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A digital platform that makes investing in platinum easier than ever before is reaping rewards.

In the first three months of 2025, the volume of platinum sold on the DigiPlatinum investment platform soared by 133%, the World Platinum Investment Council reported in a media a release to Mining Weekly on Wednesday, April 23.

The number of customers buying platinum on the website is also up 23%, and total weight 50% higher than the corresponding quarter of last year.

Digital platinum can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere in the world with investment in digital platinum differing from investing in bars and coins in as much as it allows the ownership of a fractional amount of platinum, based on value rather than weight.

Unlike bars and coins, digital platinum buying is exempt from value-added taxation.

Once an investment is made, the investor has legal title to the platinum purchased, with the Royal Mint exercising custodianship alone.

"We've designed a secure digital platform that makes investing in precious metals easier than ever before," Royal Mint digital platinum investment platform divisional director Andrew Dickey noted.

Investment-grade platinum bullion bars stored in the mint's vault physically underpin the amount of digital platinum owned.

The savings achieved by economies of scale are passed on to investors through minimised premiums and storage fees.

The Royal Mint has worked with precious metals for more than 1 100 years. It made the largest ever platinum coin in 2022 to coincide with the year of the platinum jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth.

Made from 95% fine platinum, the dimensions of the jubilee coins are 43 mm x 3 mm, with each gram of the 70 g of pure platinum representing a year of service.

The members of the World Platinum Investment Council include South Africa's Anglo American Platinum, which is soon to renamed to Valterra Platinum, Impala Platinum, Northam Platinum, Royal Bafokeng Platinum, Sedibelo Platinum and Tharisa.

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A working group with industry has been established to improve the operating environment for long-term sustainability of South Africa's ferrochrome industry, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has reported in an article in Business Day, which has been published at a time when the testing of highly convincing new home-grown smelting technology is well advanced.

The Proudly South African SmeltDirect is said to have the potential to re-establish South Africa as the global ferrochrome hub that it once was - and a more environmentally friendly one at that.

SmeltDirect is characterised by chemical reactions rather than large electricity volumes and can be retrofitted to the many existing ferrochrome smelters now on care-and-maintenance because of high electricity tariffs.

"It's not a time for retreat but for reinvention," Tau wrote, while also reiterating that chrome is exempt from the new US tariff structure.

In March, pilot testing of the new smelt technology was said to be "looking great" and its commercialisation prospects will likely be known by the end of next month.

It has to be emphasised that South Africa hosts more than 70% of the world reserves of chrome ore and was dominant in ferrochrome production until 2010.

In the early 2000s, South Africa was the undisputed No 1 chrome ore- and ferrochrome-producing country, with 90% of the inputs, including technology and equipment, locally sourced.

More than 200 000 direct and indirect jobs were created across the chrome value chain and 20% of mining-related foreign exchange was earned from ferrochrome sales.

In 2010, the chrome value chain contributed R42-billion to South Africa's GDP and generated R36-billion worth of foreign exchange earnings, with ferrochrome production contributing 80% of the value of the chrome value chain.

Ferrochrome is a key ingredient of stainless steel, which is environmentally friendlier that carbon steel because of its long life.

Interestingly, South Africa is the largest producer of titanium-bearing stainless steel outside of China and Europe, whereas the US produces nickel-bearing stainless steel.

South Africa's titanium-bearing stainless steel is used in the automotive catalytic converters that South Africa manufactures in Gqeberha, which Tau quotes Naamsa as saying represent this country's largest automotive component export.

From 2018-2022, South Africa exported R14.1-billion to R23.9-billion worth of catalytic converters to mainly the EU and UK, which despite the current turmoil in global trade, remain reliable trading partners, the Minister pointed out.

The vehicle exhaust emission control devices convert toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine

The first widespread introduction of catalytic converters, which prevent air pollution, was in the US automobile market, dating back to 1975.

These auto catalytic converters use South Africa's platinum group metals (PGMs), which are also not subject to the new US tariffs and which Tau urged should be re-imagined into alternative applications, particularly in emerging clean energy technologies.

