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The divestment by diversified mining company Anglo American of its residual shareholding in Valterra Platinum was on Tuesday highlighted by enabler Standard Bank as "the largest equity capital markets transaction in the history of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange".

The placement raised R44.1-billion to help realise Anglo's strategy of divesting its Valterra stake and simplifying its portfolio to focus on its positions in copper, iron-ore, and crop nutrients, with the cash proceeds from the sale adding to Anglo's balance sheet strength.

Standard Bank, Africa's largest bank by assets, acted as a joint global coordinator on the selloff of Anglo's remaining 19.9% stake in Valterra, South Africa's major integrated resource-to-market platinum group metals (PGMs) company.

As the only South African bank within the syndicate, Standard Bank unlocked anchor demand that helped deliver a sale of the full residual stake.

The transaction was described by Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking Head of Equity Capital Markets, South Africa & Sub-Saharan Africa Richard Stout as a reinforcement of the bank's leading equity capital markets' franchise position on the African continent.

Anglo launched an accelerated bookbuild offering of 52.2-million ordinary Valterra shares on September 3 at a price of R845 a share.

Formerly Anglo American Platinum, Valterra mines, smelts and refines PGMs and associated co-products from operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Following the demerger of the then Anglo American Platinum from the Anglo group in May, Anglo retained the 19.9%, with the good performance of the Valterra share price prompting the timing of the sale of its remaining interest in the PGMs producer.

Valterra's six underground mines and flagship opencast mine form part of an integrated value chain that has marketing hubs in London, Singapore and Shanghai,

Valterra PGMs take in platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium. High profile uses of PGMs include jewellery, auto catalytic converters, hydrogen fuel cells, air and water purification units, heart pacemakers, computer screens, hard disks and fertilisers. In recent years, the value of PGMs has seen platinum become an investment commodity alongside gold.

The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC), of which Valterra is a member, reported, in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly on September 11, that demand for platinum as an investment product is currently "extremely strong".

"We're seeing Chinese consumers who are looking for hard assets that are also liquid. With the increase in the gold price, investors are looking for alternatives and platinum naturally fits into that narrative," WPIC research director Edward Sterck commented.

"What's really interesting is that where we're seeing the strongest growth in platinum investment demand is in the smaller bar sizes and in coins, which is a clear indicator of broad-based demand.

"We're not talking about high net worth investors here, we're talking about the average consumer, the kind of retail-type consumer whose seeing a value opportunity in platinum," Sterck pointed out, at a time when the platinum market is forecast to see its third consecutive annual deficit in 2025, which has been brought about by a combination of constrained supply juxtaposed with demand that is proving to be more robust than anticipated.

The mining and marketing of South Africa's PGMs is very important to the South African economy and the more open the trading of these special metals is, the better.

What is very encouraging is that transparent trading of platinum and palladium by the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX) is likely to go live in the not too distant future, first domestically in China, and then later become available for...

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More smart testwork in the Johannesburg laboratory of Rainbow Rare Earths has enabled yet another forward leap for rare earth elements (REEs), at a time when REEs are in growing demand for use in permanent magnets to help the world go green and clean.

On September 1, the London-listed Rainbow Rare Earths shot the lights out with an exceptionally pure rare earth recovered from waste on a dump in South Africa's Limpopo province.

Now, 22 days later, it has streaked ahead still further through the major cerium depletion advance for light and heavy magnet REEs.

Cerium, a low-value $1/kg REE, constitutes a large portion of REE material, which makes its early depletion ahead of final separation highly desirable as it reduces the flow and simplifies subsequent hydrometallurgical processes. This lowers the required reagent and water consumption, which in turn results in a smaller separation plant with reduced capital and operating costs.

Cerium being down 65% lifts grade still higher as multiple tests have confirmed.

The workstream that is expected to be finalised in the last quarter of this year will be high purity neodymium and praseodymium oxide, and a heavy rare earth concentrate that will include the very high value dysprosium and terbium.

The Phalaborwa project is one of the world's most resilient rare earths projects in that it recovers REEs from phosphogypsum stacks, a waste product from phosphoric acid production, which eliminates many of the costs, risks and long timescales associated with traditional mining projects.

