JSE-listed Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has successfully completed the rebuild of its Anglo Converter Plant (ACP) Phase A unit, which will ramp up to full operating capacity by the end of the year. Both the ACP Phase A and Phase B units had been shut down initially in March, following an explosion at the plant. The Phase A unit had since been undergoing a total rebuild, with Amplats advising in November that the Phase B unit would also be undergoing a rebuild. Phase B unit had been suffering a series of water leaks that threaten a safe operating environment and the integrity of the plant, despite the repairs done throughout the year. Amplats CEO Natascha Viljoen says the rebuild of the Phase A unit could be accelerated, despite the impact of Covid-19 on supply chains, as a result of the company being able to procure long-lead-time items to site six months ahead of schedule. The Phase A unit was originally expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of next year. Owing to the early completion and stable restart of the Phase A unit, the company has upgraded its refined production guidance for the year to between 2.6-million and 2.7-million platinum group metal ounces, from the original 2.5-million-ounce expectation. The release of the work-in-progress inventory build-up this year is expected to take up to 24 months.

Mining Weekly

Amplats completes ACP Phase A rebuild

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum group metals (PGMs) mining and marketing company Impala Platinum (Implats) announced on Monday that it would be joining a high-flying venture capital fund that supports technologies making use of PGMs, which are helping the world to combat climate change. Existing investors in the London-headquartered AP Ventures, which this year established a South African presence, include South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, Anglo American Platinum, the Toyota-linked Mirai Creation Fund, Mitsubishi Corporation, Plastic Omnium and the Sumitomo Corporation. AP Ventures’ investment strategy is focused on companies developing technologies which are capable of sustainably solving global challenges such as renewable energy integration and resource scarcity. A key area of focus is the decarbonisation of transport, mining and heavy industry, by the only fund of its kind offering investors access to these innovative, fast-growing companies built on the PGM properties. Commenting on today’s announcement, Implats CE Nico Muller said: “We are pleased to be joining some of our peers as a limited partner in AP Ventures. Our multi-year investment in Fund II increases Implats’ focused market development spend on key evolving end-uses for PGMs including hydrogen, fuel cell mobility and energy storage. AP Ventures’ core linkages and strong developmental commitment to South Africa will help harness the benefits of PGM demand growth for all our stakeholders.” Interestingly, Implats on Friday also featured as a support entity at the 2020 International PGMs Development Summit held in China, where the strategic importance of PGMs in new-energy development were highlighted. Among the guest speakers were Minerals Council South Africa CEO Roger Baxter as well as AP Ventures managing partner Kevin Eggers. Earlier this month, AP Ventures announced an investment in HPNow, which bodes well for South Africa, as the Copenhagen innovator is also looking to support the deployment through licensing of its autonomous on-site hydrogen peroxide technology solution. HPNow has introduced a new environmentally-protective way of producing the chemical, which is used in wastewater treatment and purification, paper bleaching, chemical production, electronics, detergents, cosmetics and biocide. AP Ventures has for some time also been invested in innovating companies that include Hydrogenious Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier Technologies, Altergy Systems, Ergosup, Greyrock Energy, HyET, Insplorion, Plug Power and ZEG Power, all of which either use or enable the use of PGMs. A big part of AP Ventures’ investing focus has been around hydrogen, which is being considered by more than 70 countries as a future universal energy carrier and which is also a significant user of PGMs in many applications. AP Ventures managing partner Andrew Hinkly welcomed Implats as a strong partner which supported the strategy of market development for hydrogen technologies using PGMs. “We look forward to working with the Implats team and combining our efforts to decarbonise mining activities and bring value to communities in South Africa,” said Hinkly in a release to Mining Weekly. Implats has six mining operations in South Africa’s Bushveld Complex and Zimbabwe, as well as Impala Refining Services.

Now Implats joins high-flying PGMs-linked venture capital fund

South Africa's Gamsberg zinc mine remains shut while owner Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) continues to search for a worker trapped underground following a rockfall on November 17, the company said on Friday. "The rescue and recovery team are working hard on ensuring the operation is expedited, but with the utmost measures being taken to ensure the safety of the teams," the zinc unit of India's Vedanta said. Eight workers were rescued after the accident, and one died. The mine shutdown has helped push prices for zinc, a metal used to galvanize steel, to an 18-month high. At full production capacity in phase 1, Gamsberg will produce 250 000 t/y f zinc in concentrate, according to Vedanta's website

