South African gold mining major Harmony Gold has been elevated to new heights owing to sustained operational excellence, high recovered grades and record gold prices.

In the 12 months to June 30, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Harmony has delivered what the company describes as exceptional combined performance across all operations.

"This achievement was the result of clear strategic intent and successful execution, enabling us to deliver ahead of plan and capitalise on higher gold prices," the company stated in a trading statement.

Harmony's aim is to be consistent and excel at what it does amid exceeding its upward revised production guidance of 1 550 000 oz (48 210 kg) with the all-in-sustaining costs (AISC ) coming in below R920 000/kg.

Underground recovered grades in financial year (FY) 2024 are also forecast to be higher than the guided 6 g/t.

Group production for this reporting period increased by 6% to 48 578 kg (1 561 815 oz) from 45 651 kg (1 467 715 oz) in FY23, owing mainly to higher recovered grades at Mponeng gold mine, the world's deepest, and Mine Waste Solutions surface mining operations in South Africa and Hidden Valley in Papua New Guinea.

Recovered grades at the South African underground operations increased by 6% to 6.11 g/t from 5.78 g/t in the previous reporting period, driven by high-grade Mponeng and Moab Khotsong.

Recovered grades at Hidden Valley increased by 33% to 1.52 g/t from 1.14 g/t and Mine Waste Solutions delivered a 36% increase in recovered grade of 0.166 g/t in this financial year from 0.122 g/t.

AISC increased by 1% to R901 550/kg ($1 500/oz) from R889 766/kg ($1 558/oz).

Most project capital is continuing to be allocated to higher-grade, higher-quality, and lower-risk assets, aligned with the strategy of producing safe, profitable ounces and improving margins through operational excellence and value-accretive acquisitions.

By growing higher-grade gold mines, expanding surface retreatment business, and international gold and copper assets, Harmony expects to continue to transform and derisk Harmony as it goes from strength to strength, CEO Peter Steenkamp commented in the release Mining Weekly.

A reasonable degree of certainty exists that basic earnings will be higher than for FY23 on an increased gross profit. In addition to higher grades, gold production and average gold price, an increase in the production and prices of silver and uranium at the Hidden Valley and Moab Khotsong operations will also contribute to a better performance.

TARGET NORTH DRILLING

The new geological model following recent exploration drilling at Harmony's Target North asset in the Free State is described as being more robust and differs from previous interpretations as a result of the new information obtained.

The application of modern industry best practice estimation techniques on the updated geological model resulted in a preliminary mineral resource estimate of 13.8-million ounces from58.8-million tonnes at 7.29 g/t) in the inferred category.

The focus was on a portion of the orebody and indicates reduced ounces at a higher grade than the previous estimate amid the new estimates being reviewed by external mining consultants.

On current available information, the new resource estimate indicates a recoverable amount of R888-million for Target North and a resulting impairment of R2 793-million.

In May 2004, Harmony concluded the acquisition of Avgold, which included the Target 1 mine as well as the exploration programme at Target North, which was estimated to have a resource base of 67 million ounces, with the Oribi exploration area included.

In 2007, when Harmony was capital constrained, a strategic review led to the suspension of Target North, as well as its exclusion from reported mineral resources.

RESULTS DELAY

Following the transition of external auditors from Ernst & Young, a delay in the calculation of Target North's valuation has resulted in a postponement of the FY24 financial results prese...

Johannesburg- and New York-listed Gold Fields said on Friday that it is taking steps to set up its big South Deep gold mine on Gauteng's West Rand for the long-term production of quality gold ounces at a time of strong gold prices.

With its significant long-life resource endowment, it has often been said of South Deep that it will be the last major gold mine in South Africa to turn its lights off.

Against that backdrop, sustainability-focused improvement measures are being implemented amid South Deep's below par performance of 117 000 oz in the six months to June 30.

Blamed for the half-year output being below the 152 000 oz that yielded in the last year's comparative half-year period are backfill rehandling challenges and poor ground conditions at this bulk mechanised mining operation located in the Witwatersrand Basin, near Westonaria, 50 km south-west of Johannesburg.

Backfill seepage constrained access to stopes, while the backfill rehandling added complexity to the planning and mining process. Stope turnaround and delayed access to the higher-grade areas of the mine resulted from these impacts.

"We are making progress accelerating backfill placement to address the historic backfill leakage," Gold Fields stated in a release to Mining Weekly, in which it added that various solutions to minimise backfill leakages going forward.

Other recovery activities are focused on improving long-hole stope drilling and overall productivity.