"There's a need to adapt to a shifting global paradigm and the transformative potential of green hydrogen, to unlock economic growth," the Minister wrote.

New applications are constantly being found for PGMs, which are the biggest employer of South Africa's mineworkers.

As last month's PGM Industry Day heard, PGMs such as ruthenium is unlikely to be able to continue to hide its light under a bushel. It is now seen to have a bright future in green hydrogen, green chemistry and electronics.

Tau placed great emphasis on the need for South Africa to adapt to the shifting global paradigm and the transformative potential it is bringing for green hydr...

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Although saleable production of aluminium from the Hillside Aluminium smelter in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal decreased by 1% to 537 000 t in the nine months ended March, full-year guidance of South32's largest aluminium producer remains unchanged. Importantly, Hillside's production guidance for the full financial year ending June 30 continues to be predicted at 720 000 t.

The 1% decrease took place amid the smelter continuing to test its maximum technical capacity, Johannesburg Stock Exchange- and Sydney-listed South32 - Hillside's 100% owner - reported on Thursday, April 17.

In Mozambique, South32 is working with South Africa's State-owned power utility Eskom and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique to extend the hydro-electric power supply to the Mozal Aluminium smelter beyond March 2026, as there are currently no viable alternative suppliers of renewable energy at the required scale.

"We remain focused on finalising a new energy supply agreement during this calendar year to enable the smelter to continue to operate and maintain its substantial contribution to the economy of Mozambique," South32 stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

Sales from Mozal Aluminium decreased by 18% in the March quarter as the operation managed product availability following the decision in the prior quarter to temporarily reduce amperage to the smelter to manage raw material stocks. A drawdown of inventory in the three months to June 30 is now expected, with full-year production guidance remaining at 350 000 t.

MANGANESE FROM NORTHERN CAPE

Following planned maintenance at the Northern Cape's Mamatwan manganese mine in the March quarter and a temporary shut at Wessels in the prior quarter, saleable production from South32's South Africa Manganese decreased 5% to 1 558 000 wet metric tons (wmt) in the nine months ended March 31.

While sales decreased by 18% in the March quarter as port congestion impacted the timing of shipments, full-year guidance remains intact at 2 000 000 wmt

OVERALL OPERATING PERFORMANCE

Overall, March quarter net cash rose by $299-million to $252-million on operational performance and production highlights year to date include an 18% increase in copper and a 6% increase in aluminium as Mozal Aluminium managed the impacts of civil unrest in Mozambique and approached nameplate capacity in the quarter.

In Australia, the Worsley mine development project has begun following environmental approval by the Australian Government, and resumption of export sales from Australia Manganese remains on track for the June quarter.

In the US, construction of the Taylor zinc-lead-silver project at Hermosa continues, with sinking of the main shaft on track to begin in the June quarter.

"Looking ahead, our focus on operating discipline, active cost management and a strong balance sheet leaves us well positioned to manage a period of potential uncertainty in global markets," South32 CEO Graham Kerr commented.

Greenfield exploration targeting base metals in Namibia, Australia, US, Canada, Argentina, and Ireland. have attracted an investment of $26-million and $48-milion has been invested in other exploration programmes at existing operations in the nine months ended March 31.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses Assmang’s huge ten-year zero-fatality achievement; ruthenium’s potential, which was highlighted at PGM Industry Day; and South Africa being invited to help uplift palladium demand by 1.7-million ounces a year.

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Opening more mines in Namibia is the aspiration of tin, tantalum and lithium green transition metals producer Andrada Mining.

"We've always been very bullish on Namibia, not only as an investment destination, but also from a geological point of view," Andrada CEO Anthony Viljoen commented to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Viljoen described Namibia's Erongo region as being blessed with an abundance of phenomenal geology.

"When we started prospecting there, we were looking at the historic mining operations, and we're very proud that what we've done and what we've contributed to Namibia has started to come to the fore.

"What we're looking at now is expanding our footprint and opening more mines in Namibia and becoming a critical minerals champion for the future."

