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Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the catalytic properties of platinum and palladium being researched and developed as a potential source of significant upliftment for drones; the 828 000 t of manganese that went through Namibia’s Port; and the ordinary shares of Siba

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

South Africa's Manganese Producers Consortium (MPC), which represents producers that account for 60% of South Africa's manganese ore exports, does not direct individual producers on the corridors or export routes they use.

Those decisions reflect each producer's specific operational, commercial, customer and logistics requirements, and it is therefore not the MPC's remit to comment on individual routing choices.

This is what the MPC pointed out in response to a Mining Weekly reader noting the use of Namibia's Port of Lüderitz by South Africa's manganese exporters and whether there were any plans to strengthen the Upington–Ariamsvlei–Lüderitz rail link and to step up exports via Lüderitz.

The reader query arose ahead of the ASX-listed Jupiter Mines reporting in its latest financial year 2026 (FY26) annual report that of the above-plan 3.5-million tonnes of manganese it sold in FY26, 828 000 t went through Lüderitz.

In South Africa, the Saldanha Bay corridor and the Gqeberha/Nelson Mandela Bay corridor are the two manganese ore transport corridors, with Saldanha regarded as a good bulk-commodity transport route because very little else travels along it. In contrast, the rail line to Gqeberha is considerably more complicated in that, as a multi-freight line, it carries a lot more than just manganese and even has passenger and automotive connections at different points.

Also, when it reaches the Gqeberha port, the manganese ore is made to wend its way through a four-terminal port complex.

Several manganese mining companies tell Engineering News & Mining Weekly that, instead of 16 t being made to go along the troublesome Gqeberha route and only 8 t along the better Saldanha route, the way forward should be for 12-million tonnes a year to go down the Saldanha line, and a matching 12-million tonnes through Gqeberha, as part of what they term the 12x12 strategy.

Regarding the use of Lüderitz and whether this rail route is going to be strengthened for greater use, the MPC stated in its response to Mining Weekly's reader query: "We recognise that some manganese ore volumes are exported through Lüderitz, with the Upington–Ariamsvlei–Lüderitz route providing an alternative logistics option for certain producers. These and other alternative routes currently play an important bridging role while the Saldanha Bay and Gqeberha/Nelson Mandela Bay corridors are not yet able to move the full 24-million tonnes per annum by rail envisaged under the long-term dual corridor 12x12 strategy.

"We support the government's national rail reform programme and its efforts to develop a well-coordinated, balanced and optimal solution across South Africa's two principal manganese export corridors, namely Saldanha Bay and Gqeberha/Nelson Mandela Bay. This aligns with the dual-corridor approach reflected in the recently published draft National Rail Master Plan.

"The dual corridor 12x12 strategy envisages a sustainable, long-term rail capacity of 12-million tonnes per annum through Saldanha Bay and 12-million tonnes per annum through Gqeberha. This approach provides the most appropriate long-term basis for planning manganese rail and port capacity, investment and operational recovery.

"Critically, bulk ore logistics systems need to be designed and managed as integrated mine-to-port corridor systems," the MPC pointed out.

"Rail and port performance are interdependent: reliable rail capacity without a functioning export terminal does not deliver additional exports, and additional terminal capacity without dependable and cost-effective rail supply does not solve the logistics constraint.

"The objective must therefore be to achieve a balance to ensure cost-effective and sustainable end-to-end performance across both rail and p...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

ASX-listed Osmond Resources has published a scoping study advancing the case for the EU's first rare earths, zircon and titanium mine.

The scoping study for Osmond's Orión project, in Jaén province, Andalucía, Spain, confirms a low capital expenditure requirement of $299-million, an after-tax net present value of $2.31-billion, an internal rate of return of 145% and a payback period of six months.

Osmond believes the Orión project can generate average earnings of $531-million a year and can comprise an owner-operated underground room and pillar mine with minimal surface disturbance. Yearly monazite concentrate production from the project is forecast to contain 2 160 t/y of neodymium and praseodymium oxide, 94 t/y of dysprosium oxide and 24 t/y of terbium oxide.

The project's planned Module 1 alone can cater for 6% of the EU's expected neodymium and praseodymium demand by 2030, 24% of the region's zirconium demand and 8% of its titanium demand.

Orión is poised to supply three of the EU's 17 strategic raw materials and five of its 34 critical raw materials.

