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An agreement has been entered into for the outright sale of Williamson Diamonds Limited, Petra Diamonds announced on Wednesday.

The London-listed and South Africa-active Petra is taking steps to sell its entire shareholding in the Tanzanian entity to Pink Diamonds Investments for a headline consideration of up to $16-million.

This follows Petra's sale in May of just under half of the asset, in which the Tanzanian government has a stake, for $15-million via long-term technical services contractor Taifa Mining.

Since then, Williamson's coming under consolidated ownership has emerged increasingly as the preferred way forward.

As a Taifa affiliate, Pink Diamonds is viewed by Petra CEO Richard Duffy as possessing the technical and financial capability to conduct operations in a responsible manner for all stakeholders.

As a wholly Tanzanian-owned company with more than three decades of mining-related experience, Taifa's working relationships extend to mining majors such as De Beers, Barrick and AngloGold Ashanti. It is now entering a phase of exclusive ownership of the asset where about 1 100 people are employed, most of them Tanzanian.

The mine's reserves and resources as of June 30 were reported as 37.17-million carats. With liquidity challenges continuing, further capital investment will be required.

"We look forward to working closely with the Mining Commission, the Fair Competition Commission, employees, community representatives and other key stakeholders in completing the sale as soon as possible," Duffy stated in a stock exchange announcement accessed by Mining Weekly.

In South Africa, Petra operates the Cullinan diamond mine in Gauteng and the Finsch diamond mine in the Northern Cape.

"We're committed to adopting and adhering to the latest internationally recognised standards throughout all aspects of our business," said Pink Diamonds chairperson Rostam Azizi, whose family are from the area around Mwadui, the other name for the Williamson mine, which is situated 23 km north-east of Shinyanga in northern Tanzania.

Mining Weekly can report that the discovery of the kimberlite pipe by Canadian geologist John Williamson in 1940 led to ongoing operation since then, making it one of the world's oldest continuous operating diamond mines. Its yield of 19-million-plus diamond carats includes the 54.5 ct Williamson pink diamond presented to British royalty in 1947.

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In a bid to help make mine tailings safer for people and the environment, a global institute has been launched in South Africa which has also been selected as the location of the independent, multi-stakeholder governed Global Tailings Management Institute (GTMI).

GTMI has been founded by CEO-led leadership organisation ICMM, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) - the same three organisations that established the global industry standard on tailings management (GISTM) in 2020 - a year after the catastrophic dam collapse at Brazil's Corrego de Feijao mine in Brumadinho, which Global Tailings Review chairperson and a former International Union for Conservation of Nature director-general Dr Bruno Oberle described as "a human and environmental tragedy that demanded decisive and appropriate action to enhance the safety and strengthen the governance of tailings facilities across the globe".

Now, GTMI is the latest transformative ICMM-UNEP-PRI initiative, guided by an international advisory panel representing multiple stakeholders.

On selecting South Africa as its location, ICMM president and CEO Rohitesh Dhawan had this to say: "South Africa is an effective and appropriate location for the institute due to its significant mining sector, skills and experience in tailings management, and legal and professional expertise.

"The country has at various times been at the forefront of mining practices and technology globally and GTMI will benefit from that positive legacy, while contributing to the future growth and sustainability of the mining industry in the country."

Dhawan also expressed gratitude to South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and its Minerals Council for their role in the establishment of the institute of GTMI, which will drive the responsible management of tailings facilities throughout their lifecycle.

The goal is to achieve zero harm to people and the environment, by overseeing an independent assessment process through which tailings facilities worldwide will be audited and certified.

Overseen will be conformance with the GISTM.

Companies seeking to meet the standard are required to prioritise safety and enhance accountability through public disclosures at all tailings facilities.

GTMI will be responsible for managing the assurance framework through which tailings facilities will be independently audited and certified against the GISTM by qualified third-party assessors.

THE MISSION

The core function of GTMI is to manage the assurance framework by encouraging the adoption of the GISTM, sharing knowledge and best practices for responsible tailings management, and transparently disclosing auditing outcomes.

