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Computer programmes that use artificial intelligence (AI) to model orebodies and plan mines optimally have already been introduced by Copper 360, the JSE AltX-listed Northern Cape copper mining company, which is developing the Rietberg copper mine, the first of a dozen copper-mining assets it has on its development list.

Next in line for South Africa's only pure copper play, which is already producing copper plate from surface material, will be smartwatches on the wrists of employees to uplift their well-being and even check their heart rates.

Then, towards the end of the year, battery operated vehicles capable of halving underground ventilation demand will be looked at.

In addition, intense consideration is being given as this article goes to press to the appointment of a chief technology officer to guide the organisation's embrace of state-of-the art technology from within its C-suite.

Meanwhile, deployment of technologies such as the internet of things, blockchain and AI are already providing the company with predictive outcomes.

Facilitated, too, will be smart contracts - self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement captured in code - which can be used to automate transactions.

The possibilities are endless, and the tamper-proof nature of the blockchain adds a healthy measure of data security, reliability and integrity to the mix, Copper 360 CEO Jan Nelson noted in an Op-Ed.

"Mining's going to become an industry where, through technology, we'll create a full-cycle business," Nelson elaborated to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video interview.)

"What technology does is allow a small company to suddenly start being very competitive," Nelson enthused.

Technology is also enabling great strides to be taken to uplift employee-relations for levels never before experienced: "Can you imagine every one of your employees having a smartwatch," Nelson postured about from-the-wrist information that will elevate mine safety to new heights and even help his team to mine in areas where widths have hitherto been too small for human entry.

At Copper 360's debut Rietberg mine alone copper in the ground is estimated to be worth R12-billion to R15-billion. Closely spaced drillholes show ore ready for mining on at least five open and accessible predeveloped levels.

Nelson sees the internet of things as being akin to a spiderweb that enables mining companies to be preventive rather than reactive: "We can see things that are going to happen and we can stop them in time."

It is also providing improved and faster decision-making and, linked to AI, it enables real-time scenario optimisation.

Moreover, blockchain is providing a digital record of everything, while also holding everybody to account in the new world where accountability and sustainability are musts.

"Blockchain's extremely efficient to roll into your operations and doesn't cost a lot of money," Nelson remarked.

Mining Weekly: Is it essential that the collection of the state-of-the-art technologies be deployed collectively for the overall outcome to be most effective?

Nelson: If we had all the money and all the time in the world, I would say yes. It would be fantastic to be able to click your fingers and roll things out, but that's certainly not how we've planned it. There's a progression and part of that comes with proper planning and training. You can't just bombard your people with everything in one go. A progressive, sequential roll out is how we see it being the most efficient.

Will new technology create more jobs than it eliminates?

There's always a scary thing that people think with technology comes fewer jobs. But if you look at the tech companies and all the tech toys they've supplied us and gadgets that we have, we as human beings are able to do more and be more efficient. That's why I think we're going to use more of our people, but in different...

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The convergence in platinum and palladium prices is likely to go further.

Fundamentals point more positively for platinum into 2025 on a better autocatalyst demand trend.

This will be so even as global internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle production declines, Deutsche Bank Research metals & mining analysts note in a commodities outlook published on January 10.

Within the platinum group metals (PGMs) market, the supply and demand trends favour platinum over palladium, the analysts state.

Since November, it has been the view of the Deutsche Bank Research team that PGMs would remain under the shadow of a United States recession and a consumer perception of poor vehicle buying conditions for the early part of the year.

This continues to be the case, with the forecast for a United States recession for the first half of the year suggesting that PGM prices will remain under pressure for at least the first quarter.

A weaker performance in palladium versus platinum is consistent with the autocatalyst industry's substitution process underway between 2023 and 2025, which is seen as unlikely to reverse course.

History would suggest, the analysts state, that the PGMs are likely to see scope for recovery, on account of a United States Federal Reserve pivot and easier credit conditions, which would improve vehicle buying conditions. Testing the S&P 500 over the course of previous recessions, the trough tends is found to be somewhat after the halfway point.

