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The refined platinum group metal (PGM) production of South Africa's Valterra Platinum increased by 78% to 778 500 oz in the first three months of 2026 compared with the first quarter of 2025

PGM sales volumes were also at a 60%-higher 791 400 oz.

However, a mobile machinery-related incident at the Mototolo PGMs mine on March 27 resulted in Michael Ramodike losing his life and during the quarter, the total recordable injury frequency rate also increased by 12%.

"The tragic loss is deeply felt across the organisation, particularly given that it occurred following a 13-year fatality-free period at Mototolo mine. We have further reinforced our resolve to eliminate fatalities across our operations. A comprehensive investigation is underway, and the findings will be fully integrated into our systems and practices to prevent a similar occurrence," Valterra CEO Craig Miller reported.

The 7%-higher first-quarter metal-in-concentrate (M&C) improvement to to 743 500 oz follows the severe weather-related disruptions at Amandelbult and also contributing to the M&C boosted refined production surge was the improved use of processing infrastructure, supported by the proactive rescheduling of planned maintenance and annual stock counts into the third quarter of 2026, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company stated a media release to Mining Weekly.

"The realignment of processing downtime to periods of higher electricity tariffs reflects our continued focus on optimising operating efficiency and reducing cost.

"Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, our priorities are clear. We remain focused on embedding a culture of zero harm, while continuing to advance operational excellence as we unlock further efficiencies across the portfolio.

"With production stabilised and continued focus on cost discipline, we are delivering in line with our strategy. This positions us well to continue to deliver sustainable performance and long-term value for all stakeholders, despite the uncertain geopolitical landscape, which is impacting the global economic outlook and fuelling input commodity inflation," Miller commented.

Refined production for 2026 is consistent with prior estimates at three-million to 3.4-million ounces.

Cash operating unit cost guidance remains between R19 000 and R20 000 per PGM ounce.

Targeted all-in sustaining cost of $1 050 per three-element ounce is unchanged and the input costs impact from the Middle East conflict continue to be closely monitored.

Own-mined production increased by 5% to 486 200 oz compared with the prior period, owing to higher output from Amandelbult and Mototolo, partially offset by lower production at Mogalakwena and Unki.

Mogalakwena's PGM production decreased by 6% to 212 300 oz compared with the prior period on lower tonnes milled following the planned high pressure grind rolls crusher maintenance being brought forward and lower built-up head grade resulting from the strategised blending of low-grade ore stockpiles.

Amandelbult PGM production increased by 43% to 122 800 oz is broadly consistent with performances in previous years.

Mototolo's PGM production increased by 3% to 68 200 oz and continued development of Der Brochen has resulted in increased dilution.

Unki's PGM production declined by 4% to 51 700 oz while the half-owned Modikwa PGM production was a 6%-higher 31 200 oz and also formed part of the 10%-higher 257 300 oz of purchased PGM concentrate.

While first-quarter production has historically been lower owing to scheduled annual stock counts and planned maintenance, these activities have now shifted from the first to the third quarter to align reduced power consumption with higher winter tariffs, contributing to further cost savings. This change supported nicke...

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.

Australia-based manganese processing technology company Firebird Metals has been awarded a A$2-million grant from government agency the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) under its Battery Breakthrough Initiative (BBI) programme to support the development of the company's Australian Demonstration Plant (ADP).

Firebird will be reimbursed for up to A$2-million, subject to meeting agreed milestones related to various operational deliverables.

The ARENA grant follows an extensive due diligence process, including independent technical review, and represents a significant endorsement of Firebird's proprietary manganese processing technology and the strategic importance of establishing cathode active material (CAM) production capability in a Western jurisdiction.

"Batteries are critical to delivering reliable, affordable and low-emissions energy and battery manufacturing is a key part of Australia's energy transition and economic future.

"Firebird's Perth demonstration-scale facility is an important step toward building domestic capability to convert Australian manganese into battery cathode materials, strengthening supply chain resilience and supporting the growth of next-generation battery manufacturing," Arena CEO Darren Miller says.

The ADP is designed to demonstrate Firebird's fully integrated technology platform, converting manganese ore directly into high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM), precursor CAM (p-CAM) and finished CAM within a single facility and process line.

Firebird says this integrated approach removes conventional intermediate processing steps, thereby delivering significant energy, capital and operating cost advantages.

