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Coal producer and exporter Thungela on February 23 launched a fish breeding facility at the Loskop Dam Nature Reserve, in Mpumalanga.

The facility was pursued in the vein of restoring aquatic life in the Wilge Olifants river catchment following the uncontrolled release of mine-affected water from the South Shaft at the Khwezela Colliery's Komdraai site on February 14, 2022, which investigations have since attributed to illegal mining activities.

Preliminary investigations showed that a concrete seal, built at the shaft, which was last used in 1966, in 2019, had failed. This caused the spread of a pollution plume that passed through the Wilge and Olifants rivers, eventually reaching the Loskop Dam inlet and affecting an estimated 60 km of the river ecosystem, and completely decimating the entire fish population, as well as severely impacting on plants and microorganisms.

Further investigations showed the contribution of illegal mining activities to the event. It was indicated that damage to infrastructure, combined with theft of essential water treatment equipment, was the primary cause of the incident.

Speaking at the launch, Thungela CEO July Ndlovu explained that the company took responsibility for the incident and committed to rehabilitating the area impacted by the overflow, back to conditions that exceeded those prior to the event, as well as to minimising the chance of another incident occurring in the future.

As such, Thungela made a R1.8-million capital investment in the fish breeding facility and has committed a further R1.5-million to long-term monitoring of the rehabilitation process, as well as over R5-million to address illegal mining.

Thungela worked closely with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), the Department of Water and Sanitation and aquatic scientists in the country to execute the rehabilitation plan.

One of the activities in this plan was to expedite the recovery of the fish population, to restore biodiversity in affected area.

The water quality has now been ascertained to have returned to pre incident levels, and resurgence in macro invertebrate activity has been observed, Therefore, Thungela has determined that the fish can start being released into the area, to begin replenishing the stocks.

Two batches of fish - 100 in total - were released on February 23. This followed the recent release of about 600 fish.

The indoor breeding facility mimics the environment's condition and has the capacity to breed several types of fish, with it housing 27 glass aquaria of varying sizes and six bio filters, each with individual temperature controls and filtration systems.

As external aquarium setup houses larger species ready for reintroduction. It includes three tanks equipped with comprehensive life support systems capable of sustaining up to 700 kg of fish.

The facility has been specifically designed to breed fish with optimal genetic quality sourced from local waters to expedite the ecological recovery process.

The facility is located close to the affected area, and the fish will be bred and released on a continuing basis, with ongoing monitoring. The facility will be handed over to MTPA once the river system conditions are back to pre-incident levels, and it will assume responsibility for its operation.

It was indicated that it could take anywhere from five to ten years for this to materialise.

MTPA deputy chairperson Salome Sithole lauded this "sustainable" initiative and averred that rehabilitation of the area as whole would benefit the surrounding communities, who were impacted by the environmental repercussions of the spill, while this fish breeding facility would benefit tourism and activities such as fishing.

Thungela has also partnered with universities and other stakeholders to bolster research and work being done at the facility.

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Mining major Anglo American chairperson Stuart Chambers and CEO Duncan Wanblad have both expressed disappointment with the company's financial results for 2023, which were released on February 22.

Chambers opened the presentation of the company's results by candidly describing the company's performance as "poor" owing to various factors including significant headwinds in platinum group metal (PGM) prices and diamond prices and volumes.

The company reported $32.5-billion in revenue for the year, a decrease of 13% year-on-year, and a 31% drop in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to $10-billion.

"These results were dominated by the impact of lower commodity prices, especially in PGMs, diamonds and steel-making coal. PGMs and diamonds alone resulted in a $5.5-billion reduction in revenues," CFO John Heasley pointed out.

Mining margins were also down by eight percentage points to 39%, while unit cost rose by 4%. Meanwhile, net debt went up 53% to $10.6-billion.

All of this resulted in a 52% decrease in total dividends to $0.96 and a 51% drop in earnings a share to $2.42. Return on capital employed also decreased by 14 percentage points to 16%.

"2023 was not the performance that I wanted. Much of that downturn was indeed driven by factors beyond our control, but that we can substantially step up our performance without relying on price recovery is an imperative," Wanblad said, echoing Chambers' sentiments and emphasising the company's ability to enhance performance independently of market price fluctuations.

Wanblad highlighted the significance of a robust mine planning process as a fundamental driver of performance.

"Without a mine plan that works, it's very difficult to get the economic performance out of a business. And we have now set or reset the vast majority of those mine plans across the businesses to position them for pricing, operating and geotechnical realities that we face," he said.

While acknowledging the transitional challenges associated with such changes, Wanblad expressed confidence in the company's ability to operate more effectively in the near term.