To set up the mine for an improved 2025 performance, 2024 production guidance has been reduced to the range of 250 000 oz and 264 000 oz, with 2024 all-in sustaining costs (AISC) guidance lifted to $1 980/oz. Higher volumes are forecast to lower AISC in the six months to December 31.

Group gold mines that stood out in a period of half-year profit falling from the $458-million to $389-million were Granny Smith and Agnew in Australia and Tarkwa and Damang in Ghana and a gross interim dividend of R3 a share is payable on September 16.

In Australia, Gruyere's mining and processing operations were suspended for six weeks following a significant rainfall event, and St Ives' planned lower first-half production was further impacted by a delay in the development of two new opencast operations, Swiftsure and Invincible Footwall South.

In Peru, Cerro Corona's inclement first-quarter weather affecting the stability of the north wall of the pit, resulting in a resequencing of mining to lower grade areas, resulting in the copper-gold price ratio also impacting the gold-equivalent production performance.

In Chile, the early onset of winter resulted in a slower-than-planned ramp-up at Salares Norte.

Regarding the Tarkwa/Iduapriem joint venture announced in March last year by Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti, what is described as "significant progress" has been made, Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser reported.

Tragically, Gold Fields suffered two fatalities.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer talks about Menar's plans to revive the Metalloys smelter and sell ferromanganese to the world; gold miner DRDGold's renewable energy infrastructure; and the fifth annual Marikana memorial lecture.

South Africa's small-end diamond producers are battling to survive in a diamond situation in South Africa which is under severe pressure, South African Diamond Producers Organisation (Sadpo) reported on Thursday.

Sadpo chairperson Gert van Niekerk and vice-chairperson Lyndon De Meillon painted a dire picture of the current situation during a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly in which reference was made to blood being on the streets of small South African towns as a result of the global diamond crisis. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"To ensure that natural diamonds regain their shine, the industry needs to aggressively and cleverly advertise diamonds to the younger generation to embrace the natural source, age and amazing creational history of natural diamonds," De Meillon urged.

"This means that branding and traceability will become more important as today's consumer is much more conscious of the impact mining has on the environment and on the communities where diamonds are being mined."

Sadpo was founded 23 years ago to streamline the alluvial diamond industry and to speak on behalf of the smaller end of South Africa's diamond business.

De Meillon put South Africa's current drastic carat reduction situation mainly down to price.

"To understand this, we need to go and look at it in a bit more detail," he pointed out.

This is because the current price crisis in the diamond industry as a whole is partly the industry's own doing, and partly due to external circumstances, unfortunately both combining at the same time to create the perfect storm, driving prices down, probably for the longest period since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In the early 2000s, De Beers stepped back from its role as curator of the industry, to ensure that it was no longer seen as a monopoly. Then, when it went completely into the Anglo American fold in 2011, the focus on aggressive advertising fell away, "most likely because of the loss of the key experience of the Oppenheimer family", De Meillon commented.

Other role players in the industry did not step in to fill up the advertising void, even though diamonds are luxury items and consumers have to be continually reminded about why they need them.

At the same time, technological advances meant that larger and better quality laboratory-grown diamonds could be produced.

Initially, consumers were hesitant to accept lab-grown diamonds for emotional privileges like engagements and weddings, but then a couple of things changed.

Pandora announced that they would only be selling lab-grown diamonds in their jewellery, one reason being that it is more environment-friendly to produce diamonds in a laboratory, which is obviously debatable.

Then De Beers launched the Lightbox campaign with their own brand of lab-grown diamonds, something which has since been discontinued.

But in the eyes of the consumer, this gave credibility to lab-grown diamonds, and the sales started to pick up to a point where up to 50% of bridal sales in the US this year could well be from lab-grown stones.

The retail sector also took advantage of this because of the higher margins associated with lab-grown diamonds and actively marketed lab-grown diamonds to consumers.

Of the major external factors that impacted price lately, probably the biggest one in the past 15 years was Covid, when there was a sharp downturn in prices, which also coincided with a sharp reduction in production, as many mines closed for a period.

Then, the strong demand in the month following Covid pushed prices up sharply while supply lagged.

But when the mines stepped up supply, they over-estimated demand.

Moreover, when that production came into the market, the world was caught up in high inflation and high interest rates, combined with increased political instability, "all of which are bad for luxury items", De Meillon noted.

Also, with the advent of electronic-commerce, the diamond pipeline became considerably shorter.

So, the world is currently sittin...

