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This week on Second Take, Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses African Rainbow Minerals acquiring 15% of Canada’s Surge Copper; the brand-new platinum-catalysed hydrogen fuel cell system, which is as cheap to make as a conventional car engine; and Nedbank noting current low PGM prices are not reflective of supply/demand fundamentals.

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Diversified mining company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) has entered into a subscription agreement for a private placement financing with Surge Copper, a Canadian company that is advancing an emerging critical metals district in British Columbia.

ARM will subscribe for 39 608 708 common Surge shares for C$3.8-million through its wholly-owned subsidiary ARM Copper.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed ARM, headed by executive chairperson Dr Patrice Motsepe, will own 15% of Surge's shares on completion of the placement, which is subject to TSX Venture Exchange and South African Reserve Bank approval.

As a member of the International Council on Mining and Metals, ARM is a steward of minerals and metals that are critical to decarbonisation and sustainable development.

Surge's contiguous mineral claim package hosts multiple advanced porphyry deposits with compliant resources of copper, molybdenum, gold and silver - metals which are described as being critical inputs to the low-carbon energy transition and associated electrification technologies.

Surge's 100%-owned Berg project has copper, molybdenum, silver and gold in measured, indicated and inferred categories. It also owns the Ootsa Property exploration project, which encompasses the Seel and Ox porphyry deposits that are located next to Imperial Metals' opencast Huckleberry copper mine. Ootsa has copper, gold, molybdenum and silver in measured, indicated and inferred categories.

The compliant preliminary economic assessment on the Berg project announced by Surge in June 2023 outlined a greenfield critical metals development project highlighted by a 30-year mine life.

Total payable production was calculated to be 2.6-million tonnes of copper equivalent and 1.7-million tonnes of copper.

The mineral resource estimate showed a combined measured and indicated resource of one-billion tonnes with gradings given as 0.23% copper, 0.03% molybdenum, 4.6 g/t silver and 0.02 g/t gold.

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Platinum group metals (PGM) prices, where they are now, do not reflect the medium to long-term supply demand fundamentals.

Instead, they are driven by short-term distortions, which imply that a correction from current levels could be seen.

However, going back into a strong bull market any time soon is not being indicated.

For that to happen, there would have to be sustained global vehicle sales growth as well as curtailment of PGM production, Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking markets research head Arnold van Graan outlined in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

In the same way as short-term anomalies drove up the exceptionally high pricing of 2021/2022 at the top end of the cycle, short-term anomalies have helped to drive down prices at the bottom end of the cycle.

These include the destocking of rhodium by the fiberglass manufacturing industry in China, the movement of Russian palladium to China, arguably at a discount, as well as the less-discussed but very pertinent lower-than-expected vehicle sales of the last few years.

"Essentially, we just haven't sold as many internal combustion engine vehicles as we anticipated and I think that is part of the larger, more challenging situation facing the market and that has contributed to the drop in prices, in our view," Van Graan pointed out.

"The other big catalyst, in our view, is we need to see PGM production being curtailed. Some of the mining companies have already started to trim some production on the edges, but the numbers are fairly small at this stage.

"To have a meaningful impact on PGM prices, we need to see more production being curtailed, and it's our expectation that over the next year or so, we would see more announcements to that effect.

"It's not an easy decision. It's not easy to restructure mines. It's very hard to close mines and put them into care and maintenance. There are a lot of factors that need to be considered before you get to that point.

"But for us, a reduction in supply would be a key catalyst and if we see that in conjunction with strong internal combustion engine vehicle sales, we should see a sustained recovery in PGM prices," said Van Graan.

Mining Weekly: How does the uncertain market for battery electric vehicles - EVs - affect the investment case for platinum group metals, particularly in the traditional use of PGMs in catalytic converters?

Van Graan: There are two elements for me when it comes to EVs. The one is that they are a threat, but a very timeline dependent threat. In five to ten years, there's a real risk that we will see a significant portion of internal combustion engine demand being eroded by EVs. However, I think a lot of the EV forecasts currently in the market are overly optimistic, and that brings me to the second element. Because we have EV penetration rate forecasts that are sometimes almost disconnected from reality, they are an overhang on the PGM investment case. Essentially, people look at investing in PGMs, look at some of these high EV forecasts and say, well, it's very hard to make a longer term bullish case for investing in PGMs.

