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A big part of Impala Platinum is focused on the future and on developing future strengths and competitive positioning, Implats CEO Nico Muller outlined on Thursday, September 3, when this Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed platinum group metals (PGMs) company reported the generation of R22-billion worth of free cash flow in its financial year 2026 (FY26).

"It's very exciting for us to be in an industry supported by a constructive price environment. This is a point that we as a company have worked many years to get to.

"We have got a pipeline of opportunities, the balance sheet is very strong, we've got no debt, and we've got R37 billion-rand worth of hedging liquidity," added Muller during the FY26 results presentation covered by Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video)

The R50-billion capital project programme that Implats announced in 2020 peaked around 2024 and for last two years, it has been winding down.

"So, we're now entering a new phase where we plan that, for the next five years, we'll spend about R60-billion," Implats COO Patrick Morutlwa announced.

This would, Morutlwa said, firstly enable sustainable production and secondly create strategic optionality by further increasing process capacity at the base metal refinery by 20%.

In the next five years, the company will be advancing life-of-mine (LoM) extensions, with some already approved, such as Rustenburg's Shaft 20 and Shaft 14.

"We'll also be increasing our ore reserve development," Morutlwa said. During FY26, group mineral reserves increased by 9% to 53.8-million six element (6E) ounces, reflecting the impact of approved LoM extension projects and ongoing resource conversion activities across the portfolio.

"We've got tailwinds," Morutlwa added.

Implats executive: corporate affairs Emma Townshend reported that one of the things that had changed positively over the last year and a half was the absolute focus on critical minerals - the security and surety of supply. "Then from a big demand, energy, and impetus perspective, obviously you've got AI.

"Many of you have had the benefit and the privilege of going to Shanghai Platinum Week and getting exposure to the huge diversity of industrial applications and the kind of energy and impetus behind the development of those markets. I think that's proved a really useful counter to the demand story, which has been very much about, kind of, you know, waning production over the last couple of years.

"Linked to that China story, but I think more broadly, just in terms of South African supply and the structure of the market, we are absolutely seeing growing relevance in terms of minor PGMs, and I think that is a trend that you've seen in PGM markets over time.

"But there's no doubt that the next ten to 15 years are going to be far more focused on the full basket, and particularly iridium and ruthenium, and we are a very significant producer of both. We're close to 30% of primary refined iridium production, and around 28% of refined ruthenium production," Townshend pointed out.

Implats CFO Meroonisha Kerber highlighted FY26 as an exceptional year in which Implats was able to capitalise fully on improved pricing, resulting in a 58% increase in revenue to R135.1-billion.

"We ended the period with liquidity headroom of R37-billion, which is our cash plus our undrawn facilities.

"The benefit of having a strong balance sheet is that we have the funding flexibility to really take advantage of the portfolio of assets that we have, and to fund projects that we believe are going to enhance the sustainability, the cost competitiveness, and drive long-term value.

"We have kept the balance sheet strong and resilient. We have provided shareholders with very attractive returns, and lastly, we...

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Lithium developer Vulcan Energy Resources on Thursday announced phase two of its lithium project in Germany's Upper Rhine Valley and commenced process to bring in additional strategic investors.

Funding efforts for the second phase, Project Ludwig, are being launched as construction gets underway on the project's first phase, Lionheart.

Vulcan will produce mainly EV battery-grade lithium chemicals using geothermal brine and also provide renewable heating.

The Perth-headquartered company owns 86% of the first phase of the project, Project Lionheart, while the remaining 14% is owned by the German government-backed Federal Raw Materials Fund.

Vulcan also owns 85% of Project Ludwig, while existing investors German industrial conglomerate Siemens, construction group Hochtief and investment firm DemEA hold the remaining 15%.

The company is now launching a process to bring in additional minority strategic investors

"We are looking for strategic investors to take a minority stake at the asset level. Phase one investors were very Eurocentric. For phase two we have interest from European investors but of the unsolicited interest, a lot is coming from Asia," executive chairperson Francis Wedin told Reuters.

Vulcan's search for a strategic investor comes as Asian battery and EV makers establish supply chains in Europe. World's largest EV battery maker CATL raised about $4.6-billion in a Hong Kong listing in 2025, saying most of the proceeds would fund a battery plant in Hungary as part of its overseas expansion strategy.

With the Vulcan's stock down 41.5% year-to-date and closing at A$2.610, near its 52-week low, the search for a strategic investor comes at a key juncture as the company looks to mitigate risk through partnerships

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Burnstone gold project in South Africa and Mount Lyell copper/gold/silver project in Tasmania, both considerably infrastructured with near-term revival outlooks, have been approved by Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Sibanye-Stillwater.

Burnstone, located near the town of Balfour in South Africa's Mpumalanga province, is a project of about 130 000 oz of gold a year at steady state, with a 25-year life in relatively shallow reef in the Witwatersrand basin's South Rand Goldfield.

Mt Lyell, near Tasmania's Queenstown, comes with established operating insight and an early 2029 production target.

Burnstone's vertical shaft, decline, and surface infrastructure is supported by a trackless mobile machinery (TMM) fleet so that mining can kick-off quickly when it begins next year.

"We're not buying a greenfield premium. This is reserve replacement and a shallower, lower risk ounce to offset depletion from our deep conventional mines," COO South Africa operations Richard Cox outlined during Sibanye-Stillwater's presentation of super-duper, dividend-yielding half-year results covered by Mining Weekly.