Firebird's technology platform represents a breakthrough in manganese-based battery material processing and core innovations include the company's high-efficiency kiln technology, advanced crystallisation process and cathode material formulations, which are all protected by five lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) battery patents exclusively licensed to Firebird for all markets outside China through to 2045.

The technology provides a fully integrated processing chain, converting manganese feedstock into HPMSM (in solution), then into p-CAM and, ultimately, into CAM, including LMFP and lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries.

What distinguishes Firebird's approach is its ability to collapse what has traditionally been a fragmented, multi-facility, multi-country supply chain into a single integrated process.

The technology is ore agnostic, testing has demonstrated that it can be applied across multiple manganese ore types without impacting product specifications and it is designed to be energy efficient, capital light and operationally cost competitive.

Further, this technology spans key processing steps such as hydrometallurgy, purification, p-CAM manufacturing and CAM production.

Notably, the global battery supply chain for manganese-based cathode materials remains in China, and the processing of manganese ore into battery-grade cathode materials, particularly LMFP, is almost entirely undertaken by Chinese processors.

Firebird also notes that LMFP is rapidly gaining market share as a preferred cathode chemistry.

Electric vehicle (EV) producer BYD unveiled its Blade Battery 2.0 in March, boasting improved driving performance, range and charge speed using an LMFP.

Firebird highlight that this concentration of supply represents a critical vulnerability for Western battery manufacturers, automotive original-equipment manufacturers and energy storage developers seeking to diversify their supply chains.

Moreover, governments across Australia, the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea have identified cathode material supply chain sovereignty as a str...

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.

Electrolytic hydrogen enables long-term energy storage way beyond what batteries can provide, which is exemplified by a 200 MW hydrogen plant in the United States having larger storage capacity than all the batteries currently linked to the electricity grid in the United States, including the batteries from Tesla.

"That's the big thing about hydrogen," Nel ASA president and CEO Håkon Volldal emphasised during question time, following the Norway-based company's presentation of first-quarter results in Oslo on Wednesday, April 22.

"We need to take a fresh look at our energy system and a stronger focus needs to be placed on renewable hydrogen, which can be produced locally and close to end-users," said Volldal after reporting a second purchase order by Mesure Process for containerised proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser equipment. PEM electrolysers make use of platinum and iridium, platinum group metals (PGMs) which South Africa hosts in abundance.

"The momentum for containerised PEM solutions is picking up. The good thing about that solution is that we have a fairly short delivery time on containerised PEM solutions.

"We can deliver systems in less than 12 months. The order we booked in April will be delivered in 2027. If we get orders now until the year end, I think we have an opportunity to deliver all of those, or close to all of those, in 2027, so we're hopeful that we can book more containerised PEM solutions," Volldal enthused.

The goal for the next generation PEM under development is to slash the stack cost by a whopping 70%.

Mining Weekly: When do you expect to launch the next-generation PEM?

Volldal: If I could give you an exact date, I would, but if there's one thing we learned is that technology development is uncertain, it takes time. There are always tricky things that you need to overcome that could be pertaining to the concept design itself, could be pertaining to availability of materials, or you end up with a cost that you don't like, so you have to re-engineer it. With PEM, we have the ambition to build a full prototype stack this year. Then that has to be tested, and then we need to spend some time to get partners to help us industrialise it. So, it will take a couple of years - whether that means we can launch it in mid- 2028 or late 2028 or in 2029, I'm not able to say at the moment.

The benefit of the new PEM platform is that our goal is to take the cost down by 70% on the stack level, and in a PEM system, the stack is the most expensive component. That means we can significantly reduce capital expenditure (capex). It will be a low capex, low opex solution, so that's the Holy Grail. You get the cake and you can eat it. It's comparable with pressurised alkaline. It might have even better energy efficiency, and it could have a smaller footprint at a lower cost. The response is, as always with PEM, fantastic. So, it's more dynamic than pressurised alkaline, even though, I have to say, for larger pressurised alkaline systems, you also have fantastic dynamic capabilities. But we believe that this is something that will be even more competitive than the new alkaline product that we will launch on May 6, and that's why we continue to work on it.

Should I read PEM equals PGM?

Yes, but the iridium loading and the platinum loading is very limited. We will utilise much less iridium and platinum. The use of these will be at a very different level compared with what we see today.

