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When the R10-billion five-project Vision 2028 expansion plan of Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed surface gold company DRDGOLD was conceived in 2024, its market capitalisation was about R13-billion and the gold price R1.2-million per kilogramme.

Currently, DRDGOLD's market capitalisation is in the region of R30-billion and the gold price R2.1-million per kilogramme.

"Our timing could not have been better," DRDGOLD CFO Henriette Hooijer pointed out during DRDGOLD's Vision 2028 update, in which DRDGOLD CEO Niël Pretorius and DRDGOLD COO Jaco Schoeman participated. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

With just over R5-billion already spent, DRDGOLD is roughly halfway through its Vision 2028 programme, with most expended on the Driefontein Two (DP2) project at Far West Gold Recoveries on the West Rand, the regional tailings storage facility (RTSF) also at Far West Gold Recoveries, and, in the current financial year, also on the Daggafontein tailings storage facility (TSF) at Ergo on the East Rand.

As Vision 2028 proceeds into financial year (FY) 2027, very little capital remains to be expended on DP2 and Daggafontein, "so yes, we're tracking well", said an upbeat Hooijer, who emphasised how chuffed the team was to pour the first doré gold bar in the new DP2 smelt house on schedule and on budget on Tuesday, July 14.

After the smelt, the 17 kg of gold was whisked away by helicopter off the new fully walled adjoining helipad.

Capital spent still to be spent to FY2029 includes:

R3.4-billion on the very large RTSF;R1.9-billion on DP2, where R880-million for an up-flow reactor (UFR) has also won board approval;R1.2-billion on the 135 km of pipeline network to serve DP2, RTSF and the Libanon TSF in Westonaria;R0.5-billion for the Daggafontein TSF at Ergo; andR3-billion for the Withok TSF on the East Rand.

"A new feature is the UFR plant," Hooijer disclosed during the presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

Most of next year's planned R2.6-billion expenditure relates to RTSF, a little bit on the pipelines and hopefully also commencement at Withok, where the original capital expenditure forecast of R2.5-billion has had to be increased to R3-billion on account of the impact that disruptive geopolitics has had over the last few months on the oil price and inflation.

"We believed it to be prudent to re-evaluate, also based on the new information we got on Withok from a design point of view," Hooijer explained while adding that the R3-billion would still be refined as time passed and that the Withok construction timeline is also fairly fluid.

POTENTIAL CODE-CRACKER

The UFR is scheduled to be completed at Far West Gold Recoveries in the last quarter of FY2027.

"We did some testwork. We liked what we saw. We took a recommendation to the board and we've been given the go-ahead to build an Aztec up-flow reactor.

"This is frontier stuff for us, so whilst we're very happy with the pilot work, which was not laboratory scale testwork but proper pilot plant testwork, this technology has not been tested in real world conditions and we'll only know what the contribution of the UFR will be once we see it.

"So, we're not updating any of our forecasts or any of our guidance in terms of what we believe this reactor will deliver until we've seen real world numbers. It's an important development, though, and we hope that it lives up to expectations," Pretorius explained.

The mammoth RTSF can take far more than its initial throughput of 1.2-million tons per month. This large facility has the capacity to accommodate double that, with throughput potentially being incrementally increased by 600 000 t a month over the next seven years.

"What we need to do now is to find the additional opportunities to take it up to those add...

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An ad hoc group of note holders of nickel and cobalt producer Sherritt International Corporation has expressed concern about the company's claims to be in active discussions with its senior lenders and note holders as the company pursues comprehensive recapitalisation, saying that Sherritt materially overstated the current status of engagement with note holders.

Sherritt's financial and operational woes started earlier this year when US sanctions against Cuba came into effect, which impacted Sherritt's joint venture cobalt and nickel operations in the country, as well as its downstream refinery in Alberta.

The company has publicly acknowledged constrained liquidity, material going-concern uncertainty and the need for significant new capital to fund the restart of operations and related working capital.

The ad hoc group confirms that while they have organised and established a coordinated engagement process, with financial and legal advisers included, there has not been meaningful engagement from Sherritt's side regarding a comprehensive recapitalisation, the ad hoc group's potential provision of new capital or any other alternative recapitalisation proposal.

The note holders believe shareholders should understand that an organised creditor constituency exists and is prepared to engage, but that engagement has not advanced in a manner consistent with the urgency of Sherritt's circumstances or the central role that note holder consent is expected to play in any executable transaction.

Sherritt mentioned earlier this month it is trying to advance a possible transaction involving Gillon Capital, which it deemed as the most executable path forward, however, the ad hoc note holder group says it has submitted an alternative recapitalisation proposal to Sherritt that warrants evaluation.

Having evaluated potential sources of new capital, the ad hoc group has provided Sherritt with an emergency financing term sheet intended to address near-term liquidity requirements and preserve operational flexibility while a broader recapitalisation is advanced.

The note holder group is concerned that the current process risks advancing a preferred transaction path while meaningful engagement with holders remains limited. "The ad hoc group will not support a process in which note holders are expected to provide required consents only after material terms have been substantially negotiated and transaction outcomes have effectively been predetermined," the group states.

