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South Africa's minerals-endowed Northern Cape province has attracted more than R105-billion in investment pledges in new and expanded mining, energy and agriculture projects, with an expected 19 800 new jobs to be created as a result.

The investment accords were signed at this week's inaugural Northern Cape Investment and Jobs Conference in Kimberley. The three-day conference was attended by over 900 stakeholders, including government Ministers, industry leaders and prospective investors, to catalyse investment and growth opportunities in the province's green energy, minerals and mining, agriculture, industrialisation, infrastructure and logistics, and tourism sectors.

The new investor commitments are described by Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul as taking the Northern Cape a long way toward achieving its target of growing the province's GDP from R164-billion to R200-billion and creating at least 60 000 new and sustainable jobs by 2030. "After all the deliberations of the past three days, serious commitments have been made and we assure all the corporate entities that have made these pledges that we don't take your commitments for granted," Saul added in a media release to Mining Weekly.

The mining industry investments included:

A R17-billion commitment by Vedanta Zinc International for expansion of its Gamsberg mine, which will make it the world's largest zinc mine, as well as for the development of a smelter in the province.An R11.2-billion commitment by Anglo American that will take in expansion of Kumba Iron Ore.A R2.8-billion investment by Northern Cape Protech & Agri Revolution in mining, beneficiation and agriculture.A R1.4-billion commitment by South32 for mining and beneficiation.

Investments announced in the province's renewable-energy sector included:

A R30-billion investment by IPPO in the new Upington Energy Park renewable energy generation and storage facility.A R16.8-billion green energy production investment by Ando Energy.A R13-billion commitment from Mulilo for expanded green energy production enabling industrialisation pathways in the province.A R12-billion investment by Prieska Power Reserve for a catalytic green hydrogen and ammonia project set to start producing in 2030.

Investments announced in the agriculture and agro-processing sectors included:

A R1.5-billion investment by South African Atlantic Salmon for the development and enhancement of the Nama Aquaculture Park with a salmon processing facility.A R30-million investment by Dune Foods, which focuses on producing MannaBrew, a mesquite-based alternative to coffee.

"It's been a truly remarkable few days," said Northern Cape Finance, Economic Development and Tourism MEC Venus Blennies-Magage. "We close with a clear pathway forward to unlock large-scale investment, unlock economic inclusion and create sustainable jobs for the people of the Northern Cape."

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US-based industry body The Silver Institute expects total demand to decrease modestly by 2% year-on-year this year to 1.11-billion ounces, given sustained high prices that impact jewellery and silverware demand.

Conversely, some losses will be mitigated by firmer coin and bar demand, which is expected to increase by 18% year-on-year.

The Silver Institute says silver is poised to have a sixth year of market deficit as global silver mine production is expected to remain flat in 2026.

"Broader grade-related and operational pressures across key producing regions should offset modest growth at a limited number of assets. With mine production stable this year, we expect the structural market deficit to widen to 46.3-million ounces," the organisation states.

While the Iran war has undoubtedly complicated the short-term outlook for silver, the broader macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop remains supportive for silver prices.

This assumes that the situation will be relatively contained and that the recent pressure on precious metals prices from rising US rate expectations will prove temporary.

Further, elevated policy uncertainty, sovereign debt risks, and concerns over the future role of the US dollar remain relevant.

Commenting further on silver's performance in 2025, The Silver Institute says falling inventories, a dramatic shift of metal into Chicago Mercantile Exchange vaults, rising exchange-traded product holdings, and a surge in bar and coin demand created an unprecedented liquidity squeeze in October 2025.

This led to explosive conditions for lease rates and prices. Against this backdrop, silver prices delivered a remarkable performance last year, breaking a series of all-time highs before rallying further in early 2026.

Additionally, global silver demand exceeded supply for the fifth consecutive year in 2025. While this narrowed compared to 2024, it continued to place additional pressure on global above-ground silver stocks.

SILVER DEMAND

Total silver demand decreased by 2% last year to 1.13-billion ounces, as a 14% jump in coin and bar demand almost offset losses across other key segments.

After four years of strong growth, silver industrial demand declined by 3%to 657-million ounces in 2025.

Demand for brazing alloys increased modestly by 1%, supported by continued strength in the automotive and aerospace sectors. In contrast, other industrial demand decreased by 7%, largely owing to a slowdown in the ethylene oxide market.

