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Third consecutive year of coal export decline from Richards Bay Coal Terminal 
By: Martin Creamer Updated 3 hours ago Coal exports from South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) last year declined for the third consecutive year, with the 70.2-million tons exported to mainly Asia and single-digit percentages to Africa and Europe, taking exports back to what they were in 2013. In 2020, two-million fewer... →
Geographic spread of South African coal exports from Richards Bay Coal Terminal.
Transitioning fossil-fuel labour forces into new sectors critical for ‘clean, just energy transitions’ 
By: Terence Creamer 26th January 2021 The chair of a new global commission established to offer governments guidance on making their energy transitions more “people-centred” says that the creation of green jobs and the transitioning of existing fossil-fuel labour forces into new sectors will be “key factors for a clean, just energy... →
Platinum group metals playing role in Switzerland’s green hydrogen roll-out
By: Martin Creamer 19th January 2021 Platinum group metals (PGMs), which South Africa hosts in greater abundance than any other country on earth, are playing important catalytic roles in Switzerland’s green hydrogen and green truck rollout, which is now under way. Mining Weekly can today report that proton exchange membrane (PEM)... →
New ‘green’ platinum project leaps out of starting blocks, will use 82% less electricity
By: Martin Creamer 11th January 2021 The innovative new platinum group metals mining and processing project that slashes 82% off electricity use and elevates platinum to a new high level of greenness, leapt out of its starting blocks in North West province on Monday. “We’ve commenced. The tanks are rolling,” Pallinghurst managing... →
US company planning at least 500 hydrogen fuelling stations in next 3 to 5 years
By: Martin Creamer 7th January 2021 The creation of a minimum of 500 fuelling stations to provide hydrogen to mainly trucks powered by platinum-catalysed hydrogen fuel cells is planned by a US company in the next three to five years. “We believe that everyone will be within a couple of miles of a hydrogen fuelling station in the... →
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,... →
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... →
Mining can retake investor darling status by going green – Frandsen
By: Martin Creamer 30th November 2020 The taking of clear sustainability steps can make mining the darling of the investor community once again. Mining cannot participate in anything that leaves the world a worse place and needs to be cognisant of what it takes to have a licence to operate. Mining must have a smaller carbon... →
Anglo praised for blazing decarbonised mining trail with hydrogen truck project
By: Martin Creamer 25th November 2020 The electrolyser that will generate renewable hydrogen for the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle project has been delivered to site by Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS, as part of the joint partnership with ENGIE and Anglo American, announced last year. ENGIE is providing the... →
Omnia firmly in ‘fix and renew’ phase following September interim period
By: Simone Liedtke 24th November 2020 JSE-listed diversified chemicals group Omnia Holdings is now firmly in the "fix and renew" phase of its turnaround strategy, where implementation of the new operating model during the six months, ended September 30, was “substantially completed” and has already resulted in improved production... →
Coal mine on point of turning acid mine drainage into potable water at no cost
By: Martin Creamer 23rd November 2020 An Mpumalanga coal mine is on the point of entering into an agreement before year-end to have its acid mine drainage water curse turned into potable water at no cost, Mining Weekly can today report. Recovered potassium nitrate, which retails at about R15 000/t and which is marketed at about R11... →
Company designs, constructs ventilation and cooling systems for mines
By: Khutso Maphatsoe 20th November 2020 Specialist mine refrigeration and ventilation consultancy group Bluhm Burton Engineering (BBE) is fully committed to the underground mining project for De Beers’ Venetia diamond mine, in Limpopo. The consulting and projects divisions of BBE are both involved in the project, with the former... →
Chrome producers want ferrochrome solutions that exclude export tax 
By: Martin Creamer 19th November 2020 South Africa’s non-integrated chrome ore exporters want to discuss ways of solving the existential threat to South Africa’s struggling ferrochrome industry to avoid the need for a tax being imposed on the export of locally mined chrome ore. But steadfastly in favour of a chrome ore export tax are... →
Iridium breakthrough a boost for green hydrogen economy, PGMs mining