The potential to become a very low-cost producer of light and heavy REE, and one of the highest-margin projects in development globally, is being increasingly recognised against a backdrop of the Western world finally recognising the underpinning by REEs of the functionality of so many of the emerging and advanced technologies that are required by twenty-first-century society.

The latest cerium depletion advance on top of the earlier exceptional purity primary continuous ion exchange (CIX) achievement, also reduces the volumetric flow for the mixed feed stream entering the final separation circuit, which lowers capital and operating costs for this portion of the flowsheet.

The incorporation of the cerium depletion step to the flowsheet of the Phalaborwa project has helped to reduce the volumetric flow to the separation circuit to 2% of the original 340 m3/h pregnant leach solution coming into the CIX circuit, and has the added benefit of 27% less metal going into the circuit.

Being highlighted is distinctive intellectual property in the recovery of REE from phosphogypsum through the Phalaborwa project.

The cerium rejection step simplifies the feed entering the final separation circuit, both in terms of volume and in terms of the amount of unwanted metal that must be separated.

"These results demonstrate the exceptional work being carried out by our team at our in-house facility in Johannesburg, which is a world-class laboratory at the cutting-edge of REE recovery techniques," Rainbow Rare Earths CEO George Bennett pointed out on a media release to Mining Weekly.

Rainbow's large pilot plant was built in collaboration with Mintek, South Africa's Council for Mineral Technology, which derives its mandate from the Minerals Technology Act.

The availability of phosphogypsum is the result of the mining of a hard-rock phosphate deposit, which has been carried out by Foskor for the last 60 years.

The mined material is concentrated through a flotation process into a phosphate slurry, which over the period has been the feed for a nearby phosphoric acid plant, where two key ingredients were added, namely sulphuric acid and heat to create phosphoric acid.

The rare earths in the phosphate slurry were furthe...

Pan African's MTR celebrates a year of operation

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Nearly a year after commissioning, Pan African Resources' Mogale tailings retreatment (MTR) operation, in Mogale City, is looking back on the success of the project, which has been critical to local community development and environmental mitigation.

In 2022, Pan African acquired the asset from the liquidators of Mintails, and immediately embarked on the construction of the MTR, investing R2.5-billion to develop the plant that would ultimately process tailings from dumps.

By October 3, 2024, the MTR had been commissioned within 14 months - two months ahead of schedule and R100-million under budget - and by December 2024, the operations had ramped up to full production of 800 000 t a month.

Speaking to Mining Weekly on the sidelines of the relaunch of the MTR on Friday, which was attended by Mogale City local municipality mayor Councillor Lucky Godfrey Sele, MTR GM Oriel Shikwambana said that a game-changer for the development of the project was approaching it on an engineering, procurement and construction management basis.

This meant the team was in control of the execution, which enabled it to achieve the full construction ahead of time and below budget.

Further, the decision to leverage bolted construction of the carbon-in-leach tanks, instead of the standard welded contraction, saved the company about two months on the construction time.

Some 1 600 people were employed during the construction phase, with over 1 000 from the local community. Currently, there are 700 people on site - 200 are permanent employees.

In addition to environmental benefits of processing the tailings, the company's social and labour plan and investments into schools and local community development projects, besides others, are having far-reaching local benefits and promoting local enterprise development.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses Glencore's plans to provide financing and an offtake term sheet for Orion Minerals' Prieska copper mine, in the Northern Cape; South Africa receiving a mention by the UN climate organisation; South Africa's R105-billion Coega Green Am

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The South African economy requires fruitful outcomes to emerge quickly from the crucial memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will be signed tomorrow by Minerals Council South Africa and South Africa's Council for Mineral Technology (Mintek).

The signing of the MoU between Minerals Council CEO Mzila Mthenjane and Mintek CEO Dr Molefi Motuku takes place at a time when the private and public sectors are duty bound to ensure that as much domestic value is added to South Africa's metals and minerals at a time of worrying global disruption.

It must also be demanded that the collaboration promised by this latest agreement between the private-sector's Minerals Council and the public sector's Mintek be taken to the next level transparently so that all can witness greater efficiency in the processes used to add value to South Africa's mineral endowment, the property of the South African people.

South Africa's active patent development, strong extraction and processing skillsets, and the emerging adoption of advanced processing technologies across different minerals has got to be taken much further for all to see.