From spot levels, the research team's revised quarter-four forecasts of $1 350/oz in both platinum and palladium imply a 38% gain in palladium and a 44% gain in platinum.

PGM basket costs are the closest to producer cash costs since 2018, stress that has been evident most recently through Anglo American Platinum's reduction in production guidance for 2024 and 2025.

Anglo Platinum's 300 000 oz of lower PGM guidance in 2024 is a result of lower own-mine production, while the 300 000 oz of lower PGM guidance in 2025 is a result of lower purchase of concentrate.

Based on Anglo Platinum's historical ratios over 2020 and 2022, this would imply a greater reduction in platinum output than palladium (134 000 oz vs 95 000 oz) in each year. However, the possibility that the third party concentrate not purchased by Anglo Platinum finds its way to another refiner means that for the industry as a whole, the 2024 production cut is more certain.

On autocatalyst demand drivers, global ICE production, including nonplugin hybrids, is poised to decline by -3.1% in 2024 and by -3.7% in 2025, owing to the gradual adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

Through 2025, its assumptions are consistent with the shallower BEV adoption curve indicated by Deutsche's global autos team in December, but significantly less optimistic between 2025 and 2030.

Even with this less optimistic projection for BEV adoption, global ICE sales are set to decline more rapidly after 2025, accelerating to an annualised -5.1% between 2025 and 2030.

Only partially offsetting this is the tendency for manufacturers to use higher loadings to meet more stringent emissions standards, which amounts to a trend growth of 1.9% since 2006. The tightening trend in emissions regulation is not set to relax any time soon.

These drivers suggest, the analysts state, that palladium autocatalyst demand may fall by -270 000 oz to -300 000 oz in 2024 and 2025, and platinum autocatalyst demand by only -40 000 oz and -60 000 oz in 2024 and 2025, with substitution effects plausibly translating into a rise in platinum autocatalyst demand.

The upshot is that while 2024 supply-demand may still be close to balanced, a view incorporating 2025 would point to further deterioration in palladium balance relative to platinum, suggesting a potential for platinum to trade at a premium to palladium in 2025.

SUPPLY DECLINE

In a 25-page review for Auctus Metal Portfolios of Singapore, ...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the hydrogen economy as a new growth area for platinum group metals; Ian Cockerill's appointment as CEO of West African miner Endeavour Mining and the importance of growing the pipeline of leaders in the mining industry; and the importance of sustainability, as highlighted by Sibanye-Stillwater's appointment of Melanie Naidoo-Vermaak as its chief sustainability officer.

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Critical mineral demand is growing significantly at a time when South Africa has a pressing need to reawaken its public markets - two crucial needs that can be fulfilled in one go by companies raising capital on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to fund their entry into the critical minerals mining space.

Globally, critical minerals lists are growing, with many of the minerals registered available from existing mines in South Africa, which also offers opportunities for potential expansion by existing mining companies.

Let us not forget that South Africa has got about 6 000 unexplored and abandoned mines, some of which have existing infrastructure on which to model data and facilitate the raising of some capital for the redevelopment these operations.

These are among the many points highlighted by Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) business development manager Patrycja Kula-Verster during a Zoom interview with Engineering News & Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"If one looks at the critical minerals such as copper, magnesium, lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earths, for example, and many more, it is really a good opportunity to look into these critical minerals and see where the opportunities lie in terms of the broader electrification of the global economy as many are looking at securing energy security globally and not only here in South Africa," said Kula-Verster.

Regular additions are being made to critical mineral lists with Australia, for example, last year appending fluorine, molybdenum, selenium and tellurium to its register of minerals that it regards as essential to modern technologies, atop of Australian officials also creating a new strategic materials list that embraces copper, nickel, aluminium, phosphorous, tin and zinc.

"South Africa's got an abundance of resources and reserves and it is important to facilitate access to funding and unlocking this potential," added Kula-Verster.