Osmond says established technologies for monazite, zircon, rutile and ilmenite recoveries underpin the project's preliminary flowsheet and that there is upside potential that will be investigated in respect of rutile product separation and silica sand sales.

The upside potential from downstream opportunities includes rare earth oxide production, titanium and zirconium metal powder production, hafnium metal production and silicon metal production.

Osmond plans to undertake additional drilling to increase the scale and confidence of the Orión resource, to update the scoping study and to complete the current prefeasibility study- (PFS-) level metallurgical testwork programme. The PFS work is targeted at the Nagrom deposit, particularly for premium-grade zircon recoveries, a near-pure rutile stream and an upgraded monazite concentrate.

The company is also working on applications for various EU and Spain project support schemes.

Osmond also aims to complete a secondary listing of its shares on the Bolsa de Madrid in the short term.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

The catalytic properties of platinum and palladium are being researched and developed as a potential source of significant upliftment for drones.

The higher energy density that platinum and palladium can provide is being viewed as an extender of operating time, increased payload capacity and improved performance.

A newly funded development programme will focus on manufacturing and testing pouch-cell prototypes in several performance configurations, optimising catalyst formulations and evaluating performance in target applications that include drones.

The resulting data will inform further commercialisation plans, the Toronto- and New York-listed Platinum Group Metals Limited stated on Thursday, October 1, when it reported that its majority-owned subsidiary, Lion Battery Technologies, had completed the first phase of independent testing and scale-up of its proprietary platinum- and palladium-based lithium-sulphur battery technology.

Headed by CEO Frank Hallam, Platinum Group Metals is developing South Africa's Waterberg platinum group metals and base metal project in Limpopo, together with joint venture partners Mnombo Wethu Consultants, Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security, and Impala Platinum.

While this takes place, next-generation battery technologies using platinum and palladium are being advanced by Lion Battery Technologies, in which the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Valterra Platinum is a 48% shareholder. Valterra mines, smelts and refines platinum group metals in South Africa and Zimbabwe and has integrated marketing hubs in London, Singapore and Shanghai.

Research and development has reached the level of pilot-scale manufacturing of commercial pouch-cell prototypes for high-energy drone and other applications to serve as stepping stones for scaling advanced battery chemistries.

Independent testing by the Battery Innovation Center in Newberry, Indiana, has validated Lion's proprietary electrode technology in prototype lithium-sulphur cells, with palladium-rich formulations have been delivering the strongest overall performance.

"At the heart of lithium-sulphur battery chemistry are complex reactions that directly influence performance and after more than five years of research and testing, the results show that the catalytic properties of platinum and palladium can help address critical challenges in this chemistry and deliver meaningful performance improvements," " Florida International University's Dr Bilal El-Zahab stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

El-Zahab is supported by a team of battery and materials science specialists and postdoctoral researchers, with members of the independent advisory board that provides additional strategic guidance and technical validation including Dr Seth Miller, a PhD chemist, entrepreneur and consultant, and Sam Jaffe, who serves as business development and product VP at Mana Battery, a sodium-ion cell and electrolyte developer.

To date, the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted eight patents related to the technology, with additional applications pending.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Global miner Rio Tinto said on Thursday it has reached agreements with the Australian and Tasmanian governments to secure the ongoing operation of its Bell Bay Aluminium smelter in northern Tasmania through the end of 2031.

As part of the agreements, Hydro Tasmania will supply electricity to Bell Bay Aluminium until December 2031, while the Australian and Tasmanian governments will provide additional support to continue operations.

Bell Bay's current power supply arrangement with Hydro Tasmania ends on December 31, 2026, Rio said, adding that the additional support will help maintain the smelter's international competitiveness and its contribution to the Tasmanian economy.

The Bell Bay support package follows a series of government interventions to back energy-intensive metals and manufacturing assets.

In August, the Australian and New South Wales governments pledged A$2.5-billion to help secure power supply for Rio Tinto-backed Tomago Aluminium beyond 2028.

Bell Bay Aluminium, fully owned by Rio Tinto, began operating in 1955 and produces about 190 000 tonnes of aluminium a year.

The smelter has about 550 full-time employees and indirectly supports more than 1 200 jobs, while spending about A$260-million annually with 180 suppliers, Rio said.