Vedanta's Gamsberg mine stays shut as search continues for trapped worker

Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore on Friday announced its ambition to be a net-zero emissions company by 2050. Glencore set out the pathway towards reducing its total emissions footprint by 40% by 2035, taking in scope 1, 2 and 3. In an Investor Day 2020 presentation by CEO Ivan Glasenberg, CFO Steve Kalmin and industrial assets head Peter Freyberg, the company stated that it would achieve its climate-change goals by: managing operational footprint through scope 1 and 2 emission reduction; reducing Scope 3 emissions through investments in its metals portfolio, reducing coal production and supporting deployment of low emission technologies; allocating capital to prioritise transition to metals that the world needs; collaborating with its value chains to enable greater use of low-carbon metals and supporting progress towards technological solutions; supporting uptake and integration of abatement, an essential contributor to achieving low- or net-zero carbon objectives; using technology to improve resource efficiency and circular economy contribution; and adopting a transparent approach by reporting on its progress and performance. “The world is facing the challenge of meeting the increasing energy needs of a growing population, while radically reducing its carbon footprint. We believe the commitments and trajectory we outline today show how we are part of the solution,” the company stated in a release to Mining Weekly. “A significant portion of Glencore’s earnings is derived from the metals and minerals that enable the transition to a low-carbon economy. As the world prioritises renewable technologies, battery storage and electric mobility, our business is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for the commodities that underpin these future-focused industries. “Our ambition to be a net-zero total emissions company by 2050 reflects our commitment to contribute to the global effort to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement,” Glasenberg stated in the release. During the presentation, Glasenberg stated that 65 was the right age to hand over to the younger generation and announced Gary Nagle as the CEO designate. “Our products enable the transition to a low-carbon economy. We are one of the largest producers and suppliers of copper, cobalt and nickel – metals that are essential to batteries used for electric vehicles and energy storage, as well as the infrastructure required for the transmission of renewable energy. The world needs these commodities if it is to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit the rise of global temperatures. “The world is going to require many times more metal than is currently produced. We have a large production footprint and pipeline of projects in the commodities needed to build renewable energy grids, electrify transport and meet everyday needs. We also operate a large recycling business, through which we enable the reuse of critical products needed to deliver the transition to a low-carbon economy. “The world today depends on fossil fuels – coal, natural gas and oil – to meet its energy needs. Under all credible scenarios, fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) will continue to be an important part of the global energy mix for many years to come. We do not believe that selling our coal mines would help reduce the associated emissions. Responsible stewardship of our coal assets and responsible reduction of our coal portfolio, while maintaining a focus on our high-quality coal assets in Australia, supports our ambition to reduce our total emissions to achieve net zero by 2050. “A low-carbon future requires low-carbon metals. As a mining and trading company, we are uniquely positioned to work directly with our customers and relevant industry groups to support and promote the greater use of low-carbon metals, and to form strategic partnerships that enable critical transitions in transportation, infrastructure and energy systems,” the company stat...

Glencore spells out emission-reduction pathway to 2050

Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg announced on Friday that he would be handing over the reins of the global mining and marketing company in mid-2021 to top Glencore executive Gary Nagle, who has served the company for 20 years and is well-known in South Africa for his part in running Glencore’s ferroalloys business. Mining Weekly can report that the reins are being handed over at a time when the company’s level of performance is at a high. Glasenberg said that 65 was the right age for him to hand over to a new generation and younger leader and he would be working with Nagle during the first half of 2021 at a time when, as CFO Steve Kalmin reported, the company was in peak financial fitness. Also using Friday’s presentation to spell out the pathway Glencore would be following to reduce emissions and decline its coal business – while investing in metals that help to mitigate against climate change – Glasenberg said the company’s diversified portfolio positioned Glencore uniquely to gradually move out of coal while ascending into the quickly emerging low-carbon economy. Nagle, 45, started with Glasenberg in the coal division 21 years ago, and has had considerable global experience. On joining the company, Nagle initially ran its coal assets in Colombia, before moving to South Africa, where he ran Glencore's ferroalloys division and then he moved to Australia, where he has control of the coal division. Nagle, who will be relocating from Australia to Switzerland, pledged in a media release to continue to deliver value to shareholders, while operating safely and responsibly. Glencore chairperson Tony Hayward said the board had been working with Glasenberg over the past two years to oversee a seamless transition. The transition now coincides with debt being reduced to extremely low levels, substantial free cash being generated and the company being well positioned to pay large dividends, or other methods of payments to shareholders, going foreward. “We’re going into the third generation of the leaders of the company and all the leaders who have taken over the various asses within the company, at both the trading and the operating sides of the business, have come from internal appointments. “We’ve always ensured that there’s a great succession in the company and that we have leaders ready to take over the business. I’ve always said that I wish to leave the company by the age of 65. I believe that’s the right time that I should be leaving a company of this size and nature and the work ethic that we have in the company, and It’s time to hand over to the new generation, and a younger leader. “In the succession process, it could have been three to four parties who could easily have taken over the position of this new generation, the 45-year-old generation, who should be running this company and taking it forward. We’ve decided that over the next six months, I’ll be working closely with Gary Nagle, who will be taking over from me,” Glasenberg told Investor Day 2020, attended by Mining Weekly. Nagle, who has commerce and accounting degrees from Wits University, qualified as a chartered accountant in South Africa in 1999. He served on the board of the now defunct Lonmin plc from 2013 to 2015 and represented Glencore on the minerals councils of Colombia and Australia, where he is currently Sydney-based and serving as global head of Glencore’s coal industrial business.