The London Aim- and OTCQB-listed Guernsey-headquartered exploration and mining company, which spoke from its office in Illovo, Johannesburg, is now also partnering on the lithium side of its business with New York-listed Chilean exploration and mining company SQM (Sociedad Química y Minera), which also maintains offices in Johannesburg, also at Illovo.

"SQM is one of the biggest lithium miners globally. We're going to start an intensive campaign on Lithium Ridge to expand that resource and hopefully bring our second project into production with Lithium Ridge.

"Similarly, at Uis, we've done a lot of work in terms of the by-product potential of mining lithium alongside the tin, and hopefully, in the not too distant future, we'll be able to bring to the market exactly how we're going to do that and integrate the lithium into our circuit. So, very exciting times on the lithium side, now with two projects," Viljoen enthused.

SQM has committed to spending up to $40-million to advance Lithium Ridge to definitive feasibility study level, and Andrada is in discussion with its existing financiers to expand the current operations at Uis, rather than adopting a greenfields approach.

Mining Weekly: Can you give us some insight into the second tin processing jig plant at Uis?

Viljoen: That was quite an interesting add-on to our whole footprint at Uis. At one stage, Uis was the largest hard-rock opencast tin mine in the world, and outside of the existing pit that we're mining, there are a number of proximal pits that were mined by Iscor back in the day, and we see a lot of potential to start mining those other pits. Also, there's a lot of tin in the geological system around that region, so we see an opportunity to start a concurrent production line, without disturbing our existing operations at the Uis plant.

What's the latest when it comes to tantalum?

Tantalum's also going very well. We've started shipping tantalum on a monthly basis. Now, bearing in mind that the tantalum comes together with the tin concentrate, it gives us by-product potential, and is already adding to the revenue stream, so it's showing the polymetallic nature of this orebody.

DRLLING RESULTS AT UIS

In April, Andrada reported that initial drilling in the previously mined areas of Uis had reaffirmed the scale and quality of pegmatites within a 3 km radius of Uis' existing processing plant.

Tin, lithium oxide and tantalum intersections were described as highlighting the opportunity to augments major tin production with the added advantage of lithium and tantalum as value-enhancing co-products.

This followed Andrada reporting in February that it had secured a $2.5-milliom loan to build the second 100 t/h tin plant incorporating a three-stage primary crushing and screening circuit, a jigging section and shaking tables to process a range of tin ore grades across Erongo.

LITHIUM RIDGE PEGMATITE

At Lithium Ridge, Andrada has reported continuous lithium, t...

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South Africa's sizeable manganese ore, manganese alloy, and iron-ore producer Assmang has achieved a major mining safety landmark by being totally fatality free for ten years.

Jointly owned by African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Assore, Assmang operates three underground mines at Black Rock in the Northern Cape, and two opencast mines at Khumani and Beeshoek, also in the Northern Cape, plus a smelter in KwaZulu-Natal.

"This is a proud and humbling moment for all of us at Assmang," ARM Ferrous CE Andre Joubert commented.

Khumani and Beeshoek produce 17-million tons of iron-ore a year, Black Rock's manganese ore output is four-million tons a year, and the annual production of Cato Ridge Works & Alloys is 110 000 t of high carbon ferromanganese and 55 000 t of medium carbon ferromanganese.

With just over 10 000 people and a world-ranking lost time injury frequency rate of 0.11 per 200 000 shifts worked, Assmang has collectively achieved more than 28-million fatality-free shifts.

Beeshoek has been fatality free for 22 years, Cato Ridge for 17 years, Black Rock for 16 years, and Khumani for a decade.

"Ten years of fatality-free operations is more than a number - it's a powerful reflection of the values, discipline, and deep care our people have for one another.

"I want to extend my deepest thanks and congratulations to every employee, supervisor, manager, and contractor who made this possible. You have proven that zero harm is not only an aspiration, but a sustainable reality.

"Together, we've set a benchmark for the industry, and we remain firmly committed to continuing this journey of safety and excellence," Joubert added in a media release to Mining Weekly.

Interestingly, these milestones were accomplished during significant refurbishment and upgrading programmes involving up to 3 500 contractors at a time. During this time, Black Rock refurbished the Nchwaning 2 vertical shaft and the Gloria decline shaft, sunk the new Gloria ventilation shaft, and executed a major modernisation project.