The big win for surface gold recovery company DRDGOLD is the 60 MW solar farm built at Ergo in the 12 months to June 30.

"I call it a R3-billion prepaid electricity facility that will take care of about half of Ergo's requirements over the foreseeable future," DRDGOLD CEO Niël Pretorius commented to Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The photovoltaic facility at Ergo generated 13 113 650 kWh of energy during the 12 months to July 30, amounting to 10% of consumption. Connection to the Eskom grid has opened the way for the wheeling of excess energy generated at Ergo into the national grid.

The transition to renewable energy use is an integral part of DRDGOLD's approach to decreasing its environmental footprint, with the proportion of renewable energy used rising resulting in significant Scope 2 emission reduction.

Simultaneously, major effort has gone into repositioning for the future. Involved is a combination of reclamation sites coming on stream by financial year 2028 to lift tonnage throughput to three-million tonnes a month and gold production to more than six tonnes a year - a rise of one tonne.

The Johannesburg- and New York-listed DRDGOLD reported revenue of R6 239.7-million and total operating profit of R 2 081.3-million for the 12 months ended June 30.

A 3% decline in throughput to 22.3-million tonnes and a 2% decrease in the average yield to 0.225g/t led to a 5% gold production decrease to 5 002 kg

All-in sustaining costs (AISC) rose by 15% to R946 848/kg, with the AISC margin at 24%, and capital expenditure of R2 985.7-million was mostly growth related.

A final cash dividend of 20 c a share for financial year 2024 marked the 17th consecutive year of dividend payments to shareholders.

POSITIONING FOR GROWTH

The four Ergo sites where commissioning was delayed are now in steady-state, which, along with the commissioning of a fifth site in June, has restored volume capacity to enable delivery in line with the guided throughput target.

Meanwhile, Far West Gold Recoveries Phase II and the establishment of the regional tailings storage facility (RTSF) is advancing.

Once commissioned, the RTSF will be large enough to receive the operation's entire remaining West Rand resource and provide a solution to the ongoing impact of tailings storage facilities built over environmentally sensitive aquifers in the region.

Groundbreaking at this complex on June 5 follows the appointment of a leading contractor to construct the RTSF.

On the record gold price, Pretorius had this to say: "While the buoyant gold price is welcome, the construct of our cost profile is changing to offer better resilience should the cycle turn."

Key drivers in this regard include decreasing operational complexity by reducing Ergo's operating sites from 15 sites to five, lower energy costs from the solar plant, and a reduction in mechanised lifting and haulage of reclamation material.

IMPACT BEYOND MINING

DRD's model for value creation means that environmental, social and governance factors are central to the business and not simply add-ons.

Every tonne processed supports environmental regeneration and resource renewal, every kilogram produced creates jobs, supports communities and pays taxes.

While DRD's ethos - doing more with less, and with less impact - makes good business sense, it also has positive environmental and social impacts.

Lower potable water usage and biodiversity are big on its agenda as it reduces historical impacts. Over the past 12 years, more than 138 mine dumps have been removed and reprocessed, and 700 ha of previously sterile land regained for productive use.

Mining companies need mechanisms to solve conflicts by reaching consensus with stakeholders on dealing with grievances, disputes and conflicts, Transnet chairperson and former Minerals Council South Africa VP Andile Sangqu said at the Sibanye-Stillwater-convened fifth annual Marikana memorial lecture.

In 2020, the Johannesburg- and New York-listed Sibanya-Stillwater launched the renewal programme to honour the lives lost, facilitate healing for families and create a new positive legacy for Marikana. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"It's heartening for me to witness the progress made towards the families who lost loved ones, and the work that has been done to positively impact the communities of Marikana," Cape Town Archbishop and Renewal Programme Patron Thabo Makgoba remarked during the commemoration lecture covered by Mining Weekly.

Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman spoke of the lessons Sibanye-Stillwater had learnt from the divisive aftermath in which the company found itself when it acquired Lonmin's troubled assets in the wake of the tragedy at Marikana, and how that may apply to South Africa's government.

"The principles underlying our approach at Marikana are deceptively simple: honour, engage and create. What this means in practice is that we had needed to face our collective past, good and bad, even though we might have felt that we had not caused it.

"We needed to engage meaningfully with a broad range of stakeholders on an equal footing and more than any other aspect, we needed to create a future that is different and worth looking forward to," added Froneman.

Remarkably positive community voices were sounded in reflecting on the renewal programme, the most far-reaching being that of Mooinooi Wagon of Hope secretary Renny Moagi: "We believe that around 2028, we will be having some participant at the Los Angeles Olympics, because through the renewal programme, we're going to renew the swimming pool and the recreation facility.

