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Covid-19 News
Arnot OpCo plans safe restart of operations with Covid-19 in mind
By: Donna Slater 25th January 2021 Mpumalanga-based coal miner Arnot OpCo is planning the restart of its operations near Middelburg in a safe and controlled manner that takes into account measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, at a time when South Africa is battling a second wave of infections. The company says it is not... →
Evaluation of emergency-power bids ‘by February’, with renewables bidding to open in ‘first quarter’ 
By: Terence Creamer 25th January 2021 The evaluation of the 28 bids received under South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) is anticipated to be concluded by February 2021, the IPP Office has confirmed with Engineering News. The preferred bidders, it adds, will be announced as soon as... →
PGMs, new Gold Fields CEO designate make headlines 
22nd January 2021 Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks Switzerland's green hydrogen roll-out, PGM demand and Chris Griffith becoming Gold Fields CEO designate. →
VZI well-positioned despite Covid
22nd January 2021 Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the global economy which, in turn, affected all industries. During the hard-lockdown, we had to revise the way we do business and our plans for the year ahead. Some of our operations were stopped we had to change the way we interact with our colleagues,... →
Sustainable finance could drive recovery
22nd January 2021 Sustainable finance could help drive Africa’s recovery from Covid-19 while also incentivising much-needed investments in the green economy and social development. The global pandemic has set back the continent’s growth and demanded new approaches to economic development. It has also highlighted... →
Success factors for operating during, post-Covid-19
22nd January 2021 Reopening after the pandemic will require reinvention and reinvestment in digital technologies. In 2021, companies should prioritise being more digital, data-driven, and in the cloud; as well as having more variable cost structures, agile operations and automation; and creating stronger... →
SA has components for energy sector transition
22nd January 2021 It is said: “The stone age did not end because it ran out of stones; it ended because it was time for a re-think about how we live.” 2020 has likely been the most profound reset of how the world thinks and lives, in modern history. The pathway to a green energy future has been rapidly... →
Industry, government must band together
22nd January 2021 Even before Covid-19 struck the outlook for exploration and new investment in our industry was less than rosy. South Africa currently sees less than 1% of global exploration spend, which is half of what it was a decade ago. Given the importance of exploration to attract new foreign investment to... →
Energy Efficiency, the buzzword for 2021
22nd January 2021 Energy consumption patterns need to be addressed in earnest, in a bid to ensure that all industries decarbonise towards a greener and sustainable future. With an ever-increasing demand to increase energy supply in a globally carbon-constrained environment, the mining trade needs to improve its... →
Chicken waste will help keep the lights on
22nd January 2021 Besides the birds themselves, poultry farms and poultry processing facilities have one thing in common: vast amounts of organic waste material. At RCL FOODS’ chicken farms and plants, literally hundreds of tons of chicken manure and post-processing organic ‘waste’ are produced each day – along... →
Shared understanding necessary for success
22nd January 2021 As South Africa’s mining industry enters 2021, the key role players remain fragmented in terms of ambition and purpose. As a result, many operations are in slow decay and on course for premature closure, with unnecessary and avoidable loss of mineral resources, jobs and opportunities to follow.... →
Wind to power economic investment
22nd January 2021 The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) estimates that the sector will unlock yearly investment of R40-billion for the next decade, on the assumption that smooth procurement and policy will deliver in line with the country’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). Further, should the... →
December vaccinations herald economic recovery
22nd January 2021 December 8, 2020 marked the beginning of transition towards global economic recovery when Margaret Keenan, a British citizen, became the first recipient of an authorised Covid-19 vaccine. We don’t know how long the transition from a Covid-scarred to a Covid-free world will take. But the move... →
Platinum group metals demand set to overwhelm supply balance – Davis
By: Martin Creamer 21st January 2021 Long-serving precious metals consultant Dr David Davis has reached the conclusion, after a comprehensive study, that the demand for platinum group metals (PGMs) is poised to outstrip stagnant supply. Davis, who has spent several months carrying out a ‘deep dive’ into the future of PGMs for... →
After baptism of fire, empowered valves manufacturer on road to recovery
By: Terence Creamer 19th January 2021 After fulfilling, in November 2019, all the conditions precedent to finally consummate the R165-million acquisition of valve manufacturer Dynamic Fluid Control (DFC) from Aveng the new black owners faced a true baptism of fire. CEO and co-shareholder Tumi Tsehlo, who previously headed the South... →
LNG exports reach record highs for Aus
By: Esmarie Iannucci 19th January 2021 Australia exported a record 78-million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) during 2020, new data from EnergyQuest has revealed. The exported tonnage for 2020 was up from the 77.5-million tonnes exported in 2019, and was a strong result given disruptions at the Gorgon LNG project, and the... →
Covid bites into OceanaGold production
By: Esmarie Iannucci 18th January 2021 Dual listed gold miner OceanaGold Corporation has seen gold production for the full year ended December declined from the 470 600 oz produced in 2019 to 301 700 oz, with the company expecting production to increase in 2021. Gold production in the quarter ended December reached 99 200 oz, which... →
Minerals Council says industry committed to help accelerate vaccine roll-out
By: Marleny Arnoldi 15th January 2021 The Minerals Council South Africa has pledged its support for government’s vaccine rollout programme, stating that access to an effective vaccine will help reopen the economy and save lives and livelihoods. The council’s members, alongside Business Unity South Africa and Business for South... →
Codelco to ratchet up precautionary measures as Covid-19 cases rise
By: Reuters 15th January 2021 Chile's State-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said on Thursday it would once again ratchet up precautionary measures against the coronavirus at its mines amid a recent uptick in infections in the South American nation. The measures, which include a reduction in personnel,... →