"This is an ongoing and dynamic process. And there is often a settling-in period of around 12 to 18 months when you transition from one plan to another, but I am confident that we now have that operating base in in which we will be much more fit for the circumstances that are likely to face the business in the near term," he said.

Wanblad discussed significant organisational changes aimed at improving efficiency and accountability within the company. These changes included a bottom-up approach to refreshing the organisation, reducing costs of senior roles by 25%, enhancing governance structures and streamlining decision-making processes.

Despite acknowledging the difficulty of such decisions, particularly evident in recent announcements affecting operations in South Africa, Wanblad stressed their necessity in positioning the company for long-term competitiveness and sustainability.

Mining Weekly reported on February 19 that subsidiary Anglo American Platinum would be restructuring to curb costs in response to low PGM prices, affecting a potential 3 700 jobs in the process, while fellow subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore revealed a day later that it too would be shedding about 490 jobs in response to logistical challenges in South Africa.

"I am very mindful that the impact of these decisions comes across as very difficult for our teams. But they are absolutely essential for us to create a business that is more competitive, and can thrive over time to support all of our stakeholders. There's no point in a business that can only perform at the top of a cycle, but always struggles at the bottom of a cycle," Wanblad said.

Further hurting Anglo American's results was a $1.6-billion impairment of diamond mining subsidiary De Beers, attributed to lower gross domestic produ...

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With various commodity prices taking a nosedive over the past year, windfall tax gains from high commodity prices over the preceding two years have come to an end, resulting in a sharp fall in mining tax revenue, National Treasury has said.

In the 2024 Budget Review released on February 21, it was revealed that, for the first ten months of the 2023/24 fiscal year, provisional corporate tax collections from the mining sector fell by R39.2-billion, or 50.4%, year-on-year.

This significant decline was attributed primarily to lower commodity prices and weaker global growth. However, local issues such as increased power cuts and operational problems at South Africa's ports, have also weighed heavily on the sector. These challenges have resulted in reduced export capability, while safety stoppages, strikes and crime have driven operational costs up.

National Treasury expects that these domestic constraints will continue to exert pressure on the mining sector in the year ahead.

Although Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said he expected commodity prices to stabilise over the next 12 months, he projected that corporate profitability in the mining sector would remain weak in the 2024/25 fiscal year.

Mining was not alone in delivering decreased tax revenue over the past year. Collections from the manufacturing sector also contracted, while the finance sector registered only marginal growth.

Following robust growth over the two prior years, import value-added tax (VAT) and customs duties collections slowed considerably. As such, Godongwana revealed that VAT collections for the 2023/24 fiscal year had been revised down by R26.1-billion compared with 2023 Budget expectations.

Overall, National Treasury said that gross value added in the mining sector contracted by 1.6% in the first three quarters of last year, compared with the same period in 2022. Mining sales declined by 14.9% in response to weaker global demand.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses BMW's hydrogen-fuelled cars on South Africa’s roads; Heraeus and Sibanye-Stillwater’s PGMs partnership to boost the hydrogen economy; and South Africa's hopes to collaborate with Japan on green hydrogen development.

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Okiep Copper Company, which mining company Newmont established in 1937, is today one of the 100%-owned subsidiaries of South Africa's Copper 360, the only pure copper play listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Under Newmont, the Okiep Copper Company paid out about R30-million in dividends every year during the 25 years that it operated in the Northern Cape.

"That's certainly where we're going with what we are doing now," said Copper 360 CEO Jan Nelson in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly to mark Copper 360's latest stunning copper discovery in what is proving to be a highly prospective part of South Africa.

"We're looking to create immense wealth for South Africa, for our shareholders and the communities around us, by becoming one of the prominent copper players in South Africa.

"We're here to create a bright South Africa, create wealth and show that building a world-class company is possible in South Africa and that we can compete with anybody anywhere in the world," said Nelson. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

South Africa should always have been excited about the assets Copper 360, which listed in April last year, has in this area. After all, Rietberg, the first of its dozen resources, turned out to be 220% greater than historic data indicated.

But this new huge discovery simply lifts the company's copper potential to yet another far-reaching level.

The discovery has been made alongside the historic Okiep-linked Tweefontein mine. This mine produced 138 683 t of rock at a recovered grade of, wait for it, 25.4% between 1937 and 1950, the highest grade ever mined in the region.

"There is close to 35 m of 4.5% copper on surface, which is massive, and our geophysics show that we've got multiple zones. The significance now is that this shows for the first time that we can have copper deposits in the Northern Cape the size of which you see in Chile, those big openpit mines, but a difference being where Chile's mines are running at a copper grade of about 0.25%, our surface deposits, which are looking to be similar in size, are running at between 2.5% and 4.5%," Nelson enthused.