It is seen as a vital part of the global architecture to deliver the goal of zero harm from tailings dams.

Updates will be made to GISTM as lessons are learned from implementation, and public disclosure of auditing outcomes will ensure that interested parties are always kept informed, Church of England Pensions Board chief responsible investment officer and PRI representative Adam Matthews pointed out in a release to Mining Weekly.

ELECTION OF BOARD ON WAY

A critical first step for GTMI is to elect a board of directors who will represent the entire ecosystem of communities and industries impacted by tailings facilities.

Applications are being invited from mining, potentially affected communities, indigenous peoples, the investment community, the insurance and banking sector, the technical and academic community, environmental experts, the mining workforce, and regulatory authorities.

Once the board is in place, GTMI will recruit a CEO and chief technical officer who will establish a committee to oversee all tec...

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Johannesburg-, Sydney and London-listed globally diversified mining and metals company South32 on Monday reported a sufficiently strong start to the year to enable it to maintain production guidance for all operations except Mozal Aluminium in Mozambique, where it is mitigating the impact of civil unrest.

The December 2024 quarter delivered increased base metals production with South African manganese expected to be 5% above current financial year 2025 (FY25) guidance of two-million wet metric tonnes.

Fourteen per cent higher alumina output secured the benefit of stronger alumina prices.

The company, headed by CEO Graham Kerr, returned $169-million to shareholders with the continuing on-market share buy-back, leaving $171-million to be returned to shareholders under the capital management programme.

The divestment of metallurgical coal company Illawarra in the September 2024 quarter, has strengthened the balance sheet and platform for growth in minerals and metals needed for the world's energy transition.

Shaft-sinking began in the quarter to access the zinc/lead/silver Taylor deposit at Hermosa, located in the Patagonia Mountains, about 80 km south-east of Tucson, Arizona, in the US.

The development of an exploration decline was also progressed at the Clark battery-grade manganese deposit and exploration drilling at the Peake copper deposit to unlock further value across its broader land package, also at Hermosa.

Also embedded during the period were additional copper exploration options.

Half-year aluminium production increased by 5% as Hillside Aluminium at Richards Bay in South Africa continued to test its maximum technical capacity and low-carbon aluminium production from Brazil Aluminium and Mozal Aluminium increased by 12%.

Hillside, the largest aluminium smelter in the southern hemisphere, supports South Africa's downstream aluminium industry through the supply of liquid metal to Hulamin and other local companies that sell products in the domestic and export markets.

Hillside's saleable production increased by 1% to 362 000 t in the December 2024 half-year and FY25 production guidance remains unchanged at 720 000 t. Sales increased by 10% in the December quarter as the inventory position returned to normalised levels.

Australia's Worsley, which supplies alumina to Hillside, completed planned calciner maintenance and Brazil Alumina benefitted from improved plant availability.

In the quarter, Worsley received State environmental approval for the Worsley Mine Development Project and remains on track to receive Federal approval in the March 2025 quarter.

At Sierra Gorda in Chile payable copper equivalent production increased by 21% in the half-year as the operation benefitted from improved ore quality in the current phase of the mine plan.

Cannington in Australia delivered a 56% increase in payable zinc equivalent production in the quarter and realised higher planned lead and silver grades and Australia Manganese resumed production from the primary concentrator and progressed construction of infrastructure.

The 19.9% interest in American Eagle provides an option to acquire 100% of Nakinilerak copper porphyry exploration prospect in British Columbia, Canada.

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The attributable ferrochrome production from the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture for the fourth quarter was 70 000 t, resulting in a marginal increase of approximately 0.3% in production for the year ended December 31 when compared with the prior comparative period.

Merafe's attributable ferrochrome in the third quarter ended September 30 was also a moderate 2%-higher 76 000 t, resulting in an increase of 2% in production for the nine months, primarily attributed to all operating smelters being in production throughout the winter months.

In the nine months to September 30, Merafe's attributable ferrochrome production totalled 230 000 t, compared with 225 000 t for the same period in 2023.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company's latest Stock Exchange News Service report thus lifts production for the year to 300 000 t.