Retiring Glasenberg handing over Glencore reins to Gary Nagle

Investment in the production of hydrogen powered by renewable sources, or green hydrogen, is likely to exceed $1-billion by 2023, says research agency IHS Markit. The agency attributes an elevated investment outlook to falling costs and policy support from governments that are looking to shift towards low-carbon economies. Operating capacity for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis technology - also known as 'Power-to-X' – currently stands at 82 MW with a pipeline of over 23 GW to 2030, according to the IHS Markit Power-to-X tracker. This pipeline – including projects announced, planned and under construction – is up from less than 8 GW at the end of 2019 and 5 GW at the end of 2018. IHS says electrolysis production is ramping up with multiple “gigafactories” under development. “Investment in electrolysis is booming around the world. The pipeline through 2030 is for over 23 GW of capacity to be developed—more than 280 times the current capacity. “The increasing interest has been driven by falling electrolysis and renewable power costs and by increasing government focus on green hydrogen,” confirms IHS Markit hydrogen and renewable gas director Catherine Robinson. Green hydrogen production costs have decreased by 40% since 2015 and are expected to fall by a further 40% through to 2025. Reductions in the cost of renewable power account for two-thirds of the reduction in the cost of green hydrogen seen since 2015 with one-third due to reductions in the cost of the electrolysis equipment. Through to 2025, the main driver of green hydrogen cost reductions is expected to be the development of larger electrolysis projects. By 2030, IHS Markit expects green hydrogen costs could drop below $2/kg where it would compete with hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon capture, also known as blue hydrogen. Low-carbon hydrogen is a major component of many governments' post-Covid recovery plans and their long-term climate strategies. For example, European countries individually, the European Commission, Russia and Chile have all released hydrogen strategies since May. The strategies set out production targets for low-carbon hydrogen and electrolysis and start to define the support that will be available to project developers. Development of green hydrogen on the scale demonstrated by the current pipeline will create a whole new sector of power demand, says IHS Market. The current electrolysis pipeline implies that, by the mid-2020s, electricity supplied to electrolysers globally could be on par with the total electricity consumption of Belgium or the US state of New Jersey. Modelling by IHS Markit shows that, by the early 2040s, production of green hydrogen could be the single largest user of electricity, exceeding industrial electricity use. To meet this demand, deployment of low-carbon power generation – particularly in regions with high-quality renewable resources – will accelerate.

Investment in green hydrogen production to exceed $1bn by 2023 − IHS Markit

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) − Although lockdowns across the world have had a significantly negative impact on diamond sales, demand is beginning to gain traction again as the industry nears the popular Christmas selling season and certain regions emerge from months-long strict lockdowns, says De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. Speaking during the De Beers Diamond Impact Week keynote session, which also featured Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, Cleaver said the levels of demand experienced in the second quarter of the year were unique and probably the lowest on record. However, demand did not entirely dry up, he notes. During these unprecedented times, he points out that De Beers was guided by two things – the one being the fact that Covid-19 will pass and, secondly, that there will be a better future for the diamonds industry. “It is important for us to be ready for when [the better future] happens. We certainly will never lose faith that there will be a future for us and the diamond industry.” In the beginning phases of the Covid-19 outbreak, Cleaver says the diamond miner focused on doing its part to help contain and limit the spread of the virus. However, in terms of keeping the business operational, he says De Beers prioritised keeping its businesses going, which it did in partnerships with governments. At the time, he says the last thing De Beers wanted to inadvertently do was to put people out of business. “It was really important that we kept our little piece of the value chain of the world going because many people depend on us and we demand on many people. Many people in the supply chain would not exist if we stopped operating.” As such, Cleaver says it was of critical importance that De Beers found ways of keeping the value chains and supply chains going so that the people that depend on them could at least keep some economic activity going. One such method undertaken by De Beers to keep demand alive, or at least in the backs of people’s minds, was to release more-than-usual “flash reports” in which De Beers made several announcements and released research reports to help drive demand. “We felt it was important that we kept talking to the diamond industry and that people understood our view that there was going to be a future and that we would get through this,” he says. An encouraging snippet gained from the release of the flash reports was feedback that informed De Beers of consumer sentiment that no matter how bad Covid-19 issues got, the lockdowns helped reinforce in people’s minds what was most important to them, Cleaver says. “The thing that came out on top of all these pieces of research is that relationships really matter. In fact, they matter more in these times when we are all locked up, because we have time to reflect on what really matters . . . diamonds are perfectly positioned to fill that because they are given or bought at great moments in people’s lives and they mark momentous things in people’s lives. They are also a celebration of joy and personal success or success in a relationship.” BOTSWANA’S SAVING GRACE Meanwhile, Masisi noted that the diamond industry had helped build Botswana’s economy and remains a critical part of the country’s economic driving force. “The role of diamonds in the recovery of Botswana will always be central. If [Botswana] is to recover, [it] needs to make the best with what [it] already has from diamonds – skills sets, infrastructure, systems, institutions and governance systems.” He adds that, emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, diamonds will remain a focus of the country, which is “open for [diamond-related] business”. “The close relationship between the diamond industry and the tourism sector is quite significant in its contribution to Botswana’s development agenda,” says Masisi. As such, he thanked all the roleplayers in the diamond value chain for their continued resilience over recent months. “Even though diamond sales dropped ...