On a regional basis, East Asia and South Asia accounted for the majority of losses in 2025, while demand in Europe and North America remained broadly stable.

Global silver jewellery fabrication decreased by 8% last year, with India recording the steepest decline at 20%, as record-high rupee prices and heightened volatility undermined affordability.

Silverware demand declined by 21% to a four-year low last year. As with jewellery, the losses were concentrated in India, where far higher prices weighed on discretionary spending.

After two consecutive years of decline, coin and net bar demand grew by 14% in 2025.

Strong gains were recorded across most regions, except in the US. India led with a 33% increase, while Europe posted its first rise in three years. The Middle East and China recorded multi-fold gains, driven by rising investor interest amid higher prices and a low base in prior years.

By contrast, the US reported a third consecutive year of losses, as President Donald Trump's election dampened safe-haven buying. Profit-taking during the price rally, particularly in the first nine months of the year, also weighed on US demand.

SUPPLY

Global silver mine production increased by 3% to 846-million ounces in 2025, driven by higher by-product output from copper operatio...

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A series of workshops to promote and support greater intelligence and collaboration in minerals exploration in key mining jurisdictions in sub-Saharan Africa are to be conducted by global mining major BHP.

The first of these is being held in Johannesburg, co-hosted by the JSE, Africa's largest stock exchange by market value, and additional sessions will be held in the coming weeks in Namibia, Angola and Zambia.

"By co-hosting this workshop with BHP, the JSE is supporting the capabilities and collaboration needed to build a stronger pipeline of quality mining investment across the region," JSE primary markets equity origination manager Patrycja Kula-Verster explained, while pointing out that capital formation in mining starts long before market entry.

The sessions are directed not only at junior mining and exploration companies but also at the regions' academic institutions that maintain strong geoscience, mining engineering, and innovation programmes. Geological surveys and national geoscience bodies, and research centres focusing on new exploration technologies, are also invited to attend.

Shared will be BHP's view of global mineral systems, exploration methodology, and geoscience data schema, while also strengthening relationships across key institutions to support future exploration in the region.

The sessions will also provide an introduction to BHP's Xplor programme for junior mining and exploration companies, along with innovative thinkers in exploration, academic institutions and geological surveys.

BHP Xplor, a nine-month accelerator programme for early-stage mineral exploration companies and mining innovators, provides $500 000 in equity-free funding, along with hands-on technical, commercial, and operational support. It is designed to help explorers fast-track promising concepts into viable projects that can contribute to the minerals needed for the energy transition.

The workshops are led by BHP head of global generative exploration Dr Cam McCuaig and joined by senior members of the BHP exploration team.

"The objectives of the workshops are to provide insights into BHP's global exploration approach and identify mutual opportunities for collaboration. We also want to create greater awareness of BHP Xplor, and support innovative projects to bolster exploration in the region," McCuaig stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

The 2025 BHP Xplor programme includes JSE-listed South African exploration and development company Orion Minerals, which is advancing a portfolio of copper and zinc assets.

Orion executive exploration John Paul Hunt reported that Xplor has been a validation of Orion's strategic positioning and vision in South Africa's Northern Cape. "It's already helping us to accelerate our thinking about our future resources," Hunt added.

BHP and the South African Council for Geoscience recently signed a strategic partnership to collaborate on geoscientific data and accelerate mineral exploration using advanced digital tools. This partnership creates a framework for joint research, data sharing, and exploration initiatives aimed at unlocking new insights from decades of geological information.

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Chilean multinational conglomerate Antofagasta has reported a strong quarter of cash cost performance, with net cash costs having been 108c/lb at group level in the first quarter of the year.

Notably, net cash costs were 72c/lb and 34c/lb at the Los Pelambres and Centinela mines, respectively, despite lower copper production in the quarter.

The group-wide net cash cost decline of 30% year-on-year was driven by higher by-product credits.

CEO Iván Arriagada says this demonstrates the quality of the group's portfolio, including its meaningful exposure to gold and molybdenum.

The company expects copper production to increase in the year head, on the back of higher ore processing levels and improving grades at Los Pelambres.

Arriagada confirms that pre-commissioning activities are underway at the Centinela second concentrator project, while progress across the Los Pelambres growth-enabling projects continue to strengthen the operational platform for future production growth.

