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  • Martin Creamer talks about Platinum tariffs, Transnet deal with UMK and Waterberg
    Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses tariffs on platinum being eclipsed by strong investment and jewellery demand; the 10 year contract signed by Transnet and United Manganese of Kalahari; and how the Waterberg platinum group metals project is advancing.
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  • Orion will be producing Prieska concentrate by Christmas next year, new CEO assures
    This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed Orion Minerals will be producing concentrate at its flagship Prieska Copper Zinc Mine by Christmas next year, says new highly experienced Orion CEO Tony Lennox, who is also leading the pulling together of the company's tenements in the Okiep region. "We're now very clear on transitioning from a developer explorer to a producer. We'll do so in a considered and detailed manner, but rest assured, we'll be producing concentrate by the end of next year," Lennox emphasised to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch the attached Creamer Media video.) The permitted Prieska, last operated in 1991, has a compliant resource of 31-million tonnes at 1.2% copper and 3.6% zinc. A definitive feasibility study (DFS) published in March confirmed the potential to develop a long-life operation through a two-phase development strategy. South Africa's State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) holds 43.75% of Okiep with a DFS confirming its Flat Mines project's ability to deliver a safe, modern, fully mechanised copper mine. "Firstly, we're very pleased to have such outstanding, iconic assets from the South African mining history," Lennox commented. Prieska is one of the world's volcanogenic massive sulphide base metal deposits, with a recorded historical production of more than 430 000 t of copper and a million tons of zinc from 46.8-million tons of sulphide ore milled, and in the 1870s, the small Northern Cape town of Okiep was ranked as hosting the richest copper mine in the world, in close association with Nababeep. "We're pleased to be able to breathe new life into Prieska and to pull together, after many years, the large tenements we've got in the Okiep region. What are our plans? We look to be producing concentrate out of Prieska by Christmas next year, and the critical aspect we have underway at the moment is our funding that will allow us to go into execution." Mining Weekly: What is the latest on funding in order to become a copper producer? Lennox: The latest is that we are currently in confidential discussions with offtake funders, plural. We have the benefit of working hand-in-hand with the IDC, and that is an excellent organisation to be in association with, and we also have in place funding from Triple Flag Precious Metals out of Canada. Tell us about Orion' role as an emerging Northern Cape producer? It's a pleasure to be part of the Northern Cape. I have had a history in South Africa and in Mozambique and to be now turning my attention to the Northern Cape and steering Orion to be a substantial organisation in Northern Cape is extremely pleasing. The social uplift agenda that we will provide for Prieska, the Okiep Springbok region and Nababeep, is quite important to us. The approach we have after many years of concession or tenement consolidation has been that with the release of our DFS is in March, we are now focused very, very clearly on delivering concentrate from the Upper portion of the Prieska deposit. All of our effort is to convert from a exploration developer to a concentrate producer. When we have the Prieska Uppers running, we'll be looking to ensure there's a smooth transition into the mother lode of Prieska, the Deeps, and in parallel with that, will be finalising optimisation around the Okiep region. At Okiep, we've pulled together a definitive feasibility study, where you take orebodies that are disassociated, and you pull them all back to the a single central processing complex. We're finalising the detail around the respective orebodies to ensure that there's a good value for Orion, good value for our shareholders, and good value for the communities. SHARE PURCHASE PLAN Funds raised from the Orion share purchase plan, which closes on 5 August, wi...
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  • Impala Platinum seeking SO2 limit in Rustenburg to ensure continued lawful operation
    This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats) intends to apply to South Africa's National Air Quality Officer for an alternative sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions limit to ensure continued lawful operation while the implementation of a long-term compliance solution is finalised at its processing facility in North West province. Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Implats states this in a full-page advertisement in Thursday's The Citizen newspaper, dated 17 July. Impala operates the platinum group metals (PGM) processing facility in Rustenburg to process the mined PGMs ore from Impala Rustenburg Operations. The advertisement states that the National Air Quality Officer granted Impala postponement for compliance with minimum emission standards (MES) for particulate matter (PM) emissions from spray drying, and SO2 emissions from the tailgas scrubber, until 31 December 2024, and that Impala had used the postponement to reduce PM emissions to comply with the new limits for the tailgas scrubber. Accordingly, this application for the alternative SO2 limit seeks to ensure the continued lawful operation of the Impala facility, while the implementation of the long-term compliance solution is finalised and sustained regulatory compliance is achieved. Impala, the advertisement states, will submit a motivation report together with an atmospheric impact report (AIR) in support of the Regulation 12A application in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements. AIR will involve "independent and objective analysis" of the potential impact of the application on ambient air quality," the advertisement points out. Additionally, Impala will undertake a public participation process to enable any interested and affected parties to review and comment on the application. Environmental consultancy Air Resource Management has been appointed together with specialists from Airshed Planning Professionals to prepare the application and oversee the public participation process. The opening of the registration of interested and affected parties will begin on Friday, 18 July. The registration period will run concurrently with the review and commenting period of the draft AIR and motivation report, which will be available for 30 calendar days from 1 August to 31 August for interested and affected party review and comment. Impala's mining and processing facility, in accordance with the National Environmental Management Air Quality Act, 2004, is required to comply with the atmospheric emission licence, which mandates adherence to the MES. Implats' 2024 environmental, social and governance (ESG) report recorded the completion of the installation of a new flash dryer, which meets the MES. The project, the ESG report stated, was initiated in November 2020 at a cost of R343-million. A further project to improve air quality from the operation's older dryer plants was approved in September 2023 and involved installing flue gas conditioning equipment, with particulate emissions below 20 mg/Nm3 predicted, which is below the MES. Hot commissioning was scheduled for November 2024. Impala Rustenburg's smelter reportedly uses SO2 abatement technologies, such as the SulfAcid catalytic conversion and Dynawave wet lime forced oxidation processes. In June 2024, it initiated a R56-million project to replace the activated carbon catalyst in one of the operation's two acid plants. The catalyst was described as being instrumental in converting up to 27 t of SO2 a day into acid, which is used in other processes.