The ongoing drilling under way is being assisted by the orebody being easily accessible.

"In the next six months, we'll drill this extensively and then from there, we'll get the mining engineers in on it and hopefully we can plan a significantly huge openpit the size of what you see in Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo," Nelson outlined.

RIETBERG MINING FROM APRIL

At the Rietberg mine, the provision of ancillary services is under way to allow the mine to start up in April.

"We're very excited about that," said Nelson.

The total resource of contained copper at Rietberg has rocketed by 220% to 81 200 t from 25 275 t in 2022, with the maiden and indicated resource of 60 800 t of copper declared.

That exceeded expectations and the company is now looking at about R12-billion to R15-billion worth of copper in the ground.

A geological team has put all the historical data together and drilling is confirming high-grade zones.

From April, three plants will provide a total processing capacity of 70 000 t of ore a month, and consideration is being given to building a fourth plant at the end of the year, which will lift total processing capacity to about 120 000 t a month.

"You will have seen that we've just raised about R350-million to accelerate our activities. This includes targeting the new orebodies at Rietberg and the acquiring of Nama Copper.

"We've had very good support in that fundraising. We've got another additional facility of R600-million so we've almost got close to R1-billion that we've got available for development. That's come as a result of very good support from fund managers and private individuals that see the potential in Copper 360.

"We've even seen our share price come a little bit under pressure and people try to force the price down a ...

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Solutions to support decarbonisation, while ensuring operational competitiveness into the future, are continuing to be intensely investigated at South Africa's large Hillside Aluminium operation in KwaZulu-Natal, South32 CEO Graham Kerr assured Mining Weekly in an interview on Thursday, following the Johannesburg- Sydney- and London-listed company reporting underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $708-million for the first half of its 2024 financial year to December 31.

Hillside is the largest aluminium smelter in the southern hemisphere and produces quality primary aluminium for the domestic and export markets.

Great news is that Hillside's strong ongoing operational performance in the half year significantly supported record aluminium production for the group as a whole, but with South32 planning to halve its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2035, Hillside represents a colossal challenge as it accounts for 59% of the company's total Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

As has often been quipped, aluminium is half electricity and the electricity being used to produce aluminium at Hillside in Richards Bay is coal-fired, which is destined to have major marketing implications given the faster-than-expected advance of Europe's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) tariff barrier, which penalises the entry of aluminium that is not produced with clean electricity.

Against that background, it is crucial that large-scale renewable and low-carbon energy sources are advanced at Hillside, which directly and indirectly supports more than 31 000 jobs and contributes an important R9.9-billion to South Africa's gross domestic product.

Contrasting sharply with Hillside is South32's Mozal Aluminium smelter in Mozambique, which is already using renewable energy. In addition, South32 is at a very advanced stage of extending Mozal's hydroelectric power contract beyond the current expiration date of 2026.

At Hillside, where the power agreement expires in 2031, the transition to a low-carbon energy source is seen to be technologically and commercially complex owing to the smelter's constant high energy demand.

Crucially, work is under way with South Africa's State-owned power utility Eskom, government, and commercial partners to develop and implement an energy solution at the scale required for the large aluminium smelter. Hillside has the capacity to produce 720 000 t of aluminium a year which requires about 1 200 MW of electricity a year.

The potential to enter into a pilot agreement to purchase energy attributes associated with electricity generated at the Koeberg nuclear power station is part of a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) that has been signed with Eskom.

This MoU with Eskom centres on allowing Hillside to maintain aluminium supply from South Africa to Europe without CBAM turning that into a non-competitive proposition, South32 COO Noel Pillay explained to Mining Weekly.

South Africa's pace of aluminium exportation needs to continue to benefit from the higher intensity of aluminium use in battery electric vehicles (BEVs), substitution of plastics in packaging and the increasing use of aluminium in renewables. Aluminium intensity in BEVs is said to be 40% higher than in internal combustion engine vehicles, from 111 kg/car in 2020 to 256 kg/car in 2050, owing to heavy BEV batteries requiring the light-weighting that aluminium provides.

Hillside will be uncompetitive in the 1.5 °C scenario without an affordable source of low-carbon energy, while the carbon impact on Mozal Aluminium would be lower given its access to clean energy.

Just energy transition considerations for Hillside require the switch to low-carbon energy to be planned in collaboration with a broad range of government and community stakeholders.

