, with the operational Lumwana delivering a stellar record quarterly production performance, which brought the mine back into guidance and delivered a considerable improvement in costs, ensuring a successful end through 2024.

"With the Super Pit expansion feasibility study completed, we are now moving forward with the project development following approval from the board. The feasibility study clearly supports the value of this investment.

Importantly, Barrick is able to fund the Super Pit expansion through its current and forecast cash flow facilities without needing to issue any new shares or take on additional debt.

"We've appointed our engineering partners and finalise the environmental and social impact studies for which we now have received the permit.

"We're also on track with early works design and long lead item fabrication.

"This highlights the big advantage of emerging markets, where large expansions and new projects can be completed much more quickly than in the developed world, but at exactly the same standard," Bristow noted during the presentation of results covered by Mining Weekly.

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

The London- and Johannesburg-listed Pan African Resources is able to operate and to grow in South Africa - "and do so very successfully", an upbeat CEO Cobus Loots stated emphatically on Wednesday when he reported that a full feasibility study on the Soweto Cluster tailings storage facilities (TFSs) is expected to be completed by September to extend still further the life of the below-budget, ahead-of-schedule Mogale Tailings Retreatment (MTR) operation, which is thriving west of Johannesburg.

"We're growing profitable production very materially. We expect to be well north of 200 000 oz of annual production in 2025," Loots said of Pan African as a whole during the interim results presentation covered by Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Amid the stunning below-two-year payback of the MTR project and an under-three-year expected payback of the Tennant Consolidated Mining Group (TCMG) gold/copper project - which Pan African Tennant Mining Operations MD Peter Main described as "a gamechanger" - it was made patently clear that there is no chance that the current restructuring of the Sheba mine in Barberton will result in closure.

Under way are renewable-energy initiatives to provide an estimated 100 MW of decarbonised power by 2030.

Meanwhile, renewable-energy plants at Fairview and Evander Phase 1 are generating some 21 GWh of solar power, which realises a half-year financial saving of $2.1-million and cuts out 19 000 t of Scope 2 emissions.

A feasibility study has been completed for yet another solar renewable energy plant, this time one of 20 MW, with applications for environmental authorisations and permitting in progress.

In addition, several energy efficiency optimisation projects have been embarked upon at operations, realising $0.3-million in half-year savings and avoiding 3 000 t of emissions.

Evander's water treatment plant will be expanded to supply up to 5.5 ML/d from the current 3 ML/d, with construction work to expand the plant commencing during 2025.

Rehabilitation at MTR's Mogale and Soweto sites is already in progress, with several wetlands already restored.

The group is on target to rehabilitate 85 ha for financial year (FY) 2025 and closure liabilities are materially funded, with a relatively modest shortfall of $5.2-million related to the MTR closure.

Meanwhile, the full Soweto Cluster feasibility study is focusing on the possibility of constructing a new processing facility, which would be a standalone operation, also producing about 50 000 oz/y, as is the case with the highly profitable MTR, where studies could result in that output being lifted to 60 000 oz/y in the next year.

It is envisaged that this could be achieved through installing additional reactors to further improve recoveries. It could involve the addition of two carbon-in-leach (CIL) tanks to increase throughput to a million tonnes a month from 800 000 t a month.

Being studied, too, is the inclusion of a hard rock crushing circuit enabling the processing of nearby remnant hard rock resources.

The potential inclusion of additional proximal TSF resources that add still further the Soweto project's life-of-mine is also under scrutiny.

At TCMG in Australia, construction of the Nobles Gold CIL processing plant is ahead of schedule and within budget, with first gold now expected in the last quarter of FY 2025.

Despite all the capital that Pan African has invested, the strongly advancing company remains able to maintain sector-leading dividend payouts to shareholders and is considering an interim dividend in the next year amid being able to grow production by almost 50% in a short space of time.

"What's very helpful is that our assets have extended lives. We don't have to go and acquire more assets to maintai...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. v

Platinum group metals (PGMs) - which are hosted and mined overwhelmingly in South Africa - have recycling rates approaching the 100% mark in some applications, with the carbon intensity of PGM recycling some 97% lower than that of newly mined metal.

PGM products are used in a vast number of industrial applications where technology and performance are key, and the recovery of platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, and iridium has given rise to what is best described as an 'urban mining' plus.

Johnson Matthey, a company founded in 1917 which has a long-standing South African presence in nearby Germiston, reports in a white paper that the growing need of PGMs cannot be met through conventional below-surface mining alone.

As a refiner of recycled PGMs, a participant in global PGM supply chains and trade, and a provider of PGM market intelligence, Johnson Matthey's experience is an eyeopener for the many who are currently working globally to establish circularity for all metals and materials to meet lower-carbon imperatives.

Earlier this month, Johnson Matthey and Bosch agreed to collaboratively develop zero-emission hydrogen technology, involving the generation of green hydrogen generation through PGM-based electrolysis and the conversion of that green hydrogen to clean electricity through fuel cells that also make use of PGMs.