Amid all this, Assmang reports that it has, over the past decade, prioritised safety and driven continuous improvement through rigorous safety protocols, employee empowerment, and an unyielding commitment to accountability at every level.

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JSE-listed coal and energy group Exxaro Resources and State-owned electricity producer Eskom have announced they will collaborate on research initiatives and projects to reduce carbon emissions and cut air pollution.

The two entities, which both have net-zero by 2050 targets, formalised their collaboration through a memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed on April 14.

The agreement covers both direct and indirect emissions, with Exxaro particularly keen to find solutions for its Scope 3 emissions, especially those generated by Eskom when it burns Exxaro coal to produce electricity.

No specific interventions were announced at the ceremony, but Exxaro CEO Ben Magara highlighted the need for solutions to improve coal efficiency, control carbon emissions, potentially through carbon capture, storage and utilisation, and to reduce air pollutants such as dust and sulphur dioxide.

The companies said the initial focus of the collaboration would guide the necessary investments and mobilise the stakeholders needed to find technology-based solutions to the challenges associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Magara described the collaboration with Eskom as a way to "accelerate practical and scalable solutions" that not only decarbonised and reduced air pollution, but also delivered socioeconomic benefits to communities in line with the Just Energy Transition.

In parallel, Exxaro would push ahead with initiatives to reduce direct emissions, with its renewable-energy subsidiary, Cennergi, having already built 229 MW of renewables capacity, and with the 68 MW Lephalale solar PV project to be commissioned later this year to supply renewable energy to its Grootegeluk mine in Limpopo.

It was also partnering with G7 Renewable Energies on a 140 MW wind project, which will supply wheeled electricity to Northam Platinum

Eskom CEO Dan Marokane said the State-owned utility was moving to identify the latest developments and strategies to reduce carbon emissions and other air pollutants, highlighting a recent visit to China by senior officials to study interventions being made by utilities in that country.

He argued that Eskom did not have a coal problem, but an emissions problem and that Eskom was investigating various ways to reduce its emissions and ensure that it's coal-fired power stations operated within the "prescripts" of environmental legislation.

Eskom was recently granted exemptions from minimum emission standards (MES) for eight power stations that would otherwise have been forced to close on April 1, including Duvha, Kendal, Lethabo, Majuba, Matimba, Matla, Medupi, and Tutuka.

The exemptions were granted following an application made in terms of Section 59 of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, and followed the granting last year of permission allowing Eskom to continue to operate the aged Hendrina, Grootvlei, Arnot, Camden and Kriel at existing MES plant limits until their decommissioning on March 31, 2030.

The latest exemptions were granted by Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Dr Dion George alongside several conditions, and Marokane said Eskom was in the process of preparing a detailed response.

He would not be drawn on whether that response would include an indication that Eskom would seek to extend the lives of some of its stations beyond their scheduled decommissioning dates.

However, he made an assertive case for the group's strategy of establishing a new 'Renewable Energy Business' to accelerate the deployment of renewable-energy solutions, primarily on land surrounding its coal-fired power stations.

Eskom has issued a tender through which it is seeking private partners to support its renewables business, which he said had a near-term pipeline of projects involv...

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South African platinum group metals (PGM) companies have been invited to become part of a programme that is targeting an initial 1.7-million-ounce increase demand for palladium, a platinum group metal (PGM) that research is showing has a long list of potential new applications.

In making this invitation at the PGM Industry Day in Johannesburg, major palladium producer Nornickel reported that is on the verge of opening a large globally collaborative palladium laboratory, as part of its new 100-patent Centre for Palladium Technologies that is striving to change how the world sees palladium.

Since its launch, the centre has built a portfolio of 25 products and by 2030, the portfolio is expected to advance beyond 100 projects, generating an additional 1.7-million-ounce annual palladium demand.

"We aim to share expertise and collaborate with those who, like us, see palladium as a metal of the future," Centre for Palladium Technologies head Dmitry Izotov stated during a PGM Day panel discussion covered by Mining Weekly.