For 2026, Burnstone has a capital allocation of R98-million and Mt Lyell $7.5-million.

"We don't have to go out and join expensive M&A sales processes. We have a portfolio of assets that we can develop and that's our focus. Very exciting pipeline of projects coming through. The first six months have helped Sibanye progress its strategy a lot further than I imagined we would 12 months ago when we put that together," an upbeat Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Dr Richard Stewart highlighted.

Burnstone and Mount Lyell were described by Sibanye-Stillwater head of projects Ralph Lombard as demonstrating the strength, depth, and quality of the company's project pipeline, "as well as the disciplined approach we're taking to capital allocation".

When in steady state, Burnstone will have created about 2 500 jobs and Mount Lyell about 300 jobs.

Burnstone has a net present value (NPV) of R19.2-billion with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 36%, while Mt Lyell has a post-tax NPV of $550-million and an IRR of 20%.

So, what makes Burnstone attractive?

"Burnstone sits with a substantial amount of infrastructure already developed. Most important is our vertical shaft and our decline shaft are in place. Over and above that is we have our TMM fleet available," Lombard responded.

"We'll build up to 2029 and create a stockpile for our processing facility to start in the first quarter of 2029 and after that, we'll have continuous operations, steadily building up to steady state.

"At this stage, we are targeting 2.7-million ounces, which form part of our reserve. Successful execution of Burnstone will open up the additional 8.9-million ounces in future. When we talk about a 25-year life, that's the 2.7-million ounces," Lombard explained.

And what makes Mt Lyell attractive?

"Mt Lyell, like Burnstone, also has a substantial amount of infrastructure. It's a copper/gold mine in Tasmania. It's around the town of Queenstown, the top north-eastern portion.

"The orebodies we will target are Prince Lyell, Western Tharsis, Cape Horn, and Copper Chert. Those are the orebodies we are currently targeting as part of the Mount Lyell project.

"On the south-western side, is a fully permitted tailing storage facility. Like Burnstone, again, the infrastructure already in place reduces the capital bill which we need to pay for Mt Lyell," said Lombard.

This year's $7.5-million will be allocated to project setup, recruitment commencement, and mobilisation.

Total project capital to get to production is around $340-million. At today's spot prices, NPV is above one-billion dollars, and IRR in the region of 28%.

The picture of Mt Lyell showed disturbed ground ar...

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US-based gold and silver company Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation has strengthened its board with the appointment of former Newmont Mining Corporation CEO and CFO Richard O'Brien, former Newmont Mining Corporation general counsel and senior VP Blake Rhodes, former AngloGold Ashanti CTO Marcelo Godoy and former Freeport McMoRan Americas president Josh Olmsted to its board of directors, with effect from September 1.

"There are board appointments and then there are moments that reinforce the transformation of the company and underscore the potential significant opportunities ahead. Today is one of those moments. Hycroft is bringing together four extraordinary leaders in the global mining industry, each of whom has earned a level of industry credibility, experience and stature that has helped shape many mining companies.

"We believe this represents far more than an addition to our board. This is also an extraordinary vote of confidence in our vision, our asset, our people and the opportunities ahead," comments Hycroft chairperson and CEO Diane R Garrett.

She adds that Hycroft has, over the past several years, built a strong foundation through exploration success, the advancement of technical work to strengthen its operations and its balance sheet.

"The addition of Richard, Marcelo, Josh and Blake builds on that progress and further enhances the board's breadth of operating, technical and financial expertise. Each individual brings distinctive and highly relevant experience. Collectively, they have led major mining companies, operated large-scale mines, advanced complex technical projects and executed transformational transactions. Their perspectives, expertise and leadership will be invaluable as Hycroft continues to advance our asset and realise its significant potential," Garrett says.

Hycroft is developing the Hycroft mine, in Nevada.

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.

A prefeasibility study (PFS) for ASX-listed Tungsten Mining's Mt Mulgine project, in Western Australia, confirms the potential for the world's largest, lowest-cost tungsten development.

The company intends to move to a definitive feasibility study and final investment decision by the first quarter of 2028, with first production envisioned for the second quarter of 2029.

At a base case eight-million-tonne-a-year scenario, Mt Mulgine has a net present value (NPV) of A$6.8-billion (before tax) and internal rate of return (IRR) of 55%, should prices average $1 509/t. In a higher spot price scenario, the project's NPV increases to A$15.5-billion and the IRR widens to 113%.

The eight-million-tonnes processing scenario requires initial capital of A$870-million, while a Stage 2 expansion that ramps up to 16-million tonnes a year requires an additional A$420-million.

Under the expansion case, the project's NPV and IRR increase to A$8.1-billion and 57%, respectively, at base case prices and A$18.3-billion and 113%, respectively, at spot prices.

The PFS estimates a mine life of 21 years for Mt Mulgine, producing up to 12 000 t/y of tungsten trioxide at the world's lowest C1 cash cost of $53/t and all-in sustaining cost of $127/t.

From a market perspective, Tungsten Mining explains Chinese export restrictions, tighter quotas and dependence on imported concentrate have cut primary availability, shifting the market into a structural deficit that is expected to be sustained through 2028 and beyond. This while demand continues to grow from a current base of 154 000 t up to 215 000 t in 2035, which equates to a compounded annual growth rate of 3.4%, driven by increasing defence and manufacturing requirements.

Additionally, the ammonium paratungstate price has remained at $3 000/t following a sharp increase in 2025 and early 2026.