There is no reason why South Africa cannot become a global contender of note in the field of decarbonisation at the same time.

Expansion into clean-energy metals can drive sector growth and attract investment, with profit margins and export value increased by downstream beneficiation and value-addition strategies.

There for the taking is the establishment of a clean new minerals energy complex with electricity provided by the sun and the wind.

Even if South Africa had to quadruple the generation of renewable electricity, it is unlikely that all of it would likely be taken up - and it comes at a lower price.

Moreover, the green energy provided would allow South Africa's exports to quality for premium prices and avoid the penalties envisaged for non-green products.

The MoU must make South Africa smarter by ensuring that this country's mineral wealth taken to level that is higher than ever before - and this needs to be done with the utmost urgency.

The modern technology that is available to use has reached a new peak and collaborative use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced digital solutions is what can be offered by this MoU so that big and small companies benefit economically.

The Boston Consulting Group this week reported how companies using AI to advance decarbonisation across the value chain are benefiting.

The group also presented insight into the extent to which climate change continues to increase, causing significant financial losses through the uptick in the greater frequency at which floods, droughts and wildfires are occurring.

OPPORTUNITY 'RIGHT NOW'

As has already been pointed out by the Minerals Council, South Africa has an opportunity "right now" to grow its mining sector for the benefit of South Africa's people amid Improved resource custodianship being able to increase mineral reserve sizes and extend he lives of mining operations.

In addition, solar and wind energy can reduce operational costs and improve environmental, social and governance ratings, which can in turn attract responsible investment and enhance security of supply.

Moreover, the adoption of AI, automation and digitisation can improve mining efficiencies.

Collaborative research and development through the MoU as well as through the simultaneous help of universities and original equipment manufacturers can position South Africa in mining innovation.

ADVANCES ALREADY MADE

An exceptionally pure rare earth product has been delivered by Rainbow Rare Earths, which recovered the elements for this from phosphogypsum stacks, waste product from phosphoric acid production. Phosphogypsum availability comes about through the...

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Orion Minerals' Prieska copper/zinc mine, in South Africa's well-endowed Northern Cape, has received a prospective financing and offtake uplift through the signing of a non-binding term sheet with a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore involving financing of $200-million to $250-million and concentrate offtake for the promising Prieska asset.

Prieska is the centrepiece of Orion's future-facing metals portfolio. Historically mined between the 1970s and 1990s, Prieska is one of the world's volcanogenic massive sulphide base metal deposits, with a recorded past production of 430 000 t of copper and one-million tonnes of zinc from 46.8-million tonnes of sulphide ore milled. The mine financing will be made available in two tranches, the first $40-million of which will be for the construction and startup of Prieska's Uppers, and the second $160-million to $210-million for the construction and startup of Prieska's Deeps.

Moreover, up to $50-million of the second tranche may be drawn early to commence early works on the Deeps.

The arrangement with the subsidiary of the global diversified London- and Johannesburg-listed Glencore, a miner and marketer of more than 60 commodities, was announced by the Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed Orion in a Stock Exchange News Service announcement on Wednesday, 17 September.

Conditions precedent to funding under the facilities include Glencore completing an already commenced due diligence. Drawdown will be based on milestones for each tranche to be agreed during the due diligence process, with first drawdown targeted for November.

Key offtake terms include the offtake of 100% of bulk concentrates from the Uppers for five years, 100% of copper concentrates from the Deeps for ten years, and 100% of zinc concentrates from the Deeps for ten years.

The proposed Glencore funding will enable Orion to transition to producer status with a binding agreement expected over the next four to six weeks.

The first tranche enables Orion to move swiftly into first production and first cash flow from mining of the Uppers at Prieska and the early drawdown of the second tranche allows Orion to commence early works on the Deeps in accordance with the Prieska definitive feasibility study (DFS), Orion CEO Tony Lennox explained in a media release to Mining Weekly.

"This will allow for smooth and continuous operations as we move from the Uppers towards full-scale operations from the Deeps. In parallel with the due diligence process with Glencore, we will continue discussions with our current funding partners."

The project progress at Prieska has been followed by Glencore for some time and Glencore copper marketing's Toby Spittle expressed commitment to completing the due diligence expeditiously "and seeing Prieska recommence production as soon as possible".

