Mining Weekly

Wet commissioning activities are now under way at the Sabodala-Massawa Expansion project, also called the BIOX Expansion project, in Senegal, says London- and Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining. The project is 91% complete, with the first gold pour scheduled for early May, as expected.

Hive Hydrogen South Africa has signed an agreement with Genesis Eco-Energy to implement 372 MW of wind power in the Western Cape, in support of the development of its R105-billion green ammonia project at Coega in the Eastern Cape. The Coega green ammonia hub is a flagship investment project in South Africa, led by Hive Energy and co-developer BuiltAfrica.

Canadian miner Ivanhoe Mines has reported a record normalised profit of $388-million, as well as record adjusted earnings of $604-million for 2023. The Kamoa-Kakula operation, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, achieved record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of $1.68-billion for the year, while milling a record 8.5-million tonnes at an average grade of 5.23% copper.

Energy and chemicals group Sasol has moved to address investor concerns that its yearly production at Secunda will need to fall to only 6.7-million tons for it to meet its goal of reducing the carbon-heavy Mpumalanga complex’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. Delivering his final results presentation, outgoing CEO Fleetwood Grobler insisted that the 6.7-million tons output profile announced in August represented the “low road” production scenario that emerged following a review of its emission roadmap once the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was eliminated as a plausible feedstock for Secunda.

The copper operations in Zambia of South Africa’s Jubilee Metals showed strong growth in the six months to December 31, with further sharp increases expected going forward. The Johannesburg- and London-listed Jubilee, led by CEO Leon Coetzer and chaired by former Mpumalanga Premier Mathews Phosa, recovers copper in Zambia and chrome and platinum group metals (PGMs) in South Africa, from historical waste rock, run-of-mine materials and tailings.

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says all the work being done by government on the financial structure to facilitate private investment into the country’s transmission infrastructure is being consolidated under his Ministry, including the work being done on the issue by the National Treasury and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This confirmation follows an announcement in the National Treasury’s Budget Review that a request for proposals will be released by the end of July for a pilot project involving “off-balance-sheet financing to accelerate private-sector investment in transmission, without negatively affecting Eskom’s balance sheet and the fiscus”.

South Africa’s rare earths project in Limpopo has received a distinctly possible lifespan boost to more than 16 years following an updated bulk density calculation, which has enlarged the likely Phalaborwa resource tonnage to 35.1-million tonnes, an increase of 16%. “The improvement in the resource tonnage at Phalaborwa is extremely positive,” London Stock Exchange-listed Rainbow Rare Earths CEO George Bennett stated in a release to Mining Weekly on Monday, February 26.

The board of multinational miner AngloGold Ashanti has given the green light for the North Bullfrog project’s feasibility study to progress into detailed engineering. This represents a crucial milestone in realising AngloGold's objective of starting production in Nevada, a region where the company sees the the potential for achieving a peak production of 500 000 oz/y over multiple years.

Christo Wiese, South Africa’s-billionaire retail king, is going back to the future. The 82-year-old serial investor, who steered the expansion of both Africa’s biggest clothing retailer and the continent’s largest grocer, has dived into something that harkens back to the start of his storied career nearly half a century ago: diamonds.

Sasol reported on Monday a decline of 34% in half-year profit, mainly due to weaker oil and petrochemical prices as well as higher costs. Sasol, the world's biggest producer of fuels and chemicals from coal and gas, said its headline earnings per share (HEPS) – the most common profit measure in South Africa – was R20.37 in the six months to December 31, down from R30.90 rand in the corresponding 2022 period.

Diversified miner AngloGold Ashanti has reported a strong performance in the 2023 financial year, having achieved production guidance at 2.6-million ounces and $109-million of free cash flow. The company declared a dividend of $0.19 in respect of the second half of the year.

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 congruence with efforts to restore 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.

As a tribute to its 90 years in existence, national mineral research council Mintek will host the Mintek@90 Conference, at the Sandton Convention Centre, from November 11 to 12. The conference will provide a platform for industry leaders, experts and enthusiasts to convene and shape the future of the minerals sector, Mintek says.

Aim-listed iron-ore, vanadium and titanium miner Ironveld has received a nonbinding term sheet from a South Africa-based financial institution to provide financing for its mine in South Africa’s Bushveld Complex. The funding, which is subject to further due diligence, would enable Ironveld to progress production of high-purity iron powders.

Australian miner Perseus Mining will be interested in acquiring the Akyem mine, in Ghana, chairperson and CEO Jeff Quartermaine said on Friday. This follows Newmont’s announcement on Thursday of its intention to not only sell Akyem, but also five other mines across Australia, Canada and US, as it refocuses its portfolio on ten tier-one assets.

JSE-listed coal miner Thungela Resources has informed shareholders that its earnings per share (EPS) for the year ended December 31 will be between R88 and R93 lower, at between R34 and R39 apiece, than the EPS of R127 reported for the prior financial year. Earnings attributable to shareholders are expected to be between R4.6-billion and R5.3-billion.

ASX- and TSX-listed Perseus Mining has posted an 18% year-on-year improvement in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to $280-million, as well as a 21% increase in profit after tax to $164-million for the six months ended December 31. The company declared an interim dividend of A$0.0125 in the six months under review.

Multinational mining and metals processing group Sibanye-Stillwater has concluded consultations with stakeholders regarding the proposed restructuring of four shafts at its South African platinum group metal (PGM) operations, with 1 208 employees granted voluntary separation or early retirement packages and 47 employees retrenched. About 800 contractor employees were also impacted, the group says.

Platinum group metals (PGMs) producer and developer Sylvania Platinum says its revenue and net profit for the 2023 financial year remained respectable, despite the impact of a significantly lower PGMs basket price. The Sylvania Dump Operations (SDO) produced 38 405 oz of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (4E) PGMs for the six months to December 31, 2023. Production was largely unchanged from the prior comparable six-month period.

Mining major Anglo American has achieved its lowest ever total recordable injury frequency rate of 1.78 in 2023, down from 2.19 in 2022, along with the company’s lowest ever monthly rate of 0.91 in December, CEO Duncan Wanblad revealed during the company’s 2023 financial year results presentation on February 22. Despite these achievements, three workers – out of more than 100 000 employees globally – were killed during the year in two separate incidents in Chile and South Africa.