Merafe's revenue and operating income are primarily generated from the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture, which has a total installed capacity of 2.3-million tonnes of ferrochrome a year.

South Africa, once the mainstay of global ferrochrome production, today supplies most of the chrome for China's stainless steel production, which represents a beneficiation reversal caused mainly by the high electricity prices charged by Eskom, an enterprise owned by a State which preaches beneficiation but does not practise it.

Market share was lost despite the private sector's significant investment in expanding local beneficiation capacity. This was the result mainly of the public sector failing to provide the required volume of electricity at a competitive price.

A competitive environment needs to be created to maximise the use of existing ferrochrome capacity.

In the past, 100% of metallurgical grade chrome ore was beneficiated locally. At one stage, 20% of mining-related foreign exchange was earned from ferrochrome sales.

Ferrochrome is a prime ingredient of stainless steel and most of the ferrochrome produced in South Africa is consumed by China, which is the world's biggest producer of stainless steel.

There is growing conviction that with available new technology, South Africa could go all out to regain its lost market share at a time when South Africa is entering a new era of public-private collaboration, which is targeting economic growth that is inclusive.

South Africa's chrome value chain once provided more than 200 000 jobs. However, jobs have been progressively shed as South Africa's ferrochrome industry, the beneficiation baseline of the chrome value chain, went into deteriorating decline.

The point has been made that no reasonable competitive entity anywhere in the world could justifiably aver that it is not correct for South Africa, as a country that hosts overwhelming volumes of raw ore, to have the duty to process as much raw ore as possible close to where that ore is mined.

Promising new Proudly South African technology called SmeltDirect is positioned to take the greenness and cleanness of ferrochrome to a high new level at a time when the likes of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) imposition are only a little over a year away, in a region where combatting climate change remains an essential requirement.

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

This new technology has been developed over the last 13 years by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) headed by executive chairperson Dr Patrice Motsepe.

ARM has no intention of holding SmeltDirect close to its chest. On the contrary, ARM Ferrous division CE Andre Joubert, and ARM executive: technology development Henk Bouwer, are determined to ...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses hopes of a revival of South Africa’s manganese alloy potential with the latest Competition Tribunal approval; the words "Super power metals" being used to describe South Africa’s platinum group metals in key green energy decision-making forums; and positive green hydrogen recognition in India, Europe and China.

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The prospect of good forward momentum for a resumption of valuable mining at the re-emerging old Blyvooruitzicht (Blyvoor) gold mine has received another boost.

This is because Aurous Resources, the South African mining group that owns and operates Blyvoor on Gauteng's West Rand, has secured approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its proposed business combination deal with Rigel Resource Acquisition Group.

The SEC declared effective the registration statement for the proposed business combination on January 14, which has been welcomed as a growth phase enabler.

"We've made steady progress in our ongoing efforts at improving our operational efficiency and unlocking significant value for our shareholders on the back of near record high gold prices," Aurous CEO Richard Floyd noted.

"With the conclusion of our business transaction with Rigel, and the addition of new board members and investors, we expect 2025 to be a highlight in Aurous' ongoing business journey," Floyd added in a release to Mining Weekly.

Rigel will hold a special meeting of shareholders on February 4 to vote on the approval and adoption of the business combination. The transaction is expected to close shortly after shareholder approval at the special meeting, subject to the meeting of other customary closing conditions.

The combined company will be named Aurous Resources and is expected to be listed on the US's NASDAQ stock exchange.

To date, the total committed and commercially agreed private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing secured amounts to R519-million, with a targeted PIPE raise of R944-million.

The three nominees announced as independent nonexecutive directors upon closing of the business transaction are Hennie van Greuning, Christine Coignard, and Stephen Hayes.

For the first six months of the company's 2025 financial year, 5%-higher revenue of R434-million was generated year and a 59%-higher operating profit of R39-million.

On surface, the Gauta tailings retreatment project is being developed.

