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Hive Hydrogen South Africa on Tuesday, September 15, awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for South Africa's pioneering $5.8-billion green hydrogen ammonia project to Spanish company Técnicas Reunidas.

"The Técnicas Reunidas proposal was outstanding in all respects. Our aim remains to produce the lowest cost green ammonia globally," said Hive Hydrogen chairperson Thulani Gcabashe, a former Eskom CEO and Standard Bank chair.

In its final stage of development, the Hive Hydrogen project is viewed as South Africa's lighthouse green hydrogen project as well as being the flagship green hydrogen project for the EU's Global Gateway programme in South Africa.

Under development is a renewable hydrogen and green ammonia production facility capable of producing a million tonnes a year of green ammonia for supply to international and domestic markets.

The projects own grid-connected large-scale wind and solar PV renewable energy plants totalling 2 930 MW, will power the green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility in Gqeberha.

Multi-faceted, the initiative is seen as being on the way to creating more than 20 000 employment opportunities.

The $9-billion FEED contract is due to commence in Nelson Mandela Bay next month.

Técnicas Reunidas track and services commercial director Gonzalo Pardo said his company was looking forward to delivering a successful FEED and contributing to Coega's role as a benchmark for Africa's sustainable industrial growth."

The contract has been awarded amid the Coega green ammonia project being viewed as having the potential to establish the Eastern Cape as a global export hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia, while supporting industrial development, skills creation, local supply chains, employment and South Africa's transition towards a lower-carbon economy.

The strategic Coega location provides access to the deep-water Port of Ngqura and South Africa's exceptional renewable-energy resources provide a platform for the production and export of competitively priced green ammonia to emerging international markets.

The renewable-energy generation and associated upstream electrical infrastructure required to supply the project form a separate workstream and are not included in this FEED award, which is related specifically to the project's molecule production portion of the green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility, as well as the associated process infrastructure.

A separate request for proposal will be sent to shortlisted special engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) entities.

Técnicas Reunidas was reportedly selected following "a comprehensive competitive procurement, technical and commercial evaluation process" and is said to bring extensive international experience in the delivery of large-scale energy, hydrogen, and ammonia process facilities.

A key feature of Hive Hydrogen South Africa's project execution strategy is for the successful ammonia production plant FEED contractor to roll over from FEED into the full EPC phase for the green ammonia production portion, subject to the successful completion of FEED, achievement of the required technical and commercial outcomes, project approvals, financing and final investment decision (FID).

The EPC scope associated with the ammonia production plant is estimated at $1.8-billion, Hive stated in its media release to Mining Weekly.

This FEED-to-EPC strategy is intended to maintain continuity between engineering and project execution, retain the knowledge developed during FEED reducing interface transition risk, improve schedule certainty and provide a clear pathway towards construction and commissioning.

This FEED programme will further develop the engineering definition to establish the...

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.

TSX-listed Neo Performance Materials has started commercial production at its European permanent magnet manufacturing facility, in Estonia, with first volumes of rare earth sintered magnets having been shipped to an electric vehicle traction motor customer.

These milestones mark Neo's transition from development and sampling through full automotive qualification and into commercial production for its initial magnet programmes.

Neo has been awarded multiple magnet programmes from three Tier 1 motor manufacturers, including traction motor applications, which is the most technically demanding category of permanent magnets.

The company expects two to three more magnet programmes to enter commercial production before the end of the year.

Automotive magnet programmes are typically awarded for the life of the vehicle platform they supply, which gives Neo multi-year volume visibility once a programme is awarded.

Phase 1A of the Estonian permanent magnet facility has a nameplate capacity of 2 000 t/y while Phase 1B is planned to expand nameplate capacity to about 5 000 t/y. The expansion is currently being designed, with detailed engineering, advanced equipment procurement, supply chain planning and facility layout currently underway.

Neo's longer-term magnet roadmap targets yearly production of 20 000 t through continued global expansion, which the company estimates could represent between 10% and 15% of the world's projected rare earth permanent magnet market outside of China.

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 third phase of the August 20-launched Government-Business Partnership for Growth and Jobs names freight logistics as a foundational enabler of growing the economy by 3%-plus and generating a million new jobs by 2030.

"This is a welcome signal and confirms our consistently communicated and strong belief that logistics reforms – and rail reform in particular – are central to South Africa's growth targets and are not a technical issue alone but rather a fundamental economic driver," South Africa's Manganese Producers Consortium has pointed out in a media release to Mining Weekly.

The partnership's own scorecard records the entry into the logistics network of 11 private train-operating companies, Durban being recognised as one of the world's most-improved ports (albeit from a low base), and R14.7-billion in Budget Facility for Infrastructure funding being approved for rail related maintenance backlogs.

While the Manganese Producers Consortium supports all tangible results and proof that reform commitments can move from policy to delivery it expressed concern that bulk commodity export corridors are not getting the priority that they "urgently" demand despite lending themselves to "globally proven" private sector participation projects with "significant upside to the South African economy".

What is appreciated by the Manganese Producers Consortium is that the Government-Business Partnership scorecard sets these hard new deadlines involving:

a manganese private sector participation transaction being issued by year-end;the National Rail Bill coming before Parliament by March 2027, andalso by March next year, the Transport Economic Regulator being fully operational.