Despite lockdown slump, diamonds to remain precious post-Covid-19 – De Beers

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified mining and marketing company Glencore has extended its partnership with GEM of China for the supply of cobalt hydroxide by another five years. Both companies have also formally embedded responsible sourcing and sustainability into the contractual relationship. Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore, headed by CEO Ivan Glasenberg, will provide around 150 000 t of cobalt contained in hydroxide for GEM between 2020 and 2029. Glencore and GEM are committing each other to annual audits under OECD-aligned standards, specifically, the Cobalt Refiner Supply Chain Due Diligence Standard developed by the Responsible Minerals Initiative, Responsible Cobalt Initiative and Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters. This shared commitment will help to demonstrate strong responsible sourcing practices and transparency across multiple points along the supply chain, the companies stated in a media release to Mining Weekly. The Cobalt Institute, of which Glencore is a member, has developed the Cobalt Industry Responsible Assessment Framework (CIRAF), an industry-wide risk management tool that helps cobalt supply chain players identify production and sourcing related risks. This long-term strategic cobalt partnership includes a commitment to use CIRAF when communicating publicly on environmental and social issues specific to the cobalt supply chain. GEM chairperson Xu Kai Hua stated that despite Covid-19, the adoption of new energy vehicles was accelerating: “There is no doubt that they are revolutionising the world's automobile industry.” As a result, cobalt, as a key raw materials for electric vehicle batteries, would, he said, become a global strategic resource of extreme importance for the rapidly growing new energy vehicles market in China and the rest of the world. “This ten-year cobalt supply agreement reflects a deepening of the strategic cooperation between cobalt resources and the market in the face of the changing competitive landscape and the booming trend of new energy in the world and will fundamentally stabilise the development of GEM cobalt products. There is a huge demand for cobalt resources in the global market,” Kai Hua said. “There is no doubt that this agreement provides a long-term guarantee for the supply of responsibly mined cobalt to help stabilise the global share of GEM cobalt products. This agreement will also help address the demand for cobalt in China’s new energy market. After the signing of this agreement GEM will no longer worry about the supply of responsible cobalt. GEM can focus on the manufacturing of cobalt products to meet the global demand for quality and technological innovation. “The partnership between Glencore and GEM sets an excellent example of focusing on responsible sourcing and sustainability across the supply chain,” he added. Glencore head of copper and cobalt marketing Nico Paraskevas expressed pleasure at the extension of the partnership and spoke of cobalt providing thermal stability and longevity of performance in batteries and thus playing a key role in enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy. “Long-term security of cobalt supply and cobalt demand visibility are critical to prevent supply shortages that could impede the energy transition and, ultimately, the world’s ability to meet climate change targets. As the cobalt supply chain matures with greater emphasis on long-term partnerships, this contract is just one example of Glencore and its customers working together towards the adoption of industry leading standards on responsible sourcing and environmental and social corporate governance,” Paraskevas added. As one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies and a major producer and marketer of more than 60 commodities, Glencore’s operations have around 150 mining and metallurgical sites and oil production assets and its industrial activitie...