What it comes down to is that EVs seem to be a perpetual overhang on the PGM investment case. I think that risk is real, but more so in the longer term. In the short term, it's almost as if it's clogging the headlines and every time you think about PGMs, you see these headlines about EV penetration rates and EV growth, and it just raises questions about the investability of the PGM sector. That is having a negative short-term impact on PGM prices, and it has for some time now. It continues to weigh on the PGM investment case and then ultimately also PGM prices.

In the energy transition context, what role do PGMs play in fuel cell and hydrogen technologies, and why is significant demand from this market not expected for several years?

Although fuel cells and t...

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The brand-new platinum-catalysed hydrogen fuel cell system that has just been released for passenger cars reveals that fuel cells can be as cheap to manufacture as internal combustion engines, UK company Intelligent Energy has highlighted in a release to Mining Weekly.

The company's patented system has been designed to give passenger car manufacturers direct access to the smaller, more powerful, turnkey and commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell solution that is needed to make zero carbon emission mobility a reality in the passenger car market across the entire planet.

The hydrogen fuel cell developer and manufacturer has also confirmed that its innovative IE-DRIVE is a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. PEM and platinum go hand-in-glove.

The single stack platform burst into the open during a launch event at Intelligent Energy's Loughborough headquarters, where it powered a sports utility vehicle provided by Changan UK.

The specification of the trade-marked platform is said by Intelligent Energy to bring "significant benefits" when compared with other fuel cells that have been developed by large automotive groups and their third party fuel cell suppliers.

MORE POWER, SMALLER, SIMPLER

In its current configuration, the fuel cell stack is capable of 157 kW gross electrical power, which is said to be higher than any other single stack application that is currently available for the passenger car sector.

The patented direct water injection technology means that the system's heat exchanger is up to 30% smaller than its competitors at equal net power output. The single pass heat exchanger in the system's test sports utility vehicle measures only 0.34 m but enables cruising at 130 km/h in peak temperatures and a speed of 90 km/h to be achieved when travelling up a long, steep hill. Having a small heat exchanger makes vehicle packaging much easier and benefits fuel cell vehicle design, particularly in relation to bonnet height and improved driver visibility, Intelligent Energy stated.

Designing its novel direct water injection system has allowed Intelligent Energy to reduce its component count and bill of materials. An example of this is shown by the fact the system's fuel cell does not require a humidifier and related parts.

TURNKEY, COMMERCIALLY VIABLE

The fuel cell system, which has a traditional engine shape, meets the low bonnet requirements of passenger cars while including the fuel cell stack, electronic control unit, heat exchanger and balance of plant.

"It represents a genuine turnkey solution for car manufacturers," Intelligent Energy stated.

Under full-scale, volume manufacturing conditions, the company predicts that its fuel cell system will cost around 100 GBP per kW by the end of the decade, making it less expensive than battery electric vehicle solutions and comparable with internal combustion engines.

The quest to develop a new breed of patented hydrogen fuel cell technology is the result of a four-year project that got underway in November 2019, supported by the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

The £22-million initiative was a collaborative effort involving Intelligent Energy, Changan Research & Development Centre, Lyra Electronics and Alexander Dennis. Changan provided essential support during the project, including the provision of three sports utility vehicles to enable fuel cell testing.

Throughout the entire project, Intelligent Energy has revolutionised its manufacturing processes, streamlined assembly, and worked to secure new cost efficiencies without sacrificing quality.

Intelligent Energy is now ready to roll its technology out to the passenger car market, in partnership with suitable car manufacturers.

"With 25% of all passenger cars expected to have hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, this clean technology represents the future," said Intelligent Energy CE David Woolhouse.

"Our product has the potential to shake up the hydroge...

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Twelve scientists from Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries will head to Germany in May, where they will have an opportunity to obtain more in-depth insight into green hydrogen amid the region's unveiling of important green hydrogen projects, pilot plant initiatives and the awarding of a large number of green hydrogen scholarships.

Prominent this week during the Sasscal-organised two-day Green Hydrogen Symposium in Namibia was Sasscal executive director Dr Jane Olwoch, who emphasised to Engineering News & Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview that "the countries of Southern Africa should first and foremost take note of the region's advantages of participating in the green hydrogen economy". (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"History is in the making and I'm very glad we're part of it," added Olwoch.

Sasscal is SADC's science service centre for climate change and adaptive land management.