These targets echo the direction that the Manganese Producers Consortium itself has been supporting for years – but what has been missing are speed, sequencing and executable timelines.

What is different now is that Phase 3 puts government's own credibility on the line to meet these targets.

"Phase 3 matters even more for institutional design as it is critical to ensure that there is a capable delivery 'machine' that encompasses and empowers independent institutions, introduces appropriate regulation and procurement processes with clear roles and responsibilities," the Manganese Producers Consortium emphasised.

Phase 3's architecture assigns focal area leads and CEO sponsors to each priority, and commits to quarterly, public reporting on progress and slippage, which is precisely the kind of visible accountability called for and which remains essential to make this architecture work in practice:

named leadership;transparent milestones;consequences when delivery falls short; anda capacitated, independent unit to drive private sector participation and rail transactions which are bankable and without institutional veto or conflict.

The Phase 3 scorecard lays down that a manganese transaction must be brought to market by December 2026 and the manganese ore industry has a direct stake in the timelines announced.

"This is a specific test, with a set deadline, of whether this Phase 3 can convert intent into action. The development of the long-awaited new manganese terminal at the Port of Ngqura and significant private sector participation on the Ore Export Corridor connecting Sishen in the Northern Cape with the Port of Saldanha cannot be delayed any further.

"Manganese producers stand ready, with capital, committed volumes and long-term rail allocation arrangements, to anchor bankable projects. The 12x12 corridor strategy – 12-million tonnes through Saldanha and 12-million tonnes through Gqeberha – offers a demand-led, investable pathway that fits squarely within the partnership's mining and logistics ambitions.

"The risk is familiar. South A...

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.

Leading Australian gold producer Northern Star has appointed mining veteran Mark Cutifani to its board following pressure from major shareholder Elliott Investment Management to make strategic changes.

Elliott has been quoted as saying that Northern Star is persistently underperforming relative to industry peers.

Peter Rozenauers joins Cutifani as an independent nonexecutive director effective October 1.

Suresh Vadnagra is due to take over as MD and CEO, succeeding Stuart Tonkin, while Jeff Quartermaine and Terry Bowen have also recently been appointed as new independent directors.

Northern Star had reviewed a list of six candidates proposed by Elliott in accordance with its normal processes.

Cutifani's career spans nearly five decades in mining, including as CE of Anglo American and CEO of AngloGold Ashanti. He is currently also chairperson of Vale Base Metals.

Rozenauers brings to his position 34 years' experience in natural resources investment management and trading, having been a managing partner of Orion Resource Partners. Rozenauers is also a nonexecutive director of Nasdaq-listed Uranium Royalty Corporation.

"With Rozenauers and Cutifani's appointment and the recent appointments of Quartermaine and Bowen, we will have a board with the mix of skills and experience needed to work with our new senior leadership to unlock the full potential of Northern Star's assets," says chairperson Michael Chaney.

"Gold mining has been a huge part of my life and it's great to be back in the sector. As Australia's leading listed gold producer, Northern Star has an enviable portfolio of assets and, at a personal level, it's something of a homecoming given I was the inaugural general manager for the establishment of the Kalgoorlie Superpit way back in 1989," Cutifani comments.

"It's an honour to join the board and I'm excited about what the company has ahead of it under the new leadership. I'm very pleased to be joining at a time when the full potential of KCGM is being delivered through commissioning of the new Fimiston Mill and to have the opportunity to contribute to the successful development of the new Hemi project," Rozenauers adds.

"As one of Northern Star's largest shareholders, we are encouraged by the new appointments to the board. We believe their highly relevant and complementary skills can help Northern Star realise the full potential of its world-class gold mining portfolio. Elliott remains committed to working constructively with Northern Star to help the company deliver the outcome its shareholders deserve," concludes Elliott partner John Pike.

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 definitive feasibility study for the promising Soweto gold tailings retreatment project, west of South Africa's Gold City of Johannesburg, has been completed, Pan African Resources reported on Friday, September 10, when the London-, Johannesburg- and Sydney-listed company headlined the study as "delivering a robust long-term growth pathway" for its thriving West Rand Mogale tailings retreatment complex.

The Soweto tailings project, designed to leverage existing Mogale elution, carbon regeneration, electrowinning and smelting infrastructure, significantly improves project economics and will come in at an estimated capital cost at R3.68-billion.

Acquired as part of the Mintails transaction, the Soweto Cluster tailings storage facilities host mineral reserves of 0.98-million gold ounces.

"We've been able to define a project that delivers attractive returns, meaningful production growth and accelerated environmental rehabilitation," Pan African CEO Cobus Loots stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

The project has the resources to increase the Mogale complex's gold production to 100 000 oz/y at peak production.

Importantly, it will address historical West Rand environmental liabilities at the same time.

Gold production over the 15-year project life is expected to total 561 000 oz at a production rate of 35 000 oz/y to 40 000 oz/y.

The forecast all-in sustaining cost of $1 750/oz to $1 800/oz excludes cost savings from renewable-energy supply.

Evaluated is 600 000 t of tailings retreatment a month alongside the operating Mogale tailings retreatment processing facility.

Using a gold price of $3 550/oz, the project returns post-tax net present value of R1.85-billion, internal rate of return of 29.55% and a post-commissioning payback period of three years.

From the final investment decision date, which is anticipated in December, construction will take 28 months.

Environmental authorisations are expected during financial year 2027.