Antofagasta aims to increase its copper production by 30%, particularly as prices remain strong for now and medium-term fundamentals – structured demand and constrained supply – are compelling.

In the first quarter of the year, Antofagasta recorded 19.2% lower copper production of 143 000 t, compared with 177 000 t in the last quarter of 2025. For context, Antofagasta produced 154 700 t of copper in the first quarter of 2025.

Arriagada attributes the lower copper production to lower processing rates and grades in line with the mine plans at both Los Pelambres and Centinela.

Gold production also decreased by almost 30% quarter-on-quarter to 46 500 oz in the first quarter of the year, which compares to 66 300 oz having been produced in the last quarter of 2025 and 42 900 oz produced in the first quarter of 2025.

The company recorded lower ore processing rates at both of its concentrators despite achieving higher gold grades.

Molybdenum production totalled 3 000 t in the quarter under review, compared with 4 400 t in the preceding quarter and 3 100 t in the same quarter of last year.

The molybdenum production decline reflects a balance of higher recoveries but lower ore processing rates.

Antofagasta remains on track to produce between 650 000 t and 700 000 t of copper in the full year at an estimated net cash cost of between $1.15/lb and $1.35/lb – assuming fuel prices return to levels seen in January.

The company's capital expenditure guidance remains unchanged at $3.4-billion for the year.

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A green hydrogen breakthrough in Namibia is opening the way for decarbonised steel using iron-ore of considerably lower grade.

In an electrically powered hydrogen rotary kiln, 80 t of Australian iron-ore has been converted in climate-neutral fashion into direct-reduced iron (DRI) using ore with an iron content of around 56%, which is well below the typical 70% – and without the usual energy-intensive pelletising.

With this, Sustainable Steel from Australia and Germany – the SuSteelAG consortium – is paving the way for a sustainable value chain linking Australia, Namibia, and Germany from iron production and refinement to green steel, which, who knows, may even make up the bodywork of your next car, with the help of Namibia's abundant solar resources.

Last year, SuSteelAG, led by Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), embarked on its mission to decarbonise steel production using hydrogen, including when working with lower-grade ores.

Now, the first industrial-scale pilot test has been successfully completed to convert the iron-ore climate-neutrally into DRI.

The steel industry accounts for around 7% of global CO₂ emissions; transforming it is therefore a central lever of the energy transition.

Coordinated by BAM, the project is developing a hydrogen-based direct-reduction process that expands the resource base available for green steel production in being able to use lower-grade ores.

Until now, climate-neutral steel production has only been feasible using premium ores with an iron content of roughly 70%.

These ores, however, are scarce and expensive worldwide. Moreover, existing processes require the use of a shaft furnace, which in turn demands cost- and energy-intensive pelletising of the ore.

For the first time, untreated Australian iron-ore with a comparatively low 56% iron content has been processed into DRI at industrial scale at Namibia's Oshivela site, where project partner HyIron Green Technologies operates the innovative hydrogen rotary kiln.

For the campaign, the 80 t of iron-ore was supplied by Australian mining and technology company Fortescue, also a SuSteelAG partner.

The German industrial furnace manufacturer TS Elino GmbH was primarily responsible for designing and constructing the rotary kiln.

Prior to the industrial trial, BAM had extensively studied hydrogen-based iron reduction at laboratory scale and derived the optimal operating parameters for the large-scale process.

Based on these findings, the Oshivela plant refined the Australian ore into iron under climate-neutral conditions and with a throughput of five tonnes an hour.

"We have now reached a scale that is highly relevant for industrial production and demonstrated that hydrogen-based direct reduction of lower-grade ores can be operated economically – an essential step toward accelerating green steel production in Germany and beyond. This also means that green steel production need not be constrained by the limited availability of premium ores," Christian Adam of BAM, who coordinates the international SuSteelAG consortium, stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

The next step will be to ship the refined iron from Namibia to Germany. Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung GmbH will investigate how the refined iron can best be integrated into existing industrial processes to eventually produce climate-friendly steel for cars and other key products.

RWTH Aachen University (Advanced Mineral Processing Technologies Research and Teaching Unit - AMR) will investigate how Australian ores with lower iron content can be further optimised for direct reduction.

In addition to the companies already mentioned, the SuSteelAG consortium includes HyIron GmbH, Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Fil...