Regarding the plan of the Mozambique government to end half a century of hydropower supply to Eskom, Kerr said, in ...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the need for energy and logistics reforms for sustainable mining; the agreement between the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and the IDC for the establishment of a Mining Exploration Fund; and black ownership in SA mining has reached 39%.

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Germany's Heraeus Precious Metals and South Africa's Sibanye-Stillwater are partnering to explore new applications for platinum-group metals (PGMs) in the hydrogen economy, with a specific focus on how applications can profit from the unique traits of palladium, one of the six PGM elements.

Currently, it is platinum and iridium PGMs that dominate in the hydrogen space. However, this is the second joint effort by Heraeus and Sibanye to develop new PGM markets.

The first centred on the introduction of a ruthenium-based catalyst to reduce reliance on iridium for proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis. Ruthenium is another of the six PGM elements and the ruthenium-based catalyst emergence uplifts the sustainability of hydrogen production hugely by greatly reducing material cost and slashing reliance on highly scarce and very expensive iridium.

Now, the aim of the latest equally funded PGM-balancing project is to develop alternative markets for palladium and support the emerging hydrogen sector with technical innovations.

Increasing demand for hydrogen purification during the production of blue hydrogen is one possible example of a palladium-based application.

Further examples include the cracking of hydrogen carriers as well in the semiconductor industry, where high-purity hydrogen is needed as a process gas.

When moving technologies to scale, reliable process efficiency is key, and PGMs are seen as a provider of this.

"Together with Heraeus Precious Metals, we invest in new technologies that leverage the unique characteristics of PGM's in line with our company purpose of combatting climate change and fostering the sustainability of the industry," Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman emphasised.

"We expect hybrids to become the dominant engine type underpinning demand for palladium in the medium term. Longer term and in response to changing demands, the PGM industry must innovate and stabilise the platinum group metals market," Froneman added.

Hydrogen has emerged as a fundamental element in the energy transition, with the Hydrogen Council expecting capacities of 175 GW by 2030. Notably, 40% of this future capacity will be produced using PEM electrolysis.

"We're doing our part in the energy transition by bringing precious metal solutions to hydrogen technologies and enabling performance at scale," was the comment of Heraeus Precious Metals Business Line Hydrogen Systems head Dr Philipp Walter.

BALANCING PGM SUPPLY BASKET

Palladium demand has been dominated by autocatalysis for the past few decades and palladium remains critical to emissions control in both internal combustion engine and in hybrid vehicle engines, but the special physical and chemical characteristics this PGM possesses lend themselves to wider industrial applications.

Over the longer term, demand for palladium in the automotive sector is expected to decrease, creating an opportunity to consider new applications for palladium that will not only benefit downstream industry users, but also ensure sustainable demand for the metal.

With their partnership, the two companies aim to ensure a sustainable PGM supply basket.

Major ingredients of the mined PGMs basket include palladium and platinum along with critical materials, like iridium, ruthenium and rhodium and to ensure market demand for these materials can be met requires sufficient demand for all metals to be sustained in the long term.

While the emerging green hydrogen and fuel cell market offers high potential for increasing demand for platinum, opportunity exists for the partnership to develop and scale corresponding applications for palladium, the companies stated in a joint release.

With about 3 000 employees at 15 sites worldwide, including a presence in South Africa's Gqeberhe and in Boksburg, Heraeus Precious Metals offers products essential for the automotive, chemicals, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, hydrogen and ...

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New York- and Toronto-listed mining company Barrick has replaced more than 140% of its gold reserves in the last five years and more importantly at the same grade, Barrick CEO Dr Mark Bristow pointed out in reporting full-year 2023 gold production of 4.05-million ounces and copper production of 420-million pounds.

Recording a 50% increase in free cash flow to $646-million for 2023, Bristow again placed emphasis on replacing reserves organically rather than acquisitively and highlighted Barrick's position of not being forced to buy its growth.

During 2023, Barrick replaced 109% of attributable gold depletion, with Africa making a strong contribution, as well as 124% of its copper depletion.

The five-year outlook is again strongly upward in production and downward in cost terms, it was stated in the presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

"Our track record of replacing reserves gives it the confidence to know we can deliver without the need for dilutionary or delusionary acquisitions - and importantly, we have the balance sheet strength and operating cash flows to fund this growth, while still maintaining our industry leading credit rating. As I've often said, mining is a long game, and that should not be measured by quarters," Bristow added.

Questioned by research analyst Bob Bracket about merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities that the Barrick team would not see as being dilutionary or delusionary, Bristow pointed to the BHP gold assets in Mali that were acquired to start Randgold Resources which merged with Barrick five years ago.