Since the restart of Blyvoor production in 2022, Aurous has been able to re-employ about 1 500 workers who had been unemployed following closure of the mine in 2013.

Blyvoor was established in 1937, with production commencing in 1942.

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Toronto- and New York-listed Platinum Group Metals Limited is in discussion with several South African smelter operators, including Impala Platinum (Implats), with a view to negotiating formal metal concentrate offtake arrangements for the Waterberg project, which is planned as a mechanised, shallow, decline-accessed platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold mine, with copper and nickel by-products.

Implats is a 14.86% shareholder in the project, which is located on the northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, about 85 km north of Mokopane, in Limpopo.

The objective is to advance the Waterberg project to a development and construction decision including the arrangement of construction financing.

While this is happening, the Canada-based company is targeting the use of platinum and palladium in lithium battery technologies through the Lion Battery Technologies initiative, which is being undertaken in collaboration with Anglo American Platinum and Florida International University.

The investment in Lion creates a potential vertical integration with a broader industrial market development strategy to bring new palladium and platinum-using technologies to market, and technical results from research potentially having application to most lithium-ion and lithium-sulphur battery chemistries.

In addition to discussing local smelting, Platinum Group Metals last year entered into a memorandum of understanding with Ajlan and Saudi Arabia's Investment Ministry for the establishment of a platinum group metals (PGM) smelter and base metal refinery in Saudi Arabia.

A key requirement would be to secure a long-term permit for the export of unrefined precious metals in concentrate from South Africa.

The latest independent definitive feasibility study (DFS) released in September was more emphatic than ever on the economic viability and wealth creation potential of the R18.8-billion Waterberg project, which has a longer 54-year life-of-mine (LoM) outlook, up from the earlier 45-year LoM projection of average production in concentrate of 353 208 four element (4E) a year and peak annual production of 432 950 4E oz.

Under the latest financial model, construction is deemed to begin in December 2025, with first production in September 2029. Ramp-up to steady state would then be in May 2032, with mining ongoing until 2081.

Two thousand jobs would be created during construction and 1 425 permanent jobs as steady state mining is achieved.

The DFS points to lower cost and higher free cash. The proven and probable mineral reserves are one-fifth higher at 23.41-million 4E ounces, plus 0.08% copper and 0.17% nickel.

Net present value is R11.5-billion, cash cost an average $658/4E oz, all-in sustaining cost $761/4E oz, and free after-tax cashflow R130.59-billion.

Platinum Group Metals discovered this section of the Bushveld Complex in November 2011, funded by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, or Jogmec. The Department of Minerals Resources and Energy granted the mining right in 2021.

Recently received by Platinum Group Metals is its fourth annual environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure report from UK company Digbee, which has developed an Equator Principles-aligned framework for improving ESG performance.

Amid its strategic investments, Platinum Group Metals incurred a net loss of $1.84-million in the three months ended November 30, with expenditure since inception totalling $89.70-million.

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In a voluntary production update, Northam Platinum has reported burgeoning half-year performance from the ramping-up platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome Eland mine.

Eland's chrome concentrate production soared by 113.1% to 115 387 t in the six months to the end of last year, the first half of Northam's 2025 financial year (H1 FY25) compared with the 54 146 t in H1 FY24 and its PGM concentrate output was also a good 15.1% up at 37 488 oz compared with H1 FY24's 32 574 oz.

But tragically, the mine's exceptional performance has been marred by two fatal accidents, the first involving a barring incident that occurred during shotcreting operations in a development tunnel, and the second involving a conveyor belt engineering incident occurring during a maintenance procedure.

Despite these events and the resultant stoppages, Northam reported in a Stock Exchange News Service announcement that stoping production remains on target and run-of-mine upper group two (UG2) ore milled has increased. Together with the benefit of concentrator upgrades, this has led to improved recoveries and consequently higher production of both PGM and chrome.

Northam has three main mines in South Africa located at Zondereinde in Limpopo, Booysendal in Mpumalanga and at Eland in North West.

