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By converting excess water pressure into renewable electricity, emissions are reduced, energy efficiency is uplifted and additional value is created from existing mining infrastructure, Harmony Gold strategic lead for climate and integration Mohammed Asmaljee spelt out emphatically at the launch Minerals Council South Africa's inaugural Climate Change Day of Learning, attended by public sector and private sector climate mitigation protagonists.

By capturing pressure from chilled water used in underground mining, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Harmony generates renewable electricity amid the water that travels thousands of metres underground building up pressure naturally for conversion into electricity through hydroelectric turbines.

Importantly, this process recovers energy from existing mine infrastructure without additional water consumption.

Such energy recovery systems are deployed at Harmony's underground Kusasalethu, Moab Khotsong and Mponeng gold mines, with water continuing through the mine reticulation network ensuring uninterrupted operational use after passing through the turbines.

Four Pelton wheel turbines, for example, are supplying electricity directly to Kusasalethu, where a multi-phase hydropower rehabilitation programme has been implemented to improve reliability, performance and monitoring. A Pelton wheel turbine, a type of impulse water turbine invented by Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s, converts the kinetic energy of moving water into mechanical and electrical power.

Seventy gigawatt hours of renewable electricity have been generated since financial year 2024 and 73 000 t of CO2-equivalent (CO₂e) Scope 2 emissions have been avoided, which has improved energy efficiency by recovering otherwise wasted pressure energy. Water temperatures have also been reduced by 1 °C, which has uplifted underground cooling efficiency and lowered cooling demand.

"For us, decarbonisation is fundamentally a business challenge. How do we continue to grow our business in both gold and copper while still reducing our emissions," is the question Asmaljee posed, within the context of South Africa advancing towards net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the auspices of the Paris Agreement – a stance being taken ahead of COP31, the thirty-first United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is taking place this month in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20.

"It affects how we think about energy, costs, competitiveness, regulation, and ultimately the long-term resilience of our operations. We are learning as we navigate this complex transition," Asmaljee explained at the event covered by Mining Weekly.

Harmony's carbon challenge is driven largely by Scope 2 emissions from electricity bought from State-owned power utility Eskom, and this is a common challenge for deep-level mining in South Africa, where significant electricity is needed for ventilation, cooling, pumping, hoisting, and processing.

Though Harmony's Scope 1 emissions are considerably smaller, there are still tremendous opportunities to reduce them through diesel efficiency and other fossil fuel efficiency projects, improved fleet performance, and future electrification.

Business growth and portfolio expansion are also influencing the overall emissions of the gold and copper mining company, which owns CSA Copper and Eva Copper in Australia, assets that increase the company's exposure to the critical minerals needed for the green energy transition.

Emphasis was placed on growth and decarbonisation needing to happen together. The challenge is to grow while progressively reducing GHG emissions.

Up to 2026, Harmony's emissions have remained relatively stable, but from here on, the emissions trajectory is poised to decrease...

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 Sunrise Energy Metals, which is led by chairperson Robert Friedland and and CEO Sam Riggall, has decided to proceed with the development of the Syerston scandium project, in New South Wales, Australia.

The defining feature of this project, the company highlights, is its potential to become the world's first major source of primary mine supply of scandium, thereby establishing a new, scalable and reliable source of production for global end-users.

"Our decision to proceed with development of the Syerston scandium project follows extensive technical development, engineering, permitting and commercial engagement, and reflects the board's confidence in the quality of the Syerston resource and the significant market opportunity ahead of us," Friedland says.

Sunrise notes that, since the imposition of Chinese critical minerals exports in 2025, scandium supply to key Western markets has "all but ceased".

The company adds that its decision to proceed with the development of Syerston represents a significant step towards establishing a secure, large-scale and independent source of scandium supply outside of China, positioning Sunrise to support the development of new technologies and increasingly diversified Western critical mineral supply chains.

"Scandium has long been recognised for its exceptional properties and potential across a range of advanced technologies, but its adoption has been constrained by the absence of reliable, scalable supply.

"Syerston has the potential to fundamentally change that dynamic by delivering a secure, long-term and primary source of high-purity scadium to global markets," Friedland says.

This project is expected to process 64 000 t/y of ore to produce 60 000 t/y of high-purity scandium oxide.

The project boasts a high-grade ore deposit, efficient extraction and processing technology proven through extensive pilot testing, a 32-year mine life providing production stability and a good strategic location in New South Wales that provides established infrastructure.