The symposium for the participating countries, such as Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, accentuated green hydrogen practice, fast-advancing pilot plants and far-reaching skills development to support Southern Africa's green hydrogen thrust.

In addition to the dozen selected scientists, Olwoch announced that the first cohort of students would be leaving for Germany immediately after the symposium, with others following later.

Moreover, the symposium itself brought together representatives from industry, universities, governments and adolescents to witness the green hydrogen journey that Sasscal has been coordinating.

"The price of green hydrogen is on its way to becoming affordable," said Olwoch, reaffirming its status as being more sustainable than any other energy on offer.

Mining Weekly: What is the present state of green hydrogen development in the SADC region?

Olwoch: Here in Namibia, there are projects on the ground that are going to produce green hydrogen in the next few years. One of these that is advancing really well is the Daures Green Hydrogen Village pilot project, which is 100% funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. All the preparatory steps have been taken. Its development is progressing in the desert of Namibia, where borehole water and equipment are opening the way for the generation of green hydrogen. Electrolysers have been imported and green ammonia will also be produced from what could be our first green hydrogen project. In addition, we'll have a refuelling station and the hope is that the green hydrogen from this will be transported to enable others to use it for many applications. We have also taken capacity building into consideration and young Namibians are taking charge of these projects as part of a really amazing story of cooperation between Germany and Namibia.

What is the level of skills development being generated by your Youth for Green Hydrogen scholarship initiative?

Once again, this is fully funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research and it sponsors the entry of young Namibians, between the ages of 18 and 35, into the field of green hydrogen development. There are already about 160 young Namibians in this programme. Last year, scholarships were awarded to 70 young students, 49 of them with master's degrees, and the rest with vocational qualifications. This year, for another 90, we'll reverse the order. Instead of a majority of master's graduates, most will be from the value chain, be it production, transportation, safety, welding, solar, mechanics and desalination. An advantage is that they'll also spend six months at a German institution. These students are from and for the SADC as a whole and they'll be available for employment in the next two years to ensure green hydrogen sustainability in our region. It's a very good programme and we're very gra...

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Northern Cape copper company Copper 360 announced on Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with DRDGOLD's Far West Gold Recoveries tailings retreatment company to conduct a due diligence on its copper tailings dams to assess their economic copper recovery viability.

During the due diligence period, Far West Gold Recoveries will, through an independent expert, determine the total tonnage of tailings material by Lidar survey applying a density of 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre.

Copper 360 estimates that there are about 50-million to 60-million tonnes of dump material with grades varying between 0.18% and 1.5% copper in the dumps, with the potential to contain 450 000 t of copper metal in situ.

"This potential partnership, if viable, would help us bring more copper to account in such a way that it doesn't distract us from our mining focus," Copper 360 CEO Jan Nelson told Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview following the March 27 news service announcement of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

During the due diligence, Far West Gold Recoveries will independently assess the economic viability of the copper dumps and if the results are to their satisfaction, the parties will enter into a joint venture agreement. Far West Gold Recoveries will be allowed to acquire 50% interest in the tailings dams at a price to be independently agreed and will become the operator of the dumps, while Copper 360 continues to focus on its many current mining activities, which include commissioning two processing plants at the Rietberg mine and evaluating five new mines.

"Our expertise and focus are not tailings treatment although we recognise the potential of the copper dumps. It is therefore logical that we have approached the world leaders in dump retreatment to see if a potential partnership could be negotiated to potentially bring these assets to account if the due diligence is viable," it stated in its JSE news service report.

Up to now, the tailings dams have been lower on Copper 360's list of priorities because of the huge capital that is required to turn them to account and Copper 360's greater focus on the hard rock potential of its mining licence.

But the advance of the copper price and discussions with DRDGOLD have elevated tailings dam retreatment higher up the priority list, especially since the entry of Far West Gold Recoveries allows Copper 360 to keep its eye firmly where it is meant to be.

If the due diligence is negative, Copper 360 will simply continue along its aggressive growth path and if it is positive, a significant copper stream will quickly be added to Copper 360's production line.

"The timing is right and opportunity is right," said Nelson.

HISTORICAL TAILINGS BUILD-UP

The O'Kiep, Carolusberg, Lower NamaCopper and Upper NamaCopper tailings dams were brought into the Copper 360 fold by the reverse listing that Shirley Hayes' SHiP Copper did with Nelson's Big Tree Copper ahead of Copper 360's listing on the JSE's AltX in April last year.