Glencore, China’s GEM extend strategic cobalt partnership

A subsidiary of minerals drilling solutions provider Capital Limited has entered into a conditional 120-million-tonne openpit waste mining services contract and an expanded drilling contract at LSE-listed Centamin’s Sukari gold mine in Egypt, as part of Centamin’s operational reset. The four-year contract will start in January. Centamin has announced that it has taken the proactive measure to partially integrate contract-mining into the openpit medium-term mine plan at Sukari. This cost-effective and time efficient solution enables the company to accelerate the increased waste stripping programme and improve overall operational flexibility in the openpit, it states. "With the focus on improving operational flexibility at Sukari, introducing contract-mining over the next few years for waste stripping in the openpit is cost and time effective. "Capital is a trusted contractor to the company, with a strong understanding of Sukari and the operating environment, including the employment of local workforce and established training programmes, consistent with Centamin's approach to local workforce development," says Centamin CEO Martin Horgan. As part of the increased openpit waste stripping programme, Centamin continues to use its existing owner operator fleet, which has capacity to move 80-million to 90-million tonnes a year of ore and waste. The company, however, conducted an independent contract-mining tender process to assess incremental contract-waste stripping costs, and capacity, against the cost to expand the current owner-operator mining fleet. It was concluded that the optimal integration of contract-mining was to isolate the waste stripping workstream on the east wall of the openpit, thereby limiting the day to day interaction with the operations and simplifying operational oversight and planning from a health, safety and logistical standpoint. The east wall waste stripping programme will move material to a dedicated waste dump. Following a competitive tender process, the company has awarded Capital Egypt the conditional openpit waste mining services contract for the East wall and has also expanded and extended its existing drilling contract at Sukari. Capital Egypt will provide load and haul and ancillary services. This deal is the largest in Capital’s history and will be significantly accretive to the company’s bottom line, increasing revenue by over 40% over the duration of the contract, the company points out. "The winning of the tender for the Sukari openpit waste mining contract is a significant milestone for Capital − it is the largest contract win for the group since inception, adds substantial scale to our mining services division, as well as providing revenue diversification from our drilling services business. "We are also pleased to have increased the scope and scale of our existing drilling contract. Having operated at the Sukari mine since 2005 . . . Capital is pleased to be deepening further its strong client relationship with Centamin in assisting with the generation of significant value to Centamin over the medium and longer term as the Sukari mine enters its next phase of gold production," comments Capital executive chairperson Jamie Boyton. Moreover, it will cement the company’s position as one of the premier mining service providers in Africa as it continues to increase its yellow fleet service, Capital enthuses. The existing drilling contract at Sukari has been extended to December 31, 2024, from September 30, 2023, and expanded by nine additional rigs, bringing the rigs operating at Sukari to 24 in total. Collectively, the Sukari contract and the amended Sukari drilling contract are expected to deliver incremental revenues of $235-million to $260-million a year based on Sukari’s mine plan at the point of tender submission. Both contracts are expected to be revenue and earnings accretive in 2021. The new business awards at Sukari build on Capital’s longstanding...

Capital secures 'transformational' contract mining contract at Centamin's Sukari

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The bull market for copper is now fully underway with prices reaching their highest level since 2017, Goldman Sachs International commodities research analysts reported on December 1. Also on December 1, Mining.com reported that the copper price was trading at its highest since March 2013 on Chinese data showing manufacturing and construction in the world’s second-largest economy was expanding at a pace not seen in a decade, and Daily Upside declared copper prices to be "on fire". Reuters quoted independent consultant Robin Bhar as saying that any price correction would likely be brief, with many investors buying on the dips. Goldman Sachs analysts Nicholas Snowden, Jeffrey Currie, Daniel Sharp and Mikhail Sprogis stated in a note headlined ‘copper charting a course to $10 000/t’, that the current price strength of copper was not an irrational aberration. “Rather, we view it as the first leg of a structural bull market in copper,” the analysts added. On the Comex market, copper for delivery in March next year jumped 2.4% to $7 764/t in New York, racking up its fifth straight day of gains. The copper price has advanced 26% year to date after recovering from a pandemic dip. Going into 2021, the copper market should face the tightest market conditions in a decade owing to a substantial deficit of 327 000 t. This, the Goldman Sachs analysts added, would be followed by a continuation in tight copper markets into 2022, a 153 000 t deficit year. According to the US Geological Survey, three-quarters of the pinkish-orange ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity goes into electrical wires, telecommunication cables and electronics. In the fight against climate change and the emerging new green economy, copper is also used to build wind turbines and link renewable sources to existing electricity grids. The average electric car contains triple the copper of an internal combustion car, and in a recent report, investment bank Jefferies stated that renewable power systems were at least five times more copper-intensive than conventional power systems. With a growing list of countries striving to achieve carbon neutrality, the investment bank estimated that global copper demand would increase from around 23-million tons this year to more than 30-million tons by 2030. Mining is being challenged to keep pace as copper deposits can take seven to ten years to develop, and there has been only one major copper discovery since 2015, according to S&P Global Markets. FOUR KEY INCREMENTAL DRIVERS The key incremental drivers that will underpin the bullish projection for copper prices were identified by the Goldman Sachs analysts as the: faster-than-expected tightening of China’s onshore market; demand-raising China policy announcements; tight concentrate market; and shortfall of supply. China’s factory activity, Reuters has reported, expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in November and the initial discussions of China’s National Party Congress’ 14th five-year plan indicate five key areas for copper consumption growth. The Goldman Sachs' analysts listed these as: continued focus on urbanisation, providing continued support for related property and infrastructure construction; transportation and infrastructure investment related to rural upgrading, with probable support for rail investment as well as home appliance sales incentives; new technology and related manufacturing capacity investment, in particular the build out of infrastructure related to 5G and required grid expansions; green electrification investments to achieve emissions reduction goals, with copper benefiting from higher intensity of use in solar and wind power and electric vehicles; and diversification in the purchases of key resources and strategic stock building, ultimately providing continued to support for the State Reserve Bureau’s copper inventory builds. GLOB...