The company also highlights that procurement readiness has progressed significantly, with key long-lead equipment packages advanced through tender evaluation and supplier selection processes.

Engineering and procurement for this project's water infrastructure has also advanced, including the completion of the State 2 pipeline design, the preparation of construction drawings and the procurement of critical equipment.

Sunrise's positive final investment decision has been supported by the conditional commitment of up to $400-million in long-term debt financing from the US Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital and, as of September 30, the company also has $148.1-million in available cash on hand.

The company is targeting first production of scandium in the second half of 2028.

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.

Climate considerations are increasingly shaping how business is done, Minerals Council South Africa senior climate specialist Shalendra Subramoney said on Friday, October 30, in launching the council's inaugural Climate Change Day of Learning, attended by public and private sector climate mitigation representatives.

"Mining is central to both South Africa's development and the global climate transition. We need to reduce emissions and strengthen resilience while attracting the investment needed to grow a competitive mining sector, sustain and create jobs, support communities, and bolster South Africa's economic development. Climate ambition and economic growth must reinforce each other," Minerals Council senior executive: environment, health, legacies and employment relations Shamini Harrington stated in the keynote address.

Mining is an energy-intensive industry with a responsibility to manage and reduce our own emissions and build resilience to the physical impacts of climate change. "At the same time, mining produces the minerals and metals on which electrification, renewable energy, infrastructure and technological development depend. Mining therefore has a dual role - we are part of the transition ourselves, but we are also fundamental to enabling it.

That dual role matters significantly for South Africa. "Our country has significant development needs, an urgent requirement for stronger economic growth and investment, and a need for reliable and affordable energy, water and logistics. Mining remains deeply embedded in that economy. In 2025, the sector employed more than 470 000 people, contributed more than R439-billion to GDP and paid R31-billion in taxes," Harrington added.

Attendees ranging from established mining companies to junior miners as well as exploration companies, which he described as being very important owing to climate change affecting every part of the mining ecosystem.

Even though the challenges and opportunities would differ across companies and commodities, Subramoney pointed out how everyone in their day-to-day work environment was experiencing the way in which climate considerations were increasingly shaping how business was done, as well as influencing investment, competitiveness and market access,.

"But we must also recognise that it is also opening opportunities in new technologies, minerals, and green value chains. For South African mining in particular, this discussion on climate change comes at a time when we urgently need investment and growth in the sector to arrest some of the performance declines we've been seeing over the past few years, to strengthen our existing operations and to unlock new opportunities.

"It's because of this," – and Mining Weekly as an attendee heard this theme echoed quite strongly throughout event – "that we believe that climate action and growth need to reinforce each other, because a growing investable mining industry is much more better able to decarbonise, to build resilience, and to innovate," Subramoney explained.

"While credible climate action increasingly matters to competitiveness and market access, it's also important to note that mining sits on both sides of the transition.

"We, as a sector, need to continue reducing our emissions and strengthening the resilience of our operations as well as our host communities – and we need to do this while supplying the minerals and metals that the world needs to enable the transition and we also need to acknowledge the continued role of coal in energy security and in driving industrial activity in South Africa."

The Minerals Council's formal launch of 2026 Climate Change Position forcefully reaffirmed its commitment to move into implementation amid the Department of Forestry Fisheries...

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Spanish miner Abenojar Tungsten made its official market debut on the LSE's main market on Friday, marking the largest mining flotation by funds raised in London since 2018.

Unconditional dealings in the shares, trading under the ticker "ABT," began on Friday, following conditional trading that started when the IPO was priced at 110p a share on Tuesday.

The shares opened marginally higher on Friday and were last up 5.9% at 108 pence as of 0827 GMT.

The company raised €170-million ($190.4-million) in the biggest mining IPO since Kazakh uranium producer Kazatomprom's £311-million ($417.11-million) listing of Global Depository Receipts in London in 2018.

With a market capitalisation of £522 million, Abenojar is on the verge of entering the FTSE 250 index, where the number of miners has risen to five.

Abenojar is developing the El Moto project in Abenójar, Spain, one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped tungsten projects in the world.

BMO Capital Markets and Peel Hunt acted as joint sponsors and joint global coordinators, alongside Deutsche Bank, with Canaccord Genuity as a joint bookrunner.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the impact of September inflation on South African mining; platinum and palladium being among four precious metals included in new futures contracts launched in London; and Southern Palladium’s feasibility study on its PGMS project.