"We believe we can produce children and even adults who will be able to compete in swimming at the Olympics and many other activities because the buildings are also going to be used for karate, bodybuilding and many other things," an ultra-upbeat Moagi reported.

As confirmed by Sibanye-Stillwater stakeholder relations executive Thabisile Phumo, Sibanye-Stillwater has a facility in Mooinooi with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a reflection of the advance of community renewal.

"This is a facility we are refurbishing for use by communities. Now, regarding the extent to which we can prepare for those Olympics, I think the community will decide, but in the not-so-distant future, the facility will be ready for community use," Phumo said in response to Mining Weekly.

A video on the wide-ranging renewal work accomplished since the Marikana tragedy unfolded in August 2012 told of 44 families that are rebuilding their lives, and the activities of communities in building a better future for the next generation.

When Sibanye-Stillwater acquired the Marikana-scarred operations in 2019 it began contributing to the creation of a new and shared future.

It has invested in education, created foundational steps to empowering youth and helping to liberate families out of poverty.

The youth centre after-school programme provides a cradle to career model that focuses on the holistic development of the individual, including the academic, personal and artistic development of young people, while considering the social and economic factors that impact their learning.

The majority of households in Marikana are headed by single mothers who work during the day and the youth centre helps to ensure that children receive a nutritious meal with after-school lessons in English and mathematics.

In collaboration with the Department of Education, the Marikana primary school was established where 19 qualified teachers have provided education to 690 learners between since 2023.

Free WiFi is provided to 18 schools an...

Menar, which recently signed a deal to acquire Samancor's Metalloys, envisages reviving the ferromanganese smelting complex and exporting beneficiated manganese to the world.

"It's an exciting project for us," Menar MD Vuslat Bayoglu told Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also see attached Creamer Media video.)

Menar, a private investment company with a portfolio of diversified minerals that include anthracite, coal and manganese in South Africa, gold in Kyrgyz Republic and nickel in Türkiye, has signed a deal with Samancor, and is in the process of making applications to get the asset into its books.

As part of this process, it has made submissions to Competition Commission for approvals and also taken steps to have licences ceded to it.

"We're hoping to close the deal by the end of the year. In the meantime, we're investigating potential solutions, in terms of what we plan to do with the asset," said Bayoglu.

The main reason Menar showed interest in the asset is because of its readily available infrastructure. The rail infrastructure is there to receive manganese from the Northen Cape to feed a smelter that was consuming two-million tonnes of manganese a year.

"It also has the necessary licences in place, which is another advantage. This is a historical asset, so obviously it has things that need to be fixed. But Samancor did a great job in keeping it intact.

"We're hoping to do one of two things. We can either build two new blast furnaces that do not need a lot of power and work through coke to make sure that reduction happens. Alternatively, we can look at keeping two of the latest units that were built there and installing new technology," Bayoglu explained.

Discussion is under way with a South African company that has developed a new technology that would allow pelletised fines to be fed it into the plant, which will require less energy than an electric furnace.

Revival of Metalloys will be an important step towards the reindustrialisation of South Africa.

"These assets are important for South Africa and we need to bring the capacity back so that we can beneficiate the product and sell the beneficiated manganese to the world," added Bayoglu.

South Africa is producing one third of the manganese ore in the world, but selling only 5% of the ferromanganese to the world.

Menar's diversification into manganese began in 2021 with the East Manganese project in the Northern Cape, where the development of a new underground manganese mine is now at an advanced stage of assessment.

Mining Weekly: What is the latest regarding the underground manganese project you are working on through collaboration with ERG Africa?

Bayoglu: Because of the acquisition deal with Samancor, it's more critical for us to be involved in manganese production in the long term. Kongoni is an important asset for us. It's a large deposit with about 50-million tonnes of manganese underground, and we plan to mine the lower manganese orebody, which has a 36% to 36.5% manganese content. The challenge with developing a new manganese mine is the price of manganese, which has been depressed for a long time. When the incident occurred with South32's Australian asset, the prices spiked, but they are coming back to the prior lower levels. We need the right manganese price for developing Kongoni. So far, we have done all the groundwork in terms of how we plan to access the ore, how much it will take and how much it will cost us. We did our feasibility and we are waiting for the right price environment to push the start button.

Soon, Transnet is expected to finalise its Network Statement, which details how it plans to work more closely with the private sector. You have indicated in previous conversations that you support such a public-private partnership. How do you think the Network Statement will change or shape South Africa's rail reform efforts going forward?