The visit to South Africa was part of a global roadshow aimed at combining research and business efforts can drive sustainable development.

From a chemical perspective, PGMs complement each other in many applications and research shows that palladium alloyed with other PGMs frequently outperforms the efficiency and durability of individual PGMs.

Potential new palladium applications highlighted in Johannesburg include:

Using a layer of palladium to minimise the light loss of solar panels;

Upgrading hydrogen fuel cell performance;

Lowering green hydrogen production costs;

Replacing iridium with palladium in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays; and

Deploying palladium-based alloys to reduce conductive component expenses in electronics.

The goal of the Johannesburg event was to initiate dialogue with potential partners across the continent: research institutions, industrial firms, and tech startups.

Long-term collaboration with scientists, manufacturers, and end-users to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies and products is envisaged.

"Our goal is to become a technological partner for producers of PGM-based products. We focus on identifying applications where palladium delivers a strong competitive edge, bringing together leading scientific teams to develop prototypes, conducting large-scale industrial trials, optimising the product, and transferring the technology to manufacturers. This approach allows us to create more efficient materials and open up new markets for palladium applications," Izotov explained.

Since its launch, the centre has built a portfolio of 25 products. By 2030, the portfolio is expected to exceed 100 projects, generating an additional annual demand of 40-50 tonnes of palladium.

A palladium layer in silicon solar cells is expected to provide a 2%-plus efficiency uplift owing to reduced light reflection and absorption compared with silver enhanced photon capture. There is also said to be less microcrack propensity.

Palladium-platinum alloy is said to provide 10%-plus optimisation in hydrogen fuel cell catalysis and proton exchange membrane (PEM) plus a PEM replacement cost reduction of 10% to 25%.

When it comes to OLED displays, palladium use is said to reduce costs by 50% to 70% and increase the lifespan of blue OLEDs by 50%.

At the outset in 2021, Izotov explained that there were no artificial intelligence solutions but by end of 2024, 80% of equipment was operated by computer vision algorithms.

The company's biggest mining mill is operating automatically on machine learning.

"The operator is not involved," he reported, and the algorithm is learns from information "like every 15 minutes, and that's really a big thing for us."

The improved economic effect on ...

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After listening to Heraeus Precious Metals trading head Dominik Sperzel placing ruthenium on a new high pedestal and describing this low-profile PGM as "my personal favourite", Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Industry Day chairperson Bernard Swanepoel remarked that he'd never met a person who speaks passionately about ruthenium but that, "We love it".

Fortunately, South Africa hosts the world's largest endowment of this PGM, a rare silvery-white hard transition metal that forms part the platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium and osmium family of magical metals.

Following its latest PGM Day spotlighting, it's unlikely that ruthenium will be able to continue to hide its light under a bushel.

When questioned by PwC energy, utilities and resources leader Andries Rossouw on the things that have the potential to expand the PGM, a study entitled 'Unlocking Hydrogen Transportation' was brought to the fore. This study was authored by Sperzel, Dr Konrad Krois, as well as Dr Jenny Watts and Henk de Hoop, of the Sibanye-Stillwater-linked SFA.

"We've done a nice paper on ruthenium's use in hydrogen's transportation in particular," Sperzel enthused.

While ruthenium is not consuming a lot of ounces "at the moment", the authors believe it has a "bright future" in not only hydrogen, but also green chemistry and electronics.

In green chemistry, Sperzel noted: "We already see applications, where we go away from the classical fossil feedstocks into the greener feedstocks, could be wood biomass, could be something else that helps the system overall run on these different feedstocks, and then third, electronics.

"It's a very, very versatile metal. It's very, very tricky, to deal with in certain instances, but with the spike in demand for semiconductors, with the spike driven by artificial intelligence applications, we believe that these high-end applications need high-end input materials," Sperzel added during a panel discussion covered by Mining Weekly.

A big contribution is the facilitation of hydrogen's transportation through green ammonia cracking, about which the Ammonia Energy Association is regularly reporting final investment decision-making, the latest being the CF-JERA-Mitsui mega-project in Louisiana, US, plus the near-tripling of the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.