Its integrated activities extend from underground mining through to concentrating, smelting and base metal removal. Precious metal refining is outsourced.

Since inception, Northam's precious metals have been refined by Heraeus Deutschland in terms of a toll refining agreement.

With the recent expansion of output Northam has recently contracted Johnson Matthey's precious metals services to diversify its refining capacity.

In total, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Northam produced 3.7% more refined PGM produced from own operations and 7.5% more chrome concentrate in the six months.

The Zondereinde mine's equivalent refined metal production was up 3.1% at 165 076 four element (4E) ounces for H1 FY25 and PGM concentrate production from own operations at Booysendal was 2.7% higher at 256 759 oz.

Chrome concentrate production at Zondereinde was a 5.5%-higher 242 402 t but a 6.3%-lower 358 833 t at Booysendal.

The group continues to grow PGM production from own operations towards a goal of a million 4E ounces a year, whilst preferentially targeting mechanised mining from quality UG2 orebodies, and concurrently reducing overall risk profile through operational, geographical, metallurgical and revenue diversification.

The focus on mining of chrome-linked UG2 ore has helped to reinforce a lower-end cost curve benefit.

PGM production from Zondereinde remains on target, despite a stoppage during November because of a failure of a primary Eskom feed substation. Chrome concentrate production has benefitted from increased UG2 milling and further incremental improvements in chrome recovery. The commissioning of 3 Shaft, where development and equipping continues, is expected to improve production and efficiencies at Zondereinde.

Booysendal's above-target PGM production once again demonstrates the intrinsic quality of this operation where preferential milling of Merensky ore as a singular intervention to reduce stockpiles that were built up over time has temporarily reduced chrome output, Mining Weekly can report.

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A well progressing Tharisa mine underground definitive feasibility study accompanied by early works capital deployment is reported by Johannesburg- and London-listed platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome company Tharisa Minerals in its latest quarterly production report.

In addition is ongoing appraisal of value engineering opportunities at the Karo platinum project in Zimbabwe, where work packages are progressing in line with existing funding.

It was reported in 2023 that, while undertaking a feasibility study, Tharisa would begin shallow underground mechanised operations in the west pit of the Tharisa mine, which is located near Rustenburg in South Africa's North West. This followed a 2019 prefeasibility study into transitioning underground from opencast.

PGM production in what is the first quarter (Q1) of Tharisa's financial year 2025 (FY25), was down to 29 900 oz on the 37 100 oz of Q4 FY24, as was chrome production of 374 400 t on the 426 800 t of the previous quarter.

Q1 PGM prices averaged $1 381/oz and metallurgical grade chrome concentrate prices $271/t.

Group cash-on-hand fell to $175.1-million and debt to $86.1-million, bringing about a net cash position of $89-million.

The company incorporates exploration, mining, processing and the beneficiation, marketing, sales, and logistics of PGMs and chrome concentrates as an integrated resource group linked to the energy transition and decarbonisation of economies.

"Undoubtedly a tough start to the new year, impacted by drilling equipment availability. As a consequence thereof, we mined sub optimal oxidised reef horizons, which yielded lower run-of-mine grades and therefore lower recoveries.

"We've subsequently improved the drilling rates and equipment availability and the focus this quarter will be on optimising the feed grade and improving our recoveries to previous levels," Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis revealed in a Stock Exchange News Service (SENS) announcement.

"While we've seen a drop in the chrome price due to slowing stainless steel demand, we remain of the view that these price levels are unsustainable and will need to correct to meet expected demand.

"The PGM pricing environment remains stubbornly weak, notwithstanding sound demand fundamentals," Pouroulis added in the SENS announcement accessed by Mining Weekly.

Regarding the cybersecurity incident, good progress had been made in bringing the affected administrative, accounting and support services systems back online, with work-around solutions minimising disruption.

Production guidance for FY25 is set at between 140 000 oz and 160 000 oz PGMs on a six element basis, and 1.65-million tonnes (Mt) to 1.8 Mt of chrome concentrates.