Whether operations are existing or emerging, the JSE is there to facilitate access to capital to give these opportunities a platform on which to develop and make a significant contribution to the South African economy.

By listing on any exchange globally, one is essentially using the franchise of that exchange, and, particularly in the case of the 137-year-old JSE, that franchise is able to profile businesses to both institutional and also retail investors.

It is important for issuers of shares to maintain their profile and continuously engage with these investors.

When it comes to research coverage, local independent research analysts cover many of these stocks for the benefit of retail investors.

The JSE has around a dozen retail brokers plus financial services providers that have made it their job to ensure a user friendly experience when it comes to trading stocks on an exchange.

Most important is continuous communication with the retail investor audience.

The JSE also assists companies with broader exposure and as companies grow and are included in indices, for example, they can be included in many additional products.

Investing in a basket full of shares is a fantastic opportunity to get some indirect shareholding in some of these types of companies, as well as actively manage certificates.

Creating an enabling platform to access capital is the prime responsibility of exchanges along with ensuring continuous local and international profiles.

Once listed on the JSE, continuous access is provided to follow-on equity raising and even debt capital markets, depending on the funding requirements.

"There is access to capital via the JSE for junior miners, not only the large miners, and I think that's an important point to make. There are deep and liquid capital markets available here in South Africa, both in retail and institutional, so much so that you can even attract some offshore investments," Kula-Verster pointed out.

Run some model...

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The hydrogen economy is an important new growth area for platinum group metals (PGMs) and, in turn, PGMs are pivotal for hydrogen production and application across a broad front.

Accentuating this in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly, Heraeus Precious Metals new business development executive VP Dr Philipp Walter highlighted the strong global current momentum of the hydrogen economy - "politically, socially and technologically". (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"There'll be significant growth," Walter forecast shortly before departing for Asia to visit customers.

To meet that growth, Heraeus Precious Metals has formed its new Business Line Hydrogen Systems unit to focus on hydrogen applications, in particular proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis and fuel cells, as well as the recycling of spent electrolysers and membranes.

"When I started in this role five years ago, now and then there was an article about hydrogen and PEM electrolysis, but nowadays, these are skyrocketing," he noted.

Amid the need to replace the anticipated potential loss of PGM demand to battery electric vehicles, hydrogen is seen as providing abundant opportunity to replace expected PGM demand loss - and then some. (Also see attached infographics.)

The hydrogen-related applications in which PGMs play a key role may begin with green hydrogen using PEM electrolysis but they certainly do not end there, extending as they do to other elements in PEM electrolysers, and so much more beyond that.

PGMs, for example, are again key in the transport of hydrogen through carriers such as liquid organic hydrogen carriers or LOHC, ammonia, methanol and fuel cells. The European Clean Hydrogen Alliance has just published the Learnbook on hydrogen imports into the EU market, citing LOHC technology as a viable hydrogen transport solution. LOHC can use existing non-cryogenic liquid fuel infrastructure at ports, thus transforming assets without leaving stranded investments.

Green hydrogen depends on especially PEM electrolysis technology owing to this coping best with renewable energy fluctuations.

In addition, platinum, iridium and now also ruthenium play electrocatalytic roles in splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, with PGMs also being used as catalysts to crack ammonia into nitrogen and hydrogen and to convert carbon dioxide into methanol or other hydrogen-carrier molecules.

Furthermore, PGM catalysts are essential in gas purification through palladium membranes, by either removing oxygen in a hydrogen stream or removing hydrogen in an oxygen stream.

In fuel cells, platinum on carbon catalysts are used to generate energy out of hydrogen and oxygen, forming water.

When hydrogen is converted into electricity by fuel cells, platinum allows the energy to be released in a controlled manner as mobile and stationary power, which is so useful in areas not served by national electricity grids.

The essential need to have enough Iridium available to accommodate and accompany PEM electrolysis growth is already being met by highly successful thrifting achievements as well as through the addition of ruthenium.