By: Martin Creamer 16th November 2020 The amount of iridium required to electrolyse green hydrogen has been drastically reduced, a breakthrough that is a significant boost for the upcoming green hydrogen economy as well as South African platinum group metals (PGMs) mining. Heraeus Precious Metals has achieved a material thrifting... →
Completion of first phase of Kore Potash’s new starter project expected in May
By: Martin Creamer 11th November 2020 The current strategy of Kore Potash is to focus on the Dougou Extension (DX) project, a 400 000 t/y selective solution-mining project in the Republic of Congo (RoC), rather than the considerably larger Kola underground mining project. Kola, as the first project of the AIM-, ASX- and JSE-listed... →
Platinum-linked green hydrogen economy right for Africa, says project manager
By: Martin Creamer 10th November 2020 The long value chain of green hydrogen economy has the potential to create a multiplicity of jobs and open up the market for investment possibilities for the Southern African region into what is expected to become a multi-trillion-dollar global decarbonisation market. Forschungszentrum Jülich... →
Zambia copper explorer has exclusivity agreement with Anglo American
By: Martin Creamer 9th November 2020 Copper explorer Arc Minerals, which has done extensive exploration drilling in Zambia in its study of a near-term copper opportunity, has signed an exclusivity agreement with Anglo American, Arc Minerals executive chairperson and CEO Nick von Schirnding has reported. The UK Aim-listed Arc... →
Wits Basin’s shallow gold reefs to be mined as economic environment creates huge tailwind
By: Martin Creamer 4th November 2020 New mid-tier gold aspirant Shallow Reefs Gold is in the process of being built in South Africa to mine the shallow reefs of South Africa’s historic Witwatersrand Gold Basin. Shallow Reefs Gold has former Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu and former Exxaro chairperson Sipho Nkosi on board... →
Clean, green copper of N Cape will be produced at nigh zero cost – Orion
By: Martin Creamer 3rd November 2020 The clean, green copper that Orion Minerals will mine with the help of the Northern Cape’s hot sun and prime wind will be almost free of cost, paid for by the zinc credits, Orion Minerals CEO Errol Smart said on Tuesday. “If you take it as a copper mine only, net of zinc credits, we come close to... →
Exploration is priority, says Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe
By: Martin Creamer 3rd November 2020 South Africa should be an exploration site that contributes to gross domestic product growth and employment creation. “Exploration is the way to go and a priority,” Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told the 2020 Junior Indaba in his keynote address on Tuesday. (Also watch... →
Anglo reinforces sustainability goals, clarifies decarbonisation pathway goals
By: Simone Liedtke 30th October 2020 Diversified miner Anglo American intends to achieve full carbon neutrality across its operations by 2040, with eight of its operations to reach that goal by 2030. The commitment was initially made in May this year, but CEO Mark Cutifani on October 30 elaborated that this goal would be achieved... →
Profitable circular economy concepts making future potentially bright for coal miners
By: Martin Creamer 29th October 2020 Coal mining companies need to start looking at creating their own profitable circular economies around existing coal assets because it is possible, says African Source Markets CEO Bevan Jones. While still responsibly mining coal, coal-mining companies have an opportunity to look at creating a... →
Afrimat's diversification strategy paying off
By: Marleny Arnoldi 29th October 2020 Openpit miner Afrimat reported an 11% year-on-year increase in operating profit for the six months ended August 31, despite a 9.4% year-on-year decrease in revenue. The company also ended the period with cash and cash equivalents of R330-million, a 170% year-on-year increase. →
Struggling ferrochrome needs chrome export tax as interim measure – Richards Bay Alloys
By: Martin Creamer 28th October 2020 The struggling electricity-intensive South African ferrochrome industry, which has taken significant strides to increase its efficiency and reduce its electricity consumption, needs urgent steps to be taken to enable it to restore its competitiveness. The most far-reaching of these is the... →
Hopes rise as top firms arrive at potential flow-through share model to stimulate mining exploration
By: Martin Creamer 27th October 2020 A flow-through share model has been drawn up with the help of top firms to stimulate badly neglected mining exploration in South Africa, Minerals Council South Africa junior and emerging miners leadership forum chairperson Errol Smart said on Tuesday. Speaking to Mining Weekly in a Zoom... →
Decision soon on platinum process that can save power
By: Martin Creamer 26th October 2020 The definitive feasibility study for the installation of a revolutionary new electricity-slashing processing plant at Pilanesberg Platinum Mine in the North West will be completed next month, in time for an investment decision from the shareholders in KellTechnology South Africa, which are... →