Copper bull market now fully under way – Goldman Sachs

Diamond miner De Beers on November 30 launched its 12 Building Forever goals, which focus on ethical practices across the diamond industry, partnering to boost communities, putting in place structures to protect the natural world and accelerating equal opportunity. The 12 “ambitious” sustainability goals for the decade to 2030 include achieving gender parity throughout De Beers’ workforce, supporting 10 000 women entrepreneurs in its diamond producing partner countries and being carbon neutral within its own operations by 2030, the miner states. The 12 goals are part of De Beers’ Building Forever framework – a sustainability approach embedded in the business’s commercial strategy and focused on enhancing the positive impact of diamonds on their journey from discovery to retail. “The goals were developed to galvanise De Beers’ employees, partners and consumers around the world – from its four producer countries to the more than 30 countries where its brands De Beers jewellers and Forevermark are found – to achieve a shared vision for a better future,” the company states. The goals are based around four pillars. In terms of ethical practises, by 2030, De Beers aims to extend its best practice principles (a set of leading ethical, social and environmental standards) beyond its value chain to advance industry standards. It also aims to provide the origin and impact of every diamond it discovers and sells, as well as deliver scalable solutions to improve the livelihoods of artisanal miners. With respect to helping develop communities, De Beers aims to achieve priority United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) health targets, establish skills partnerships and support four jobs for every one job at its operations across its partner countries. In relation to protecting the natural world, De Beers will set out to make the group carbon neutral across its operations, reduce its water footprint by 50% and achieve a net positive impact on biodiversity by the close of the current decade. For its equal opportunity goals, De Beers aims to achieve equal opportunity, including gender parity, for employees across its workforce; support 10 000 women entrepreneurs and engage 10 000 girls in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics; as well as increase the diversity of creative talent in the diamond jewellery sector. De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver says that, in recognition of the United Nations’ call for a decade of action to deliver the SDGs, the diamond miner has both a unique opportunity and a profound responsibility to create lasting benefits for the people and places where diamonds are discovered. “This is why our Building Forever sustainability framework is central to our business strategy, and why we have set ourselves these 12 ambitious goals. We are committed to supporting a lasting positive impact that will endure well beyond the discovery of our last diamond, and it is only by pushing ourselves to do more that we can maximise long-term benefits.” He adds that people have always been able to give and wear De Beers diamonds with pride. “By announcing our 12 Building Forever goals and sharing our progress along the journey, they can have a deeper connection to the active role their De Beers jewellers or Forevermark diamond has played in protecting the natural world and improving peoples’ lives.” De Beers Group sustainable impact senior VP Katie Fergusson adds that “born deep within the Earth”, more than one-billion years ago, and first discovered by humanity thousands of years ago, diamonds have a deep connection to the natural world and the communities near where they are found. “We have made significant progress in recent years as we have sought to deliver positive outcomes throughout the sector and in our partner communities, but we recognise that there is still so much more we can do.” The 12 Building Forever goals, and the operational plans, investments and milestone...

De Beers sets goal to become carbon-neutral by 2030

The South African junior mining, and particularly prospecting, sector will continue its rapid degradation if the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) continues to refuse to publicly release information pertaining to national mining and prospecting rights, says mining supply sales consultancy AmaranthCX director Paul Miller. He tells Mining Weekly that South Africa is already one of the poorest performing countries in terms of attracting investment into its minerals and mining sector in the world and that the current opaque database of mining and prospecting rights is severely undermining exploration interest in the country and failing to woo local and foreign investors. “A cadastre that is not online and transparent enables corruption. It also covers up errors and incompetence,” he says. The fact that investors, with vast amounts of speculative capital, are instead looking to invest in other regions, oftentimes with other challenges – such as regional insecurity, logistics obstacles and general inaccessibility, and potentially poorer deposits – means that South Africa’s mining industry will soon reach its end as the existing large mines are mined out, alludes Miller. “Within the next 20 years, if there is no investment into exploration in South Africa, mines will be a thing of the past.” Currently, he says it is unknown what information the DMRE actually has in terms of a mining cadastre. A cadastre is a log of properties in a country, specifying who is permitted where, for which commodity, where a right’s borders are and the expiry date of those rights. A minerals cadastre lists available mining or prospecting rights, properties currently under a mining or prospecting right and the expiry of currently held rights and ownership thereof. However, what makes minerals cadastres particularly useful for the mining industry, and especially the junior mining and prospecting sector, is that they should, ideally, also contain any and all historical prospecting data generated by whoever previously explored the property, says Miller. This is a highly valuable resource in building up a country’s exploration database and is highly sought-after by exploration investors as properties can be continually explored and new deposits unearthed. According to Miller, up until now, despite explorers being required in law, but not in practice, to actually work their prospecting works programmes and submit yearly reports to the DMRE, prospecting rights are not being turned over fast enough, nor is the historic information finding its way into the public domain. This leads to a scenario in which explored properties remain technically unexplored, as new data is not added to the stock of historic data already acquired. This is because future explorers, although having known specific properties have been previously explored, still remain in the dark about what was found and where it was found and, thus, do not know where to continue future projects in the search for viable deposits. By obligating explorers to share the data they generate and publishing it, the DMRE will be able to constantly improve the national knowledge of South Africa’s resources by licensing land parcels out and “giving new people a chance to have a go”, he says. However, for this to be successful, Miller says the data needs to be published freely to encourage the next person with speculative money to invest to come along and put in the time and effort, as well as more modern technology, into potentially discovering the next viable mine. “You want to encourage explorers to explore and you want them to easily be able to see what rights are available, which rights will be expiring soon, who holds rights in the neighbourhood, in case you want to do a bit of deal-making . . . This requires as much information as possible for them to make informed decisions about investing time and money in exploration.” Thus, an online, publicly available mineral...