As an early funder of the Prieska mine, South Africa's State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), expressed excitement about the prospects of advancing the project to implementation through its acting divisional executive of industrial projects and property development Rian Coetzee.

"The early support provided by IDC in developing the project is key to our mandate and implementation of the project will bring significant job creation in the Northern Cape and add to the socioeconomic development of the region," said Coetzee, who added that IDC would maintain its support for the project and be part of its successful implementation.

In an interview with Mining Weekly earlier this year, Lennox emphasised the closeness of Orion from transitioning to producer status. "We'll do so in a considered and detailed manner, but rest assured, we'll be producing concentrate by the end of next year," he forecast.

The permitted Prieska, which last operated in 199...

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South Africa needs both a competitive mining sector and a strong manufacturing base but supporting one sector by undermining another is an unsustainable strategy, Chrome SA cautions in a comprehensive media release in which it emphasises its willingness to work with government to create a policy environment where mining and manufacturing can thrive but that this has to take place within framework of competitive electricity pricing, reliable electricity supply, and globally competitive investment conditions.

Viewed by Chrome SA as an unsustainable strategy are the proposed chrome export taxes and quotas to encourage the sale of chrome ore locally and thereby revive South Africa's struggling ferrochrome smelting industry, which uses chrome ore to produce ferrochrome, a key ingredient in the manufacture of stainless steel.

The members of Chrome SA are Assore, Sibanye-Stillwater, Tharisa, Valterra Platinum, Northam Platinum, Siyanda Resources, ChromTech, Pelagic Resources, Impala Platinum and Jubilee Metals.

The organisation makes it clear that the chrome ore mining industry is ready to be part of a solution but only with the introduction of:

competitive power tariffs that allow energy-intensive industries to compete globally;reliable power supply, underpinned by investment in Eskom's recovery and diversified new generation;regulatory certainty for self-generation and renewable projects by mines and smelters, enabling them to take charge of their own energy future; anda coherent industrial strategy that fosters both upstream mining and downstream beneficiation, without sacrificing one for the other.

The decline of South Africa's ferrochrome sector, it says, is not the result of expensive chrome ore but rather the up-to-three-times-more that South Africa's ferrochrome producers are having to pay for electricity than their global competitors.

"No amount of tweaking ore prices or imposing export restrictions will change the fact that uncompetitive power costs have crippled the sector. Unless electricity pricing is addressed, local smelters will remain unviable - regardless of what happens to ore exports," Chrome SA accentuates.

Export restrictions, quotas or taxes would, it adds, cut into already thin margins for chrome ore mining companies, which employ more than 25 000 people, while sustaining thousands more jobs in surrounding communities through procurement, services and household spending.

In 2024, chrome ore exports generated more than R84-billion in foreign exchange earnings for South Africa and curtailing exports would directly reduce foreign currency inflows as well as tax revenues, at a time when the fiscus can least afford it.

Against that background, Chrome SA emphasises its willingness to work with government to create a policy environment where mining and manufacturing can thrive but only within a framework of competitive electricity pricing, reliable electricity supply, and globally competitive investment conditions.

Anglo frees 'at least' $5bn as it locks arms with next-door-neighbour copper mine

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At least $5-bilion has been liberated by Johannesburg-listed Anglo American carrying out a joint mine plan with an adjacent copper operator in South America.

Becoming one are Anglo American Sur's Los Bronces mine and Codelco's Andina mine in Chile.

Los Bronces is an opencast copper mine with a 30-year-plus mine life and Andina is one of Chile's oldest mines.

Once relevant permits are in place in 2030, the joint mine plan will add 2.7-million tonnes of extra copper potential over 21 years.

The additional 120 000 t/y of copper will come at a 15% lower unit cost relative to standalone operations, as well as minimal incremental capital expenditure.

Anglo American Sur and the State-owned Codelco share the minimum $5-billion pre-tax net present value uplift equally.

Interestingly, the combined 2024 outputs of Los Bronces-Andina put the amalgamated entity into the global top ten with the incremental 120 000 t/y expected under the joint mine plan elevating the merged entity into the global top five. The step change is made possible by the coordination of existing plant capacity and infrastructure.

Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad put copper at the forefront of his diversified mining company's growth ambitions through a Stock Exchange News Service (SENS) announcement, in which he described the transaction as one which is "ushering in a new chapter".