This rail reform is critical. Transnet is unfortunately broken. They have two massive issues including hum...

In less than six years, at the end of the decade, 2030, Barrick will have grown its gold output by 30% and will be a copper miner up there with some of the biggest.

It goes to the upper 400 000 t of copper with the expansion at Lumwana in Zambia, which will take the New York- and Toronto-listed company to 240 000 t.

Then, its share of the first round of Reko Diq in Pakistan is 100 000 t of copper and 120 000 oz of gold.

In Reko Diq's second phase, production rises to 400 000 t of copper and 500 000 oz of gold, of which Barrick shares half.

"Just on those two assets, we're at more than 400 000 t of copper, which puts us into the mid-copper producer category," Barrick CEO Dr Mark Bristow outlined to Mining Weekly in an interview.

These are low cost copper pounds. Both operations meet the criteria at $3 a pound.

Then, Barrick still has Jabal Sayid in Saudi Arabia and its joint venture with Antofagasta in Chile that adds to that.

Reko Diq is very unlikely to be a 40-year mine because only four of the 14 porphyries are in the mine plan and geologists are currently evaluating the opportunity immediately within the mining licence.

The company has more copper opportunities in Idaho in the US, and copper and gold in southern Peru and also in Ecuador.

Efforts are under way to secure more opportunities within the Central African Copperbelt, which is largely copper, cobalt and sometimes also molybdenum.

Why are you so confident that 400 000 t of copper a year and 500 000 oz of gold a year will be emerging from Reko Diq and what is the real life-of-mine expectation there?

Currently, the life-of-mine reserves are 40 years, but every indication is that it'll go for a hundred years. When you get there, you walk on the mineralisation. It's like going back in time to Escondida and some of these massive Chile deposits, which are now getting to the end of their life. But they've been up for 60, 70 years. To find the copper deposits on surface are few and far between. Most of these big copper deposits have very long lead times and require big strips or underground access, like the Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi asset that Rio Tinto has developed.

But this one is a simple mine. It's made up of big multiple openpit mines in the Balochistan desert. Its first phase is 45-million processed tons a year, and when it's fully ramped up, it'll be 90-million to 100-million tons a year. So, it's a massive concentrator, effectively, and, we'll have the first stream operating in 2028 and it will be fully permitted. You just don't get these opportunities to build such big mines so quickly in the world today. If it was in America, that construction would probably take ten to 15 years just to permit.

You referred to a Biodiversity Residual Impact Assessment tool that Barrick launched in the last quarter. What is this all about and will it be applied to all your operations, including those in Africa?

Hopefully, some of our peers will copy it. It's really the same as what we did with our Sustainability Index. I'm of the view that if you're going to embark on something, you should be able to measure it, otherwise why do it? There's greenwashing going on. There's no better example than the gazillion people that have promised delivery of, you know, green vehicles in mining, which has not happened. Everyone created this buzz phrase, nature. We've been at sustainability for a long time and embedded in a proper sustainable mining endeavour has to recognise biodiversity.

A good example is Kibali gold mine, where, for instance, biodiversity is today positive relative to what it was when we got there. When we got there, it was full of squatters, who were exploiting the surface gold deposits in a gold-washing endeavour. Now, with all the water properly controlled, there's no discharge out into the environment unless the water is of environmental quality. There is greater biodiversity in the form of fish species, mammals or birds than what was there when we arrived. The world is goin...

Barrick Gold on way to becoming major copper producer

In less than six years, at the end of the decade, 2030, Barrick will have grown its gold output by 30% and will be a copper miner up there with some of the biggest. It goes to the upper 400 000 tons of copper with the expansion at Lumwana in Zambia, which will take the New York- and Toronto listed company to 240 000 t.

Next story,

Thungela's underwhelming interim results attributed to coal price dips, rail inefficiencies

Coal producer Thungela has blamed an unfavourable price environment across the Richards Bay and Newcastle Benchmark coal prices, together with the continued underperformance by State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), for a significant year-on-year deterioration in its financial performance for the six months ended June 30. Although the company's revenue increased by 17% year-on-year, from about R14.3-billion to about R16.7-billion, its profits dropped by 61%, from about R3-billion for the six months ended June 30, 2023, to about R1.1-billion in the period under review.

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Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 3 concentrator reaches commercial production

Dual-listed Ivanhoe Mines' Phase 3 concentrator at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has reached commercial production, the company announced on August 19. Together, Kamoa-Kakula's Phase 1, 2 and 3 concentrators achieved a combined monthly production record of 35 941 t of copper in July.