UNDERGOUND MINING

The prefeasibility underground study undertaken in 2019 and based on mechanised bord and pillar mining was updated in 2021 to allow for changes in the techno-economic mining limits of the openpits.

During 2023, an updated study was completed owing to opencast mining limit changes and subsequent earlier underground transition. The study focused on optimising the decline access strategy and locations and mining method selection.

Investment in downstream beneficiation is starting to pay dividends with the sale of the first commercial chrome alloy to a local industrial user seen as the first step in a beneficiation journey.

A redox flow battery system developed from on-site chrome concentrate is providing an energy storage solution.

Etana will from 2026 likely provide up to 44% of the Tharisa mine's electricity demand through wheeled wind and solar out of the Western Cape and Northern Cape using the existing electricity transmission grid.

This wheeled energy will complement the mine's 40 MW solar power plant being developed by TotalEnergies Renewable...

India aims to produce five-million tonnes of green hydrogen year by 2030 under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced.

At the same time, Hydrogen Europe CEO Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has stated out of Europe that "the New Year has started quite well for the hydrogen sector" in reference to Hydrogen Europe being invited to discuss hydrogen's role in helping decarbonise the economy with European Commission clean, just and competitive transition EVP Teresa Ribera and energy and housing commissioner Dan Jørgensen.

Modi, meanwhile, was deliberating during a virtual event to inaugurate projects worth about $27-billion in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

As a first step, two green hydrogen hubs will be established, one in Visakhapatnam, the Prime Minister said.

Johnson Matthey regulatory affairs director John Goodwin, coming over LinkedIn at roughly the same time, remarked on how advantageous it had been to talk with European Parliament Member Hildegard Bentele on the key role PGMs play within many technologies and processes from green hydrogen production, sustainable aviation fuel, auto catalysts, fuel cells, to anti-cancer drugs.

Goodwin described platinum group metals (PGMs) as "super power metals" owing to the major role and importance in the green energy transition. Hosted overwhelmingly in South Africa, PGMs go hand-in-glove with green hydrogen, which is being viewed increasingly as indispensable in the fight against climate change.

Interestingly, South Africa has had a long association with PGM company Johnson Matthey, which has a South African operation in Germiston, Gauteng.

Ahead of the Modi announcement, India's National Hydrogen Mission has been a major policy enabler to make India become a hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia production.

The South Asian country is targeting to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and scale up its renewable energy capacity 500 GW. It also aims to bring down the cost of green hydrogen to $1.5/kg.

Abundance of renewable sources of solar, wind and hydro power position it for strong global competitiveness and Modi has highlighted that green hydrogen is destined to play a crucial role in helping India to mitigate climate change.

Johnson Matthey PGMs advocacy manager Margery Ryan, who participated in last year's last year's PGMs Industry Day in South Africa, has commented on LinkedIn about how great it is to see the growing awareness of regulators to the critical importance of PGMs in applications across energy and more,

At last year's PGMs Industry Day, Ryan spoke of the major opportunity the clean energy future was presenting for PGMs and emphasised that PGMs were equally crucial to ensure the realisation of the world's climate-critical energy transition.

Water electrolysis based on PGM-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology has demonstrated its applicability to produce hydrogen and oxygen in a clean and safe way, Johnson Mathey has shown.

Systems have been demonstrated in a wide range of niche applications. The improved materials will also be made available to current developers of PEM electrolysers to allow them to quantify the benefits, and to provide early feedback that will drive ongoing performance improvements

Appealingly, the latest tie-up on the metals and mining front to reduce emissions in the mining and metals supply chain is the agreement between Vale of Brazil and GreenIron of Sweden, which focuses on key initiatives in Brazil and Sweden, including a feasibility study for a direct reduction facility in Brazil operated by GreenIron.

Additionally, Vale will also supply iron-ore to GreenIron's commercial operations in Sweden.

"We're focused on helping our clients achieve their decarbonisation targets and also fostering Brazil's new industrialisation,", EVP of Commercial and New Business at Vale commercial and new business EVP Rogério Nogueira stated viewed by Mining Weekly.