Meanwhile, ruthenium is solidifying its status as an indispensable catalyst in ammonia cracking amid its enabling of lower temperature reactions and high conversion, which leads to energy savings and longer catalyst lifespans.

This is positioning ruthenium as a strong hydrogen economy contender, catering to the demand from fuel cell technology, chemical manufacturing, and metal processing industries, the authors of the White Paper report.

Total ruthenium demand is estimated at around 800 000 oz/y with supply at around 955 000 oz/y, which leaves around 150 000 oz of ruthenium metal for the emerging hydrogen economy.

Despite a challenging environment for clean hydrogen, the Hydrogen Council finds that the effective implementation of already embedded policies could support the business case for the uptake of eight-million tons a year of clean hydrogen across the EU, the US and East Asia by 2030.

The council's 'Closing the Cost Gap' report, developed with the analytical support of McKinsey, highlights that this can be achieved by the transposition of the EU Renewable Energy Directive at EU country level, rollout of Japan's Contracts for Difference mechanism, implementation of South Korea's Clean Hydrogen Portfolio Standard, and realisation of hydrogen-related sections of the US Inflation Reduction Act, resulting in either reducing the production cost of clean hydrogen and its derivatives or mandating or incentivising their use.

To further ...

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Minerals Council South Africa has been scoring big on the transformation front, going well beyond compliance, and hopes are now high that the upcoming Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) Amendment Bill will create a legislative context to allow mining to shift from potential to performance.

This was made clear on Wednesday, April 9, by Minerals Council CEO Mzila Mthenjane, senior executive, public affairs and transformation Tebello Chabana, chief economist Hugo Pienaar, and senior policy analyst, public affairs and transformation Fundiswa Ndaba in the first of what are expected to be many more roundtable media briefings.

"The mining industry has made the significant progress in transformation, despite the headwinds and the constraints caused by years of regulatory and policy uncertainty, the slow processes of approving prospecting and mining rights, hence hampering the growth of the industry, operational constraints caused by the irregular and increasing cost of electricity and logistics, which at the best of times, have not been reliable, both in terms of rail and ports," Mthenjane pointed out.

"From a legislative perspective, we're expecting the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources to gazette its MPRDA Amendment Bill in due course, and from our perspective, we do expect a sensible, investor friendly change to the MPRDA that addresses negative sentiment towards South Africa's mining and prospecting sectors.

"It's a Bill which we hope will encourage and support investment, firstly in exploration, and then providing for a shift in sentiment that results in continuing mine development from the exploration, as well as continued investment in current mines, which continue to contribute and support the country through contribution to the fiscus.

"Combined, we see this growing the industry, and hence, by extension, will create more employment, create more opportunities for new entrants and entrepreneurs and mining industrialists.

"Let's not forget that miners are also industrialists, and I think, also contributing to even greater transformation than what we have achieved in the past and benefiting communities and the entire country.

"I do believe that the industry can do so much more than it is currently, and so the legislative context for mining has to enable a shift, and the industry needs to shift from potential to performance," Mthenjane added.

REGULAR MEDIA ROUNDTABLES

Going forward, Minerals Council South Africa intends holding regular media roundtable briefings "to get to understand what's going on in the mining industry", communications head Allan Seccombe stated.

"I think that's going to be a key thing for us, to bring media stakeholders along with us on our journey as we as we strive for growth, safety, employment, all the good things that we all want for our country and certainly our mining industry.

The focus first of the first roundtable briefing was on transformation, which the council described as "a critical aspect of our industry, particularly as we address our legacy with the industry looking at a lot of things the mining industry was historically known for and trying to rectify that", added Seccombe.

It's been a journey since the advent of democracy, the publication of the Mining Charter "and I think the mining industry has continued to prioritise socioeconomic transformation over that period", Mthenjane explained.

"You'll all be familiar, with the structure of the Mining Charter, which is really consistent with several other industry charters, including, amongst other things, black ownership, employment, equity, preferential procurement, enterprise and supply development, skills development, as well as social economic development," added Mthenjane.

Specific to the...