"Together, we're demonstrating what's possible when two leading copper mining companies work together with a shared purpose," added Wanblad, while pointing out that without the support of Anglo American Sur's partners Mitsubishi and Mitsui copper advance would not have been possible.

Codelco chairperson Máximo Pacheco placed value on the transaction being inclusive of "the voices of workers, as well as the intense effort, remarkable capabilities, and outstanding professionalism of our teams, who succeeded in reaching an agreement that had been in waiting for years".

"We can now maximise the potential of the Andina-Los Bronces mining district without major investments and with significantly greater returns. This collaboration for sustainable mining will also help meet the urgent need for more critical minerals for the energy transition, in a world where copper production has so far remained stagnant," he pointed out in the SENS announcement sourced by Mining Weekly.

The new jointly owned and jointly controlled operating company, the statement said, would now coordinate execution of the joint mine plan and optimise processing capacity across Los Bronces and Andina.

Each party would retain ownership of respective assets, taking in mining concessions, plants and ancillary infrastructure, and each would continue to mine concessions separately.

Moreover, the implementation of the joint mine plan would be guided by sustainability principles to safeguard social and environmental commitments.

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South Africa's just transition that protects workers and communities while scaling-up renewables to strengthen energy security is being held up as an example of climate mitigation advance by the UN ahead of Paris Agreement deadlines.

"International partnerships are signalling momentum, bringing together governments, public financiers, and private investors to support South Africa's shift from coal to clean energy - growing from $8.5-billion to $11.6-billion," the UN climate organisation stated in a media release to Mining Weekly on Monday, 15 September

As deadlines approach for Paris Agreement countries, African governments are being encouraged to present their new national climate plans as opportunities to supercharge economies and boost living standards across the continent.

"Strong new national climate plans are blueprints for stronger economies, more jobs and rising living standards, across all African nations, UN Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell stated in the release.

"Strong plans open the door to new industries, large-scale investment, more affordable clean energy accessible to all, and more resilient infrastructure, as climate disasters hit African nations harder each year.

"Africa is not just on the frontlines of climate impacts; it is also at the forefront of solutions. Right across the continent, we are already seeing massive potential and innovations which cut planet-heating pollution and build more climate-resilient economies.

"Strong new national climate plans are the key to converting that potential into real-economy outcomes at scale, including the millions of new jobs they create," added Stiell, who held the portfolio of Minister for Climate Resilience and the Environment of Grenada for five years.

The UN is calling on all countries to submit their new plans, formally called Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, as soon as possible ahead of key milestones, including the UN Secretary General's September Climate Summit and November COP30 in Brazil.

While September will be an important milestone, submissions will continue in the run-up to COP30, with each plan helping to limit global heating to 1.5 0C above preindustrial levels and protect all people, while also unlocking jobs, growth, and economic benefits.

"While particular responsibility rests with the largest economies, whose choices determine the global trajectory of emissions, it is essential that every nation puts forward its most ambitious plan, both to strengthen humanity's collective response and to drive each nation's own prosperity and security," the release added.

AFRICA'S EXAMPLES

South Africa was positioned at the top of three Africa examples as a country with an NDC that shields working communities, amid solar and wind scaleup to assure continuous energy flow.

Nigeria, cited as the second Africa example, was described as advancing a whole-of-government and society approach, linking climate action to job creation, poverty reduction, and improved energy access.

More than 85-million Nigerians still lack electricity, making decentralised renewables critical.

In the West African country, large-scale solar is expected to generate 33 905 direct green jobs by 2030.

The micro-solar sector is already employing youth as energy officers and the Great Green Wall has restored more than five-million hectares.

Interestingly, extensive mangroves also provide carbon storage and flood protection.

With a population projected to surpass 400-million by 2050 and GDP already over $470-billion, Nigeria has distinctive potential to be a powerful leader in Africa's green transition.

Its upcoming climate plan is being designed as a national investment strategy to generate millions of green jobs by 2035 and secure a strong share of t...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer notes Pan African Resources has had an excellent financial year, and is now eyeing a promising Soweto gold project; African Rainbow Minerals’s game-changing narrow-reef-cutting mining solution; and South African smelting technology that is savi