Hydrogen fuel cells are electrochemical devices that combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity. As pure water is the only by-product, fuel cell electric vehicles are a zero-emission option.

With Bosch, catalyst coated membranes for use in fuel cell stacks will be advanced

Catalyst coated membranes will be used in integrated, compact and scalable fuel cell power module for commercial vehicles, designed for longer distances.

Interestingly, on Tuesday, February 11, Johnson Matthey unveiled a new way of getting more from hydrogen production, through the use of its trade-marked Catacel catalyst.

By reducing energy consumption and increasing feedstock efficiency, this catalyst introduces a way that hydrogen production can be scaled more cost effectively.

As the world searches for cleaner energy solutions, green hydrogen is emerging with progressive viability as the genuine no-carbon option, amid the Danish Government announcing that it plans to supply green hydrogen to Germany by 2030.

The green hydrogen will be piped from Esbjerg to the German border as part of a package of measures that will support the hydrogen and offshore wind markets. Preparations to ensure the export of the hydrogen in five years time are already in motion.

"Denmark has an opportunity and an obligation to take part in kick-starting the emerging hydrogen market in Europe. This is the beginning, not the end," Danish Climate, Energy and Utilities Minister Lars Aagaard stated in a release accessed by Mining Weekly.

Meanwhile, filtration company Donaldson is partnering Daimler Truck North America in the SuperTruck III hydrogen fuel cell project to highlight its advanced air filter technology in the next-generation vehicle.

As of February, China's green hydrogen and green ammonia projects have hit the 764 mark, with some projects having already moved to the electrolyser procurement stage, Green Power VP Yong Ye reported on LinkedIn.

Of projects detailed, two have capacities of 100 000 t a day, one with more than 90 000 t/d and five with above 20 000 t/y, against the backdrop of global climate change challenges, energy supply concerns and resource constraints being considerably pressing.

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability.

Collectively, Africa's critical mineral resources are attractively expansive. Could BRICS potentially become a widespread new-era platform for distinctive mining and metals collaboration and cooperation, as some are suggesting?

At last week's Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, the need for well-endowed Africa to add value to its minerals in Africa for Africa was declared a must.

The ten BRICS countries now comprise more than a quarter of the global economy and almost half of the world's population and BRICS-related thoughts are already beginning to emerge from the private sector.

Prisma Training Solutions MD Jacques Farmer opined on Monday, February 10, that South Africa's membership in the BRICS economic bloc offers "a unique platform" to capitalise on this country's mineral endowment.

In addition to the abundance of mineral resources positioning South Africa strategically, Farmer's view is that South Africa's contribution to BRICS should not be limited to resource extraction alone.

"South Africa has a long and distinguished history in mining, amassing a wealth of expertise in areas like mine management, geology, and safety protocols. This knowledge and experience can be invaluable for developing the mining sectors of other BRICS nations," Farmer adds in his opinion release to Mining Weekly.

'C' IN BRICS PRESENTS PROFOUND POSSIBILITIES

China dominates much of the world's mineral processing and related supply chains, as Andaman Partners CEO Kobus van der Wath pointed out in Mining Weekly on January 31.

The processing of rare earths, graphite, cobalt, lithium and manganese takes place overwhelmingly in China, which is developing closer relations with BRICS, reported Van der Wath, who, at last week's Mining Indaba, also highlighted his company's role as a driver of cross-border trade in the African mining industry.

Within BRICS is considerable expertise. For example, South Africa, the 'S' in the acronym, is punching way above its head in the field of battery-grade manganese.

Moreover, South Africa poised to return to producing ferromanganese, where, not that long ago, it was globally dominant.

Very impressively, the world's purest manganese metal is being beneficiated into battery-grade manganese at the lowest incentive price of any of the new, non-Chinese high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate suppliers, or future suppliers, the Mintek@90 conference heard in November.

South Africa makes money at $2 500/t on the high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate it produces in this way, whereas the feasibility studies of the other new, non-Chinese suppliers, or future hopefuls, are calling for far higher $3 500/t to $5 000/t price viability levels.

Manganese fines and ultrafines, which are usually discarded on to a waste dump, are used by South Africa's Manganese Metal Company in Mpumalanga to make the world's purest 99.9%-pure manganese, with 20% to 30% of its current sales going into the battery sector.

Major advances are also being made by South Africa in the recovery of critical rare earth elements from phosphogypsum.

So, BRICS members are not only active in the mining of raw ores, but also advanced in adding value to those ores, which is just what we Africans need to expand as part of the new era confronting us as a result of disrupted global economics and politics.

On the ferromanganese front, steps are being taken by Menar to restart Metalloys in Meyerton, Gauteng,under the new name of Khwelamet.

MINING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION IN PLACE

Already established is the Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa (MIASA), whose members include the Chamber of Mines of Democratic Republic of Congo and Minerals Council South Africa

Just within MIASA alone, several more African countries could be added.

...