The tailings emerged from the O'Kiep copper company of 1937 and were deposited by the Nababeep, O'Kiep, Carolusberg mines from about 1940 all the way up to the 1990s.

They now provide potential to bring more revenue to the table without Copper 360 having to bear the total capital burden as well as its potential to add more cash flow to the company and a bigger dividend flow to shareholders.

The first thing the strategic partnership would bring is technical capability, gleaned over many decades by DRDGOLD in the field of extracting value from dumped mine material.

"If viable, the partner will then, jointly with us, help to carry the capital cost of a plant like this, which could easily be R500-million to R700-million.

"We would then not have to carry that alone, and we could maintain our focus on the mining licence, the hard rock, that we're bring...

This week on Second Take, Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the boost that Namibia’s $10-billion Hyphen development scheme has received from Germany; Harmony’s Eva copper mine being granted special prescribed status in Australia;and the ferrochrome benchmark price settling higher.

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Mechanical cutting, in which huge progress is being made, is going to be key for the mining industry going forward, Master Drilling CEO Danie Pretorius emphasised on Tuesday, when his Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed presented a dividend-yielding set of 2023 full-year results that included the best ever safety performance and the biggest ever order book.

"The industry can benefit big time from what we've already achieved in the field of mechanical cutting," Pretorius highlighted in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly while reporting record-high revenue of $242.8-million and an order book that topped the $288-million mark. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

This rock-boring and exploration drilling company based in Fochville, on Gauteng's West Rand, serves Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Zambia, Mali, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and has a presence in the US, Canada, Australia, India, Turkey, China, Russia and France.

Providing more insight into mechanical cutting and why it is going to be so meaningful, Pretorius said: "In short, the emphasis is going to be on mechanical cutting helping miners to get down to depth in a much shorter space of time."

On whether mining companies see it in the same light, he added: "Speaking to the miners, we all agree that if you look globally today, all the easy reserves are long gone, and so we need to focus on how we can successfully mine the deeper reserves . Also, grade is not getting better and the logistics in the areas to be mined is not that easy."

Against that background, Master Drilling is advanced in developing mechanical cutting systems to get to those deeper levels quickly.

The emphasis is on speed. Long gone are the days when an investor will wait ten to 15 years for some dividends or some cash flows from a project.

"We need to squeeze down on the timing," Pretorius accentuated.

Hence the reason why Master Drilling has invested so much time and money in its mechanical shaft boring system (SBS) prototype being commissioned; its MTB mobile tunnel borer, which has already been tried at Mogalakwena platinum mine in Limpopo; its blade project, which is being sponsored by De Beers and Anglo; and its reef cutting system, which is being commissioned at its headquarters in Fochville, on Gauteng's West Rand.

Mining Weekly: Do you envisage that mechanical cutting going beyond mine development and also be used by mineworkers for mining without blasting?

Pretorius: Ideally, in a perfect world, yes. Maybe not in my lifetime, but maybe in 10 to 20 years from today. You can mechanically bore a shaft to one to two kilometres down, do the horizontal development with some sort of mechanical cutting means, and then go into the stopes with the reef cutting system, which we are developing. At that point, you'll probably have most of the tools in a box to mechanically mine a mine in future.

What will then become of the traditional explosives route?

I think that blasting is going to be phased out for a number of reasons, which include safety, re-entry time, and damage done to the rock environment, the geology. Will it be the next 10 years? Probably not, but there are many companies developing systems and ways to mechanically cut rock, and to move away from the use of explosives.

During results presentations, mining company Northam Platinum has commented on the work Master Drilling is undertaking for it, which involves the raise boring of a large shaft.

This is reportedly being done far more quickly than conventionally and also at considerably lower capital cost.

Could there be benefit in this for other mining companies?

The comparison for Northam at the time was to sink a 10 m to 12 m wide shaft to a depth of 1.5 km in far quicker time than the probable conventional eight to ten years.

The conventional route was also far more capital-intensive than for the three or four ra...

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The European benchmark ferrochrome price for the second quarter of this year has been settled at $1.52/lb, 5.6% up on the first three months of 2024, Merafe Resources informed shareholders on Monday, March 25.

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

Basically, the latest European benchmark ferrochrome price is back to the $1.53/lb it was for the fourth quarter of 2023.

South Africa holds about 70% of the world's total reserves of chrome, the key element of ferrochrome, a corrosion-resistant chrome and iron alloy.