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Ivanhoe reports fatality at DRC mine

Canada-headquartered Ivanhoe Mines has reported a fatality at the Kansoko mine, part of the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The company explained that Bruno Mutombo, a Kamoa Copper drill rig operator, died following a fall-of-ground incident. Mining activities at Kansoko were temporarily suspended to conduct an investigation and have since restarted.

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Namibian Competition Commission approves Shanjin's buyout of Osino

TSX-listed Osino Resources says the Namibian Competition Commission (NCC) has approved Shanjin International Gold's buyout of Osino for a cash consideration of C$1.90 a share. The NCC's approval was the final outstanding approval to conclude the buyout and the acquisition is now set to conclude on or before August 29.

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Wärtsilä signs decarbonisation agreement for Madagascan power plant

The renewal of technology group Wärtsilä's operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement with QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), which is part of the Rio Tinto group, has been expanded to include a decarbonisation agreement. Wärtsilä says the agreement is a groundbreaking offering in the energy sector and allows for optimising all of the assets in the microgrid, including renewable-energy use, thereby not only reducing emissions but also producing notable cost savings.

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Hummingbird completes refinancing package with Coris Bank

Aim-listed Hummingbird Resources has completed the strategic refinancing of a portion of its existing loan facilities with the company's principal financing partner Coris Bank International. Hummingbird has secured a refinancing package of about $25-million at a yearly interest rate of 12%. This new financing will be used to meet the company's existing loan obligations due in the second quarter of this year, providing a two-year deferment of specific facilities currently held with Coris Bank.

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Virtually every mining house in South Africa is in the process of procuring green electrons, and similar advances are taking place across the African continent, from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, to Zambia and beyond.

'We're seeing a massive shift," Nedbank CIB head of infrastructure, energy and telecommunications Mike Peo outlined to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Earlier this year, Peo attended the Africa Energy Forum, in the company of politicians and public sector officials from across Africa, where it is making good economic sense for financial institutions to be investing increasingly in green energy.

"Within the Nedbank Group, we have a commitment from our board to allow us to participate in green energy projects, and we're going full steam ahead.

"I certainly cannot remember a time when our pipeline of projects in the green energy space was as heavy as it is now," added Peo.

Those investing in renewable energy are doing so because the economics make sense, even ahead of carbon tax imposition, and across the continent, transmission is probably the most important factor constraining the ability to switch from dirty electrons to clean ones.

As a result of transmission constraints, decentralised generation from smaller power stations is envisaged to ensure the provision of power to remote locations.

"These are developing to be able to give populations, firstly, access to power, and then, secondly, as a consequence, access to green power," Peo explained.

Mining Weekly: Tell us about the Africa Energy Forum event placing emphasis on the need for Africa to remain green and clean when it comes to the generation of energy on the continent.

Peo: By way of background, the African Energy Forum is a conference that has been held for probably the last 20 years. It's probably the single biggest conference that brings together in one place a combination of politicians, regulators, project developers, project sponsors, bankers, lawyers, technical advisers. It's probably the pre-eminent conference that gets together to discuss the problems that we encounter and hopefully the solutions that are needed to try and tackle what sometimes seems like a fairly insurmountable problem. The negative part of the conference was that many of the participants are still talking about the fact that the African continent has more than 700-million people that don't have access to energy on a daily basis. While this number has been pretty constant for 20 years, it's a combination of while we're making great strides in some regions in Africa, the population growth story means that the numbers are remaining reasonably constant.

The big theme of the conferences over the last five years has been around energy transition. Every country on the continent has adopted a form of net-zero commitment, a commitment to decarbonisation and climate change is top of agenda, but the narrative has changed and shifted very much to just energy transition, which means fundamentally that it's impossible for the continent to switch off coal, oil, gas, etc, overnight and just switch on green electrons, whether in the form of PV solar power, wind power, hydropower, et cetera. The financial commitment, the amount of money that is needed to make that transition, is virtually impossible. A lot of time and energy is being spent on finding how to transition out of areas such as oil- and gas-fired power stations to green energy power stations. That was the one key theme that did come out and the second key theme is that across the continent, transmission is probably the most important factor constraining the ability to switch from dirty electrons to clean electrons.

Each country has significantly different problems. A country like Namibia, for example, while very small in population size, is very vast, and to try to get transmission up and down the country is still a significant challenge. Those were the t...