‘Great opportunity’ to tap Mpumalanga’s grid capacity for just transition – IPP Office
By: Terence Creamer 26th October 2020 The extension of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) to areas where coal jobs are at risk, but where grid capacity is available, represents a “great opportunity” to connect new renewable-energy generators while also supporting a just transition for coal workers, a senior... →
Experience from other health crises shaped mining industry’s rapid pandemic response
By: Nadine James 23rd October 2020 While virologists and risk analysts have been theorising about the effects of a global pandemic for years, few could have imagined the Covid-19 pandemic’s transformative impact on society. Even after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a public health emergency in January, “how many... →
Platinum well positioned in hydrogen economy’s sweet spots – WPIC
By: Martin Creamer 21st October 2020 The upcoming platinum demand of Hyundai alone could come close to taking up the total annual production of one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines. Hyundai has stated categorically, in a double-page advertisement in The Economist of London, that it will be making 700 000 fuel cell stacks a... →
40 MW solar power application making good progress – Gold Fields
By: Martin Creamer 20th October 2020 The application for the establishment of a 40 MW solar power plant at the South Deep gold mine in western Gauteng is in process and making good progress, Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said on Monday. Responding to Mining Weekly during the Johannesburg- and New York-listed company’s virtual... →
South Africa is well positioned to export green hydrogen – PwC
By: Martin Creamer 19th October 2020 South Africa is in an extraordinary position to revolutionise its own economy and supply green hydrogen to the world, PwC said on Monday. “The energy transition is and will be biggest global theme this decade,” PwC associate director James Mackay told journalists at a virtual event covered by... →
Hydrogen fast-tracking will be much quicker than imagined – Sibanye-Stillwater
By: Martin Creamer 19th October 2020 The fast-tracking of the hydrogen economy will be much quicker than most people have imagined, Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said at the Financial Times (FT) Commodities Mining Summit, where he was part of a panel that included Anglo American Platinum CEO Natasha Viljoen and South32 CEO... →
Coal mine disposal exacerbating carbon emissions problem – Glencore
By: Martin Creamer 16th October 2020 The disposal of thermal coal mines in response to environmental, social and governance (ESG) investors is not lowering carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions but exacerbating the problem, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg pointed out on Friday. Questioned by Financial Times (FT) natural resources editor Neil... →
Report discusses challenges, options as world continues to drive decarbonisation agenda
By: Simone Liedtke 16th October 2020 While the global shift from fossil fuels to renewables is helping new ecosystems and technologies to emerge, many of the pursued steps towards decarbonisation pose unique challenges. Many participants in the energy and resources industries have declared an intention to become carbon neutral by... →
Southern Africa’s green hydrogen buy-in exceeding expectations – Sacreee
By: Martin Creamer 14th October 2020 Southern Africa’s buy-in into the green hydrogen economy concept is exceeding expectations, Southern African Development Community (SADC) Centre for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency (Sacreee) executive director Kudakwashe Ndhlukula said on Tuesday. Green hydrogen is a clean form of hydrogen... →
New venture capital incubation fund targeting small-scale mining space
By: Martin Creamer 13th October 2020 Venture capital incubation fund initiator Pearl Gray Equity Partners is targeting South Africa’s small-scale gold mining space. Pearl Gray, a reform of the Gray Family trust created in the late 1990s, is a family investment firm based in Pretoria, with activities in Delaware, in the US. (Also... →
Environmental under-investment comes back to bite – Sir Mick Davis
By: Martin Creamer 12th October 2020 If you under-invest in environmental impact, it will come back to bite you at some time in the future, just like cutting back on development used to do in the old days, former Eskom, Gencor, Billiton, Xstrata and X2 Resources mining doyen Sir Mick Davis said at the Joburg Indaba. Davis said this... →
Company notes West African mining potential
By: Halima Frost 9th October 2020 West Africa holds notable mining potential, with exploration and mining consulting services provider The MSA Group principal consultant Mike Robertson noting the company’s short- to medium-term goal of expanding further into the jurisdiction. “MSA sees West Africa as an increasingly appealing... →
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