Ferrochrome is energy intensive and poor electricity supply from South Africa's State power utility Eskom has curtailed the local ferrochrome business and boosted the exportation of raw chrome to particularly China, which has gained major ferrochrome market share as a result.

Already at an advanced stage of consideration are alternative technologies for producing electricity from off-gas generated as part of the ferrochrome production process, as well as a combination of solar and wind projects that include on-site behind-the-meter projects as well as off-site wheeling projects.

Negotiations for some of these are heading for financial close in the first half of this year.

Decarbonisation commitments are in place that will result in greener ferrochrome being produced in the future.

With adequate clean energy, Mining Weekly postulates that South Africa could potentially regain a far stronger position in ferrochrome manufacturing.

Already its closed furnaces reduce carbon emissions and elevate efficiency amid a history of 80% of value creation, including jobs, in the chrome value chain being created by ferrochrome producers. Many jobs could be regained by competitively producing and exporting more ferrochrome produced from South Africa's chrome.

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 12 months to December 31, Merafe reported lower ferrochrome production.

The main focus of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Merafe is the 20.5% participation by wholly owned subsidiary, Merafe Ferrochrome and Mining, in the earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortisation of the Glencore-Merafe venture, in which Glencore has a 79.5% participation.

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Mining explosives and chemicals company AECI, which turned 100 this week, will be unveiling a digital strategy for the mining market during the course of this year.

It is also looking to become greener as it keeps innovation closest to its rapidly internationalising heart.

"We have a legacy of innovation. Even peers refer to us as the 'university of the industry'," AECI CEO Holger Riemensperger told Mining Weekly in an interview at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), where the company reiterated its intention to divest from selected non-core assets, keep AECI Mining as its cornerstone, accelerate internationalisation and optimise organic growth. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video).

Deep thought is being given to innovating along environmentally friendlier paths. "I would say we're all eyeing the move to the next explosives, away from ammonium nitrate. That's a big move. There's still a lot of work to be done," Riemensperger disclosed.

As a next-generation explosive technology replacement building block, he said:" At the moment, many would say that hydrogen peroxide will be next", as demand grows for the development of explosives with fewer NOx and CO2 consequences.

"Also, the way that we apply our explosives can contribute to an optimisation in the downstream of mining, which will also reduce the CO2 footprint of the mine," Riemensperger pointed out.

The use of hydrogen peroxide emulsion to reduce emissions associated with blasting has been coming under the spotlight owing to several mining companies committing to net zero well ahead of the 2050 deadline.

In this regard, the need to use green ammonia is also being highlighted. "Green ammonia definitely has a future, but at the moment it is only a few markets that would be willing to pay a premium."

Those are the European and North American market and probably Australia to some degree.

"In the other markets, there is no ask for green ammonia and nobody is willing to pay the premium at the moment, but I think, in the long run, we will move there," Riemensperger forecast.

AECI currently has a 22-country presence on six continents, served by a workforce of more than 7 500 people

Mining Weekly: Going forward, how do you plan to accelerate the further internationalisation?

Riemensperger: We have built a very nice growth momentum outside of South Africa, but also outside of Africa, specifically in Australia, and in Indonesia. Practically every year, we have doubled the revenues. We see this momentum continuing, but we're also targeting other geographies, so it's all about internationalisation in specific geographies.

What growth opportunities do critical minerals and metals present and where?

They do present a very nice opportunity for us and we are eyeing specific markets where you find critical minerals, which is Australia and also Peru, Chile, Brazil, US and Canada. Geographically, those are our target markets, but we're not looking only for specific commodities. In general, we believe we can add value to the mining of all commodities.

Can you expand on the use of hydrogen peroxide?

There are still a lot of questions that need answering. It's highly explosive unstable chemical, so the difficulty of using hydrogen peroxide is in transport. So, how can we stabilise the product from production to application?

What would you estimate is the timeframe on the introduction of hydrogen peroxide?

Personally, I believe it is about ten years out.

Doubling earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of core mining and chemicals units by 2026 is ambitious. How do you intend realising that aspiration?

It is indeed ambitious, but we like ambitions. There are two ways to it. There are basically two goals we are seeking here. Doubling for us means roughly about R3.2-billion on Ebitda, of which about R2-billion is in revenue from organic growth. The track record of Ebitda growth that...