"That was a very accretory acquisition. We then acquired Moto, which is today Kibali, in a hostile takeover, which was accretory. Then the Randgold-Barrick merger was definitely a value-creating exercise.

"It's a long-term platform and it is not possible for most other companies that did M&A around that time and paid premiums, to show a long-term new foundation for those transactions.

"Then we did the Acacia takeout, which again has been a spectacular investment, and although we didn't issue paper for the Nevada joint venture, certainly the whole is substantially more valuable than the sum of the individual parts.

"Those are the only transactions I've been involved in and they all worked, and I speak on behalf of myself and the team at Barrick.

"Those are value-added transactions and they're all at market and all have organic growth embedded in the asset as well, so that's what we like to do. Those are the opportunities that we look for," Bristow highlighted.

The company's Africa operations, which include Loulo-Gounkoto in Mali, North Marwa and Bulyanhulu in Tanzania, Kibali in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lumwana in Zambia and Tongon in Cote d'Ivoire, delivered on guidance for the fifth consecutive year and replaced all mined reserves.

Loulo-Gounkoto mine's solar farm extension to 60 MW and its new 36 MW battery energy storge system were commissioned ahead of time and below original capital cost

Barrick reported a 6% year-on-year cut in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. The 958 ha of land reclaimed and rehabilitated by the company was well above target.

Sixteen million dollars were invested in local economic development and $10-million was spent on education in local communities.

Ninety seven per cent of its employees are host country nationals and 57% are from local communities.

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For the first time, luxury vehicle manufacturer BMW has a fleet of hydrogen fuelled cars on South Africa's roads, supported by a green hydrogen refuelling infrastructure set up at its Midrand campus in Johannesburg.

The outcome of BMW, Anglo American Platinum and Sasol finding common ground was the launch on Valentine's Day of the heavenly BMW iX5 Hydrogen passenger car, which Mining Weekly can confirm infinitely outstrips the 'sheer driving pleasure' slogan of the already top-rated BMW mobility brand. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Tested by enthusiastic media on local South African roads, BMW iX5 Hydrogen combines long-distance capability and short refuelling stops with emission-free driving - an absolutely necessary advance to save Mother Earth from climate change catastrophe.

The BMW iX5 's 6 kg of hydrogen allows for a 500 km range, with the car's platinum-based fuel cell turning green Sasol hydrogen into perfectly clean electricity that powers the quiet drive train.

It is no coincidence that South Africa, with its superior sun, prime wind and abundance of platinum group metals (PGMs), is one of only ten countries currently traversed by BMW's latest green hydrogen masterpiece.

What the car world loves about hydrogen is that it is not only the planet's most abundant energy source but that it is also a transport vector with a storage magnitude that ensures that renewable energy can be offered even when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

Growing the market for hydrogen-fuelled mobility solutions has been declared a key pillar of the South African government's green hydrogen economy strategy, which will lower carbon emissions meaningfully, unlock investment enormously, create jobs, and drive demand for this country's magical PGMs.

Although hydrogen has unrivalled attributes, including having more than three times the gravimetric energy density of conventional fuel, as with any new technology adoption it has a competitive path to tread.

But it must be borne in mind that one cannot get a more sustainable fuel than hydrogen with 75% of the entire universe being hydrogen and 70% of planet earth being covered by water, made up of an hydrogen molecule and two oxygen molecules.

There are no carbon emissions in creating it from renewable sources and there are no carbon emissions in using it as the products are heat, electricity and water when utilised.

"We are going to see this unique trickly little element offer us a potential way out of our climate crisis," BMW hydrogen programme director Deena Govender commented to Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"I think Africa is going to become a large exporter of green hydrogen to the north. Because we have the wonderful endowment of solar and wind power, we are going to be able to transform that and store it as hydrogen and maybe we should be looking at transforming our refineries along the coast to processing liquified hydrogen and exporting that to the rest of the world," Govender added.

Owing to the state of geopolitics, more countries are targeting energy independence through renewables and hydrogen.

The key takeaway of from the discussion at the launch event is that collaboration is going to be key given that the hydrogen economy spans so many industries.

Anglo American executive head projects and environment Prakashim Modliar described as fantastic the collaboration already under way with BMW and Sasol on the demonstration launch of the BMW iX5 Hydrogen in South Africa.

"The hydrogen economy unpacks fantastic value for South Africa and for us as PGM miners, with platinum and iridium used both in the generation of green hydrogen to the opportunities of PEM electrolysers as in the fuel cell electric vehicle," Modliar added. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

One of South Africa's big economic opportunities is to decarbonise the vehicles on its ...