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  • Ten-year manganese rail transport contract signed by Transnet and UMK
    This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. State-owned railway company Transnet and United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK) on Wednesday July 16 signed a ten-year contract for the transportation of manganese by rail from UMK's mine in South Africa's Northern Cape to ports for export markets. The Manganese Export Capacity Allocation (MECA) 3 agreement signed is the programme through which Transnet allocates rail and port capacity to manganese producers in South Africa for their export volumes. The contract with UMK is seen as signifying the company's confidence in Transnet's ability to ensure efficient access to global markets. "We are encouraged by the vote of confidence expressed by UMK through their long-term commitment as part of the MECA programme," Transnet Group CE Michelle Phillips stated in a media release to Mining Weekly. Phillips described the agreement as being a clear demonstration of customer confidence in Transnet's efficiency and reliability, "and it also bodes well for Transnet's growth and sustainability, which is underpinned by our ambitious Reinvent for Growth Strategy amid various reform initiatives within the freight logistics sector". UMK CEO Malcolm Curror made the point that reliable rail freight services remain a key contributor to South African industry. "By enabling the efficient movement of bulk commodities such as manganese, MECA not only positively adds to our national export capability but also to a greater competitive revitalisation of the country's logistics network," said Curror in describing MECA as essential for sustaining economic growth and the attraction of further investment across all sectors. The agreement is viewed as holding significant and broader relevance to current national dialogue regarding South Africa's mining sector.
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  • Platinum's 1.4% tariff knock to be eclipsed by strong investment, jewellery demand
    This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The direct impact of tariffs on forecast platinum demand in 2025 is estimated to total only 112 000 oz, or 1.4% of total demand. While the indirect risks through slower GDP growth over the next few years could be more significant in terms of lower automotive and industrial demand, currently this is being more than eclipsed by the strength in demand for platinum investment and jewellery products as a result of the high gold price, with platinum market deficits entrenched and expected to continue through 2029. The current tariff uncertainty is expected to persist, especially as the market awaits the findings of the US's Section 232 Critical Minerals Report, World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) pointed out in a media release to Mining Weekly on the key takeaways from what is described as a "milestone" Fifth Shanghai Platinum Week. "The importance of China to global platinum group metal (PGM) demand is attracting much attention, and the 2025 Shanghai Platinum Week was especially timely, given recent developments in the platinum market," said WPIC CEO Trevor Raymond. The annual event dedicated to the platinum group metals (PGM) industry is co-organised by WPIC, China Gold Association Platinum Committee and Valterra Platinum, whose CEO Craig Miller has reported that Shanghai has been selected as an international marketing location. "Attending Shanghai Platinum Week has highlighted its value for connecting with the PGM market in China, which remains an important focus for Valterra Platinum, reflected in our decision to make Shanghai the location of one of our three international marketing offices. "Shaping demand for PGMs through market development remains an integral part of our strategy. Our work as a founding member of the International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association in China is ongoing and we continue to support the work of the World Platinum Investment Council and Platinum Guild International both here in China and across other regions," Miller commented. WPIC regional head Asia Pacific Weibin Deng commented on LinkedIn that excellent feedback had been received from delegates on this year's Shanghai Platinum Week, which had 533 000 day-one online attendees and a record-breaking 592 in-person attendees from more than 290 organisations. A key takeaway from the latest Shanghai Platinum Week has been the strength in demand for physical platinum investment products and platinum jewellery, driven in part by a response to the high gold price. Sustained demand momentum could add substantially to annual investment demand over five years. Several refineries in China have attained accreditation from the London Platinum and Palladium Market (LPPM) good delivery status, with several more applications in progress. China platinum jewellery demand has been led so far by wholesalers commissioning fabrication and making stock available for sale to smaller wholesalers and retailers. The range of platinum jewellery available reflects gold jewellery designs that have sold well in recent years. Sustained retail sales of this newly available platinum jewellery could drive a significant increase in annual demand in 2026 and beyond, WPIC stated. China VII/7 vehicle emissions standards will be authorised in 2026 and introduced soon after. The inclusion of cold start and real-world driving tests are expected to result in upside to PGM loadings per vehicle. PLATINUM AND PVC Globally, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturers need to phase out the use of mercury-based catalysts by 2030. A transition to a platinum-based catalyst is the most likely alternative PVC option, which could provide a significant boost to platinum demand. The Orange Group gave an outlook for the hydrogen sector. Installed electrolysis capacity is forecast to reac...
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