Lack of publicly available cadastre impeding future mining potential – Miller

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A new investment in hydrogen, made by the sustainability-focused AP Ventures, bodes well for South Africa. AP Ventures, an independent venture capital fund that invests in early-stage companies that use platinum group metals (PGMs), has invested €5-million equity in HPNow, which has introduced a new environmentally-protective way of producing hydrogen peroxide, a chemical used in wastewater treatment and purification, paper bleaching, chemical production, electronics, detergents, cosmetics and as a biocide. The Copenhagen innovator produces green hydrogen peroxide with the help of iridium, a PGM that Southern Africa hosts to a far greater extent than any other region of the world, and AP Ventures is looking to support the deployment of these green hydrogen peroxide systems in South Africa. A big part of AP Ventures’ investing focus had been around hydrogen, which is a significant user of PGMs in many applications, and which is being considered by more than 70 countries as a future universal energy carrier. Of the six backers of the London-headquartered AP Ventures, Anglo American Platinum and the Public Investment Corporation of South Africa are the two founding investors, with Mitsubishi Corporation, the Toyota-linked Mirai Creation Fund, Plastic Omnium and Sumitomo Corporation being the other four. Earlier this year, AP Ventures hired its first two South African employees and at last month’s roundtable held by South Africa’s Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation power director Cosmas Chiteme said that, from government’s perspective, building a PGMs industry social compact was being pursued as part of South Africa’s official Hydrogen Society Roadmap development process, which is well under way. Mining Weekly can report that HPNow will use the latest equity funding to scale up and expand the market for its sought-after autonomous on-site hydrogen-peroxide generation technology solutions. AP Ventures led the funding round in tandem with existing shareholder Evonik Venture, which funds innovative technologies. “We are also looking to support the deployment of these systems domestically in South Africa, through a licence agreement we concluded with the company,” AP Ventures founding partner Kevin Eggers stated in an emailed response to Mining Weekly, and added that a number of interesting leads were being followed up. “We look across all technologies that use and enable the use of PGMs,” Eggers told the 2020 PGMs Industry Day, hosted by resources4africa and chaired by mining stalwart Bernard Swanepoel. AP Ventures associate Michelle Robson, who led the investment into HPNow on behalf of AP Ventures, responded in writing to these questions: Mining Weekly: Why has AP Ventures invested in autonomous on-site clean hydrogen peroxide generation? Hydrogen peroxide is a common chemical used as wastewater treatment, bleaching agent, and biocide. Upon use, it breaks down into pure water and hydrogen. However, it is traditionally produced from fossil-based fuel in large-scale plants and at high concentrations, which makes logistics and storage costly, and because of associated safety concerns, highly challenging. HPNow solves this industry constraint by enabling consumers to generate hydrogen peroxide on demand from on-site, small-volume, scalable systems, using a benign and abundant feedstock. The company’s autonomous, safe, low-impact hydrogen peroxide production technology is an exciting example of the emerging ‘Power-to-X’ economy, which will be a critical lever in the global efforts towards decarbonisation. As a fund, AP Ventures invests in innovative technologies that address today’s big global challenges. HPNow’s technology offers an exciting ‘Power-to-X’ alternative for hydrogen peroxide generation, a tangible example of how electricity, as a feedstock, can decarbonise society’s current and future inputs and in...