This not only reduces reliance on iridium, a highly scarce and expensive PGM, but also reduces material cost.

Primary production of ruthenium, also a PGM, is three-and-a-half times greater than the primary production of iridium.

While some are seeking to substitute PGMs completely, being able to do so is seen as being highly unlikely.

"As a chemist, I find that difficult because I believe platinum group metals and hydrogen belong together, simply because of their chemical nature," was Walter's comment to Mining Weekly on the issue of substitution.

"Everybody dealing with platinum group metals also knows that thrifting is part of the DNA of platinum group metals," he added.

Significant thrifting has not only been achieved with environmental catalysts, but also with autocatalyst...

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South African Hall-of-Fame luminary Ian Cockerill has been appointed CEO of West African mining company Endeavour, which owns and operates gold mines in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Senegal.

Cockerill, who was Endeavour's former deputy chairperson, gleaned most of his four decades of experience in the global natural resources industry in South Africa.

In light of his appointment as CEO and executive director of the London- and Toronto-listed Endeavour, he will reportedly be reviewing his other current directorships.

As was reported in November, Endeavour's mines in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire delivered a combined 792 000 oz of gold for the nine months to September 30. Full-year guidance is between 1.06-million and 1.14-million ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of between $895/oz and $950/oz. In the third-quarter of last year, Endeavour produced 281 000 oz at an AISC of $967/oz.

Third-quarter revenue was $530-million and planned full-year capital expenditure is $400-million.

"Looking ahead, we expect 2024 to be a strong year for Endeavour, as the brownfield expansion of Sabodala-Massawa and the Lafigué development project both remain on budget and on track to be commissioned next year," former CEO Sebastien de Montessus stated in a release to Mining Weekly in November.

This year, the Sabodala-Massawa expansion is scheduled to commence in the second quarter and the Lafigué project in the third quarter.

Cockerill was inducted into the South African Mining Hall of Fame of the Joburg Indaba in 2017.

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Giyani Metals is a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto, Canada. Through its wholly-owned Botswana subsidiary Menzi Battery Metals, Giyani is the owner of the past producing K.Hill manganese mining project in Botswana.

Giyani is now intent on producing battery manganese at K.Hill, which is being developed as an integrated mining and processing operation.

What has caused some head-scratching in South Africa is that Giyani has secured $16-million worth of funding from South Africa's State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), ahead of South Africa's own Manganese Metal Co (MMC) in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, which has a half-century of experience in adding value to manganese.

All that stands between MMC and the construction of the battery manganese project in Mbombela is the finalisation of funding, which South Africa's State-owned IDC has managed to achieve for Botswana to the extent that the Canada-based Giyani has described the IDC funding as being the cornerstone of its $26-million funding package.

But funding from the IDC for construction of South Africa's own potentially paradigm-shifting initial HPMSM in Mbombela is still undecided, after a year of contact between the State-owned entity and MMC.

Though the Canada-Botswana operation's demonstration plant will be built in Johannesburg, its commercial scale battery manganese plant will be built in Botswana.

Moreover, the arrangement is that if the IDC converts the $16-million into equity, then Giyani will list on the Botswana Stock Exchange, to help Botswana develop its capital market.

This is being arranged at a time when South Africa's shrinking Johannesburg Stock Exchange is going all out to attract new listings.

IDC's funding of the Botswana project is also taking place at a time when a long and growing list of South African agricultural products are being denied entry into Botswana.

Amid South Africa being overlooked by a South African State-owned entity in favour of a Canada-Botswana business, Engineering News & Mining Weekly put these questions to Giyani Metals CEO Danny Keating. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Why has your Canada-owned Giyani Metals not opted to raise its own equity capital on the TSX Venture Exchange in Toronto and instead opted to secure $16-million worth of developmental finance from South Africa's IDC, for an ultimate battery manganese plant that will not be built in South Africa but in Botswana?