The note holders add that delays in considering all possibilities and communicating accordingly carry real economic consequences, including increasing restart costs, working capital requirements and overall financing needs.

The ad hoc group encourages Sherritt and its advisers to engage with them promptly regarding all credible recapitalisation, financing and strategic options, including the group's suggested emergency financing term sheet.

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Platinum group metals (PGMs) are fundamentally key to the delivery of China's 15th Five-Year Plan to 2030, Shanghai Platinum Week 2026 has served to highlight.

Founded and organised by the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC), Shanghai Platinum Week this year attracted a record 713 in-person attendees, up 30% on 2025.

During the agenda-packed week, it was reported that China had earmarked close to $300-billion for AI infrastructure expansion and PGM-based hydrogen production was being increased in China at a faster pace than anywhere else on the planet.

"The prospect of significant growth from AI-related platinum demand is an overlay that the market is only just beginning to appreciate and China's hydrogen scale-up is supported by ambitious deployment targets for PGM-based hydrogen production and PGM-based fuel cell electric vehicle assembly. On current fundamentals, the value proposition for platinum remains compelling," WPIC CEO Trevor Raymond stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

AI-related applications that are poised to benefit from PGMs include silicone production, hard disk drives, thin-film coatings on semiconductors and sensors, electronic grade glass fabrics for printed circuit boards, crucibles needed to grow industrial crystals for optical interconnects, and hydrogen fuel cells for data centre back-up power.

Understanding the emerging AI-related platinum demand and the additional value it could bring is viewed as being important for both strategic, long-term investors and also short-term market participants.

The focus on growing AI and new energy technologies also underscores why, in China, the strategic and economic importance of PGMs is fundamental to the delivery of key aspects of the nation's 15th Five-Year Plan.

Shanghai Platinum Week 2026 has served to highlight the trends underpinning China's PGM demand requirements, as well as the ways in which supply from PGM mining can continue to meet these needs, either by continuing to maximise value from established resources, or by developing new orebodies.

"The platinum market is forecast to record its fourth consecutive deficit in 2026, leading to further depletion of above ground stocks, with just under three months' worth of cover to meet global demand now expected by the end of 2026," Raymond stated in the WPIC release, which coincided with these other announcements from entirely different sources:

Global business-to-business market research firm MarketsandMarkets reporting its expectation that the hydrogen market will reach the $312-billion level by 2030 and IDTechEx seeing a global green hydrogen market of $166-billion by 2037.Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association of the US drawing attention during its webinar on July 15 to the various pathways that hydrogen and fuel cells are taking into maritime applications and the maritime industry's use of fuel cells and hydrogen as a source of propulsion amid increasing pressure to comply with international climate regulations.Plug Power of the US being awarded the front-end engineering design contract for the supply of a 275 MW PGM-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser system for Hy2gen Canada's Courant project in Baie-Comeau in Québec.

Nel PEM Electrolyser company of Norway reporting 31%-higher first-quarter revenue driven mainly by small-scale hydrogen electrolysers and a 96%-higher second-quarter PEM order intake.Air Products Europe's new liquid hydrogen liquefier in the Port of Rotterdam being more than 65% complete.Germany's green hydrogen pipeline network now spanning France, Belgium, Holland and Austria.GeoPura and Forth Ports agreeing to produce on-site green hydrogen at the Port of Tilbury in London.Bosch introducing a hydrogen fuel cell system for bus...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer tell us how the new elution circuit and smelt house facility at DRDGOLD's Far West Gold Recoveries is performing; he discusses the R964m that is to be spent at Sibanye-Stillwater's K4 platinum group metals shaft; and he notes that Mintek is tar

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.

Electricians maintaining diversified miner BHP's high-voltage power network in Western Australia's Pilbara region have overwhelmingly backed strike action, the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) said on Friday, escalating labour unrest less than a day after hundreds of workers at the miner's Port Hedland iron-ore operations walked off the job.

The union said 97.5% of the electricians voted in favour of work stoppages ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours.

"High voltage workers are seeking transparent classifications, clear criteria for promotion, pay parity for employees performing the same work, and enforceable wages and conditions secured through a collective agreement," ETU said in a statement.

The vote follows months of limited industrial action, including overtime bans, and comes after more than a year of unsuccessful negotiations with BHP, the union said.

The ETU represents more than 70 000 electricians, apprentices and electrical workers around Australia, according to its website.

"With further bargaining meetings scheduled for Port Operations next Tuesday involving the Fair Work Commission as an independent facilitator, and high voltage workers next Thursday, our focus remains on making constructive progress towards fair and reasonable agreements," BHP told Reuters in an email.

The miner said the involvement of the workplace tribunal, the Fair Work Commission, was "the most constructive way to achieve the best outcome".

Hundreds of workers at BHP's Port Hedland iron-ore operations held an eight-hour strike on Thursday after the parties failed to reach an agreement on terms for a four-year labour deal.

Port Hedland is a major artery through which BHP routes around $80-million of iron-ore a day, and the action represents the largest at BHP's operations in at least three decades, as unions look to secure a toehold in Australia's iron-ore regions.