New hydrogen investment by PGMs-linked venture fund bodes well for South Africa

Coal miner MC Mining has submitted a formal application to the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) to extend the repayment period for its loan facilities with the institution. The IDC has since acknowledged the application, but no agreement has been reached yet between the parties. The initial drawdown and the second drawdown plus accrued interest were due for repayment by November 30. Negotiations between the parties are ongoing to align the repayment of the first drawdown with the positive cash flows generated by the project, while repaying the second drawdown from the proceeds raised to construct Phase 1 of the Makhado project. In March 2017, MC Mining secured a R240-million loan from the IDC, of which the company used R120-million to develop Makhado, including progressing the project to fully permitted status, and completing the acquisition of the surface rights required for the mining area. During August, the company and the IDC agreed to restructure the balance of the initial IDC facility and MC Mining drew down R40-million and agreed to cancel the balance of the initial IDC facility. The first and second drawdowns resulted in the IDC becoming a 6.7% shareholder in the Makhado project. MC Mining has made significant progress securing the funds required to build Phase 1, which will create more than 650 direct and permanent job opportunities and reduce the volumes of hard coking coal currently imported into South Africa. Phase 1 comprises the construction of the Makhado west pit and modifications to the existing Vele Colliery processing plant to process the screened and scalped Makhado run-of-mine coal. The total funding required is about R575-million, including the repayment of the second drawdown. MC Mining previously secured a conditional R245-million term loan facility from the IDC, the initial step in the composite Phase 1 debt/equity funding process. MC Mining has also secured in-principle agreements with various other parties for a further R200-million for Phase 1 that are subject to agreement of final documentation. It is also in significantly advanced discussions with potential equity funders for the remaining R130-million and anticipates that these will be finalised during the first quarter of 2021. MC Mining acting CEO Brenda Berlin says a nine-month construction period will follow, with first coal sales expected in the first half of 2022. “The development of the Makhado project is supported by favourable long-term hard coking coal markets and forecast growth in worldwide steel demand, driven by global economic development and urbanisation. Phase 1 has an internal rate of return in excess of 40% and a payback of less than 2.5 years.”

MC Mining requests repayment period extension from IDC

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – 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 footprint, use less water and communicate better about the raw materials it provides that are essential for climate-friendly electrification and a greener future. Pallinghurst Group managing partner and co-founder Arne Frandsen made these points in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly, while also speaking as chairperson of: South Africa’s Sedibelo Platinum Mines, the mining company that is about to implement the ultra-low-energy Kell technology at its Pilanesberg Platinum Mine, in North West; and Canada’s Nouveau Monde Graphite, the Toronto-listed miner that is on its way to becoming the country’s first all-electric openpit operator at the Saint-Michel-des-Saints operation, in Quebec. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Kell is a partnership between South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Lifezone and Sedibelo Platinum Mines and Pallinghurst’s South African interests also take in the Northern Cape’s Tshipi mine, which is South Africa’s largest exporter of manganese, and Quebec’s Nemaska Lithium, a battery-grade lithium hydroxide asset. “We need to make the mining industry a responsible and forward-looking segment of the economy. Only then will mining retake its position as the darling of the investment community,” Frandsen said. In South Africa, the company is also: considering converting to renewable energy at Pilanesberg, something that could also occur at Tshipi; and aspiring to use as little carbon as possible to mine platinum group metals (PGMs), which are themselves sustainable metals that lower the vehicle emission levels on the roads of all the major cities of the world. In Canada, the company is: 100% hydropowered and taking steps to become a net zero user of water; and planting trees on specially bought carbon-catchment forest land around the mine to lower carbon levels and offset employee transport that may not yet be electric. “It’s a clear mission and I’m boringly consistent. What I say as the chairman in Canada, I also say as the chairman in South Africa, for Sedibelo. If we can demonstrate to the automakers that we’re extracting PGMs using as little carbon as possible, we’ll again be sitting in the front row of the class,” said Frandsen, who wants to ward off a possible future of investors deciding that “it’s not okay to burn tonnes and tonnes of coal in order to process platinum”, a reference to the current smelting of PGMs and the overwhelming reliance on coal-fired electricity. As has been pointed out by Lifezone director and Kell developer Keith Liddell, South Africa’s current PGMs smelting and refining requires 5 000 GWh of Eskom power support a year. In the hypothetical case of Kell replacing the current pyrometallurgical processes, nearly 4 000 GWh a year could be returned to the South African power pool – virtually the capacity of the new Medupi power station, which is the eighth-largest coal-fired power station in the world. “The IDC has been extremely supportive of Kell and it’s wonderful to see the South African government, through the IDC, committing to a greener future, and Kell is really that. Just think of it, Sedibelo will be using maybe 18% of the electricity compared to the conventional smelting and refining. That’s already an 82% saving. If you put that into how many tonnes of coal we’re not going to burn, this is very important,” said Frandsen. “Everything we do in life cannot have a zero carbon footprint but we can minimise it and if there is an alternative – and Kell is a proven, viable alternative – I think it is upon us to do so. “You asked first how the mining industry can be the darling of the inve...

Mining can retake investor darling status by going green – Frandsen

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