Keating: As part of the overall financing, the IDC component, the $16-million is one part and there's another $10-million that includes equity from Canada and different investors. Historically, about $30-million or $40-million of Canadian money has been invested. There's been a lot of investment both into Botswana and into the South African part of the project over the last few years. Yes, it's come in from Canada but the money, the technology, the people that are, ultimately, benefiting from this are in Southern Africa. The IDC does have a larger remit.

It isn't just South Africa. It's the SADC region, and strong neighbours for South Africa are good for South Africa, and that's obviously part of their strategy. I can't talk too much for the IDC, they obviously talk for themselves, but I think that part of their overall strategy is how do they develop battery technologies within Southern Africa and driving that within South Africa. In discussion with them, what they've recognised is that the SADC region has the ingredients for battery metals. There is nickel, there is cobalt, there's now the manganese and the components. South Africa has a massive car industry, but there isn't that joined up bit in between and that's obviously where the IDC comes into play. Part of assisting and being involved in Giyani, and our projects in Botswana and in South Africa, is to help to also drive that process forward.

The money that we've receiving from the I...

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Gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti is taking steps to become part of a search for gold in Guyana, a country on South America's North Atlantic coast.

The New York- and Johannesburg-listed company, led by CEO Alberto Calderon, intends owing 11.7% of exploration company G2 Goldfields, which has been involved in the discovery of millions of ounces of gold in Guyana.

"This strategic investment will provide us with a strong position in one of the world's key gold provinces with significant potential for new discoveries," Calderon stated in a release to Mining Weekly on Tuesday, December 19.

Being banked on is G2's continued exploration success in the Guiana Shield, which, in Guyana alone, hosts the six-million-ounce Aurora mine, the five-million-once Omai mine and the seven-million-ounce Toraparu deposit.

In addition to finding gold in Guyana, G2 has also been involved in the financing and development of Aurora.

G2's principal OKO project is made up of the OKO Main Zone deposit and the Ghanie deposit. Last year, the indicated mineral resource estimate for the OKO Main Zone was 220 000 oz of gold (793 000 t at 8.63 g/t), and the Inferred mineral resource estimate 974 000 oz (3 274 000 t at 9.25 g/t). A mineral resource update is expected in the first half of 2024.

G2 has other exploration targets within a 20km radius of OKO Main and Ghanie, and these are located next to Reunion Gold Corporation's OKO West discovery, where an Indicated and inferred mineral resource of 4.24-million ounces at 1.91 g/t was published in June.

G2 executive chairperson is Patrick Sheridan and its CEO is Dan Noone.

AngloGold expresses the belief that the company's exploration properties have significant growth potential.

As part of the share subscription, which is expected to close in next month, AngloGold will be granted pre-emptive and top-up rights for future security issuances by G2.

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Overwhelming demand and declining South African mining supply are poised to result in a very substantial rise in the price of platinum, Dr David Davis forecasts.

Davis has been associated with the South African mining industry and mining investment industry for the past 45 years in mainly platinum-group metals, gold and uranium, and he reaches this conclusion in a 25-page review for Auctus Metal Portfolios of Singapore.

His calculations imply that the platinum quantum of above-ground platinum inventory, in Western Europe and the UK, has entered a critical red zone.

He notes that China, which has been buying volumes of platinum that exceed its demand since 2009, does not export platinum. Therefore, supply support can come only from the above-ground platinum inventory of the US, at a price; or from an increase in primary mine supply, which is in decline; or from a significant increase in recycling, which is unlikely.

He expects these trends to ignite the price of platinum within the next few months: "It's only a matter of time before the impact of this growing global supply-demand deficit bites and we see a very substantial rise in the price of platinum".

He calculates China's above-ground inventory to have absorbed 12-million ounces of platinum, which represents 57% of the apparent global platinum above-ground inventories of 21.2-million ounces.

As China's above-ground inventory is not accessible by the Western world, Davis concludes that the rate of global decarbonisation will be negatively affected.