China importing SA coal, PGMs in a greener world make headlines
14th January 2021 Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks South Africa supplying coal to China, the role of South Africa’s platinum group metals in a greener future and the new project in the North West that is cutting electricity use by 82% and putting platinum into focus. →
Mine camps could be used for quarantine
By: Esmarie Iannucci 14th January 2021 The Queensland state government is considering using isolated mining camps to quarantine travellers into the state, as part of measures to curb the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) on Thursday said that it would continue to work with the Chief Health... →
Resources Watch
14th January 2021 This week: Gold mine ups return-to-work protocols as Covid infection numbers spike; And, US company planning at least 500 hydrogen fuelling stations in next 3 to 5 years →
Danish PM to lead IEA commission on making energy transition people-centered
By: Terence Creamer 11th January 2021 The International Energy Agency (IEA) has announced the creation of a high-level global commission, headed by Danish PM Mette Frederiksen, to investigate how to ensure that people are placed at the heart of the unfolding global clean-energy transition. Speaking during a virtual briefing on... →
Weekly Coal Index Report
11th January 2021 As the coal bulls remain firmly in charge, scientists have figured out how to turn low quality pulverized coal into polycrystalline nano-particles of graphite, opening up new uses for coal in applications from fire extinquishers to lithium-ion batteries. Looking back over 2020, Vietnam is now... →
First application made for power-tariff relief under new DMRE frameworks
By: Terence Creamer 11th January 2021 The first application for tariff relief provided for under the Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) frameworks published late last year by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has been submitted to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for authorisation. Nersa tells... →
South Deep Covid protocols, platinum demand, decarbonisation make headlines
8th January 2021 Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks back-to-work protocols at South Deep, the building of hydrogen infrastructure in the US being a good boost for platinum demand and mining companies being pressurised to commit to a decarbonised future. →
Tianqi shareholders back IGO deal
By: Esmarie Iannucci 8th January 2021 The shareholders of lithium producer Tianqi Lithium Corporation have approved a A$1.9-billion joint venture agreement with ASX-listed Independence Group (IGO). IGO on Friday told shareholders that some 99.97% of Tianqi’s shareholders present at its January 5 meeting had voted in favour of the... →
Quebec govt spares mining industry from new restrictions
By: Marleny Arnoldi 7th January 2021 The Quebec Mining Association (QMA) has welcomed the announcement of the continuation of mining operations, despite the total containment decreed by the provincial government late on January 6. The association says this exemption for the industry is the result of robust measures that the mining... →
Gold mine ups return-to-work protocols as Covid infection numbers spike
By: Martin Creamer 6th January 2021 Return-to-work protocols at South Deep gold mine have been significantly enhanced to manage the sharp rise in the number of employees testing positive for the coronavirus on return to work after the festive season. Seven hundred and fifty tests have been carried out over three-and-a-half days,... →
AMCU laments rise in Covid-19 cases, calls on mining companies for assistance
By: Simone Liedtke 4th January 2021 Trade union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has called for an urgent virtual high-level stakeholder engagement to deliberate on concerns regarding Covid-19 vaccinations for mineworkers, and to chart a way forward. It says in a January 4 statement that it believes the... →
Covid recovery boosts Aus exports
By: Esmarie Iannucci 4th January 2021 The outlook for Australia’s resource and energy exports has improved over the past three months, as global economic activity rebounds from the Covid-19 pandemic, with resources and energy exports to remain robust after earning a record A$291-billion in 2019–20, federal Resources Minister Keith... →
Hydrogen fuel cells, Implats, Mogalakwena make headlines
11th December 2020 Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks China converting battery electric vehicles into hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Impala platinum joining a high-flying PGMs-linked venture capital fund and the approval for the Mogalakwena PGMs mine solar project. →
WA gas supply to tighten from 2028
By: Esmarie Iannucci 10th December 2020 Western Australia’s gas supply is expected to exceed demand until 2026, however, the balance is expected to tighten between 2027 and 2028, new data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has shown. In its the 2020 Western Australia Gas Statement of Opportunities (WA GSOO), the AEMO... →
Coronado continues to increase mining at Curragh
By: Esmarie Iannucci 9th December 2020 Coal miner Coronado Global Resources has tapped mining services provider NRW Holding’s subsidiary Golding Contractors to increase mining plant at the Curragh mine, in Queensland. NRW on Wednesday said that it would introduce a fifth and sixth fleet at Curragh, in addition to its current mining... →
China converting battery electric vehicles into platinum-linked hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
By: Martin Creamer 8th December 2020 Battery electric vehicles such as municipal buses and trucks are being converted into hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by China. “China already has a very well-established infrastructure to charge batteries and run battery electric trucks. But in the north, it’s very cold and we know battery electric... →
Platinum on the rise as market adapts to Covid-19 – PGI
By: Donna Slater 8th December 2020 Platinum Guild International’s (PGI’s) third-quarter 'Platinum Jewellery Business Review', which surveys manufacturing and retail partners across key markets, indicates that although low prices have been a trigger to encourage buying, it has been product innovation and emotional connection of... →
Social partners ink compact on reducing Eskom’s debt and facilitating ‘just transition’ to renewables 
By: Terence Creamer 8th December 2020 Organised business, labour, community and government have officially signed a social compact in support of debt-laden Eskom that also endorses the need for a “just transition” for coal workers and communities as the electricity system begins to transition to higher levels of renewable energy and... →
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