He calculates US above-ground inventory at 8.1-million ounces and Japan's above-ground inventory at 1.8-million ounces, with Western Europe, the UK and the rest of the worlds' above-ground inventories all on their last legs.

"Given these scenarios . . . it is imperative for the industry to significantly advance its current timeline and replace the obsolete and simple supply-demand equation with a real market balance equation," Davis states in the review released to Mining Weekly.

He denounces as "mind-boggling" the impact of using simple supply-demand market balance and above-ground inventory estimates and highlights that using real-world equation trends in above-ground inventories reveals vital information concerning the regional distribution and the quantum of platinum contained in these inventories.

Davis believes that the platinum-group metals and the investment industry, as well as research organisations and other interested parties, do not have an accurate understanding of the structural changes in the above-ground inventories of platinum between 2007 and 2022.

The geographic location and mobility of vaulted above-ground inventory stocks are an important factor when considering platinum's supply life and price, he argues.

Davis emphasises that platinum stocks have entered a critical low-level stage.

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The building of the R105-billion green ammonia project by Hive Hydrogen South Africa is poised to be a huge economic uplift for the Eastern Cape.

The large project is the first phase of a multi-phase venture that will be constructed over 16 years. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The front-end engineering design (FEED) process gets underway next month and tenders will invited shortly after the conclusion of that process in July.

Funding will be a combination of 70% debt and 30% equity. The final investment decision, which is expected by the end of next year, will be followed by construction and commissioning in 2028.

Targeted is the achievement of a lower price of green ammonia than virtually anywhere else in the world.

The building by Hive Hydrogen of 3.6 GW renewable energy capacity is scheduled to begin in early 2025. The solar power component will be built near the town of De Aar, in the Northern Cape, and wind component north and south of Beaufort West, in the Western Cape.

A large transmission grid strengthening programme will enable Hive Hydrogen's 3.6 GW on to the grid and phases two, three and four of the project will each require additional renewable energy of a similar gigawattage. Interestingly, Hive Hydrogen's initial 3.6 GW on to the grid will enable an additional 14.4 GW from other independent power producers.

The one-million tons of green ammonia a year that the Coega project will produce will provide clean energy for a variety of applications, with green hydrogen and ammonia being particularly well suited to the decarbonisation of heavy industries and transportation industries.

To get more insight into the project, Mining Weekly conducted this question-and-answer interview with Hive Hydrogen GM Colin Loubser.

Mining Weekly: Hive Hydrogen South Africa has signed a memorandum of co-operation with the Itochu of Japan. Why was this done and how and when do you expect South Africa's proposed green ammonia project to benefit from this?

Loubser: The main reason why the memorandum of co-operation was signed is because Itochu is probably leading the world at the moment in the new clean fuel sector for green hydrogen and green ammonia. Itochu has a very large team working on green hydrogen and green ammonia in the Far East and globally. Itochu has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Sasol but memorandum of co-operation between us and Itochu has a different context. What we are hoping to achieve is to set up a roadmap to ensure the project, the phases, the strategic partners, are all aligned to ensure that we get the best cost of finance and to make sure we have the lowest priced green ammonia. We are seeing is an evolving situation where particularly our Coega site and all the dynamics around it, leads us to a lower price of green ammonia than virtually anyone anywhere else in the world. We see blue ammonia is as the major competitor to green, so we have to be the same price or lower than blue ammonia. We're working with Itochu to find out how to do that, and to make sure that the financing is the lowest possible and to achieve the lowest price for green ammonia. Not only the first phase of our project but its future three phases also need to be looked at and the memorandum of cooperation will cover the entire scope of the project and then how we deliver this lowest cost of green ammonia. There's a huge appetite for debt funding at low interest rates because of the value of the project to the world in terms of climate change, decarbonisation and the like.

What are the additional phases envisaged that will take Hive's sun and wind energy requirement beyond the 12 GW mark?

A really good question and a bit of a crystal ball in part of the part of that but we are looking at doing some direct connections into the project, as well as more grid connection. Those in the industry will know that one of the most important thing...