IDEAL FOR CONTAINERISED PEM

In addition to the promising smaller projects that are ideal for a containerised PEM, larger projects in the 50 MW to 150 MW range are also emerging and these are expected to take on final-investment-decision status over the next quarters.

"The reason why containerised PEM ha...

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 global aluminium market is experiencing a "black swan" event as disruptions due to the Middle East war trigger a supply shock that will lead to major shortages this year, according to the top metals analyst at commodity trader Mercuria.

The region accounts for about seven-million metric tons of annual aluminium smelting capacity, or roughly 9% of the estimated global supply this year. Aluminium is a key material for the transport, construction and packaging industries.

"The scale of the supply shock we're seeing in the aluminium market is probably the largest single supply shock a base metals market has suffered in the post-2000 era," Nick Snowdon, head of metals and mining research at Mercuria, said on the sidelines of the Financial Times Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"We are already in a 'black swan' event. No one could have foreseen something on this scale," he told Reuters.

Concerns about supplies due to disruptions stemming from the US-Israeli war with Iran fuelled a rally on the London Metal Exchange, pushing aluminium prices to a four-year high at $3 672 a ton on April 16.

Mercuria estimates the market will face, at a minimum, a deficit of roughly two-million tons between now and the end of the year. Snowdon said this estimate may prove conservative, as it assumes a near-term improvement in alumina flows via the Strait of Hormuz will enable some smelters to restart production this quarter.

"That shortfall compares with about 1.5-million tons of visible inventory and just over three-million tons of total global stock, including non-visible units, leaving the market with limited buffers," Snowdon said.

A larger deficit is possible if the conflict is extended and flows of alumina - a feedstock for aluminium production - to the Gulf are limited, he added.

Middle East aluminium cannot easily be replaced. In China, the world's top producer, there is an annual output limit of 45-million tons, while the US and Europe have little idled capacity that could return.

Snowdon said the US and Europe were particularly exposed to the supply shock because of low stocks.

Of the 3.4-million tons of primary and alloyed aluminium that the US imported last year, the Middle East accounted for nearly 22%, according to Trade Data Monitor, an information provider.

Europe imported around 1.2-million tons, or 18.5%, of its primary and alloyed aluminium from the Middle East last year, according to TDM.

Premiums paid on top of the LME price for physical metal also have surged, hitting a record $1.14 per lb or $2 521.50 per ton in the US and a nearly four-year high of $599 per ton in Europe early in April.

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.

Without compromising the positions of any stakeholders or the credibility of the process, a way must be found to fast-track a good logistical future for South Africa's very important manganese mining industry.

Needed is a very clear position that is bankable and then South Africa Incorporated must move forward – and do so very fast to avoid South Africa losing out to its nimbler global manganese competitors.

Reducing logistics costs is an absolute must. It doesn't make sense for any country with such a valuable manganese endowment to be rendered uncompetitive by State-operated logistics.

State-owned Transnet and the State-run Department of Transport (DoT) must look at the issues very carefully because unless manganese mining makes the necessary structural changes to ensure that the next phase of investment can stay close to what it has been in the past, South Africa is, without doubt, heading towards a cul-de-sac – and as the window of opportunity closes, nobody will know where to go next.

What must be top of mind is giving the people of South Africa the best return.

While Kalahari has a wonderful manganese endowment, its 1 000 km distance from any port turns South Africa's manganese mining into a mining-plus-logistics business, with the mining in private hands and the logistics in generally much slower public hands.

As things stand, manganese mining won't always be of the lower-cost opencast variety; investment decisions about going underground at higher cost will have to be taken progressively from now on.

With logistics already making up a third of the cost of manganese mining, the private sector is intent on collaborating with the public sector to ensure that those costs are slashed.

While people will probably still buy South African manganese even if our competitors overtake us, an evacuation network as costly as the existing one will result in money to fund even future stay-in-business growth becoming increasingly scarce and greenfield growth will be shelved.

Currently, there are two transport corridors, one to Saldanha and the other to Gqeberha.

The Saldanha corridor is a good one, despite having port constraints that must be sorted out. Why this corridor is a good bulk-commodity transport route is because very little else travels along it.

But considerably more complicated is the rail line to Gqeberha, which is a multi-freight line with passenger and automotive connections at different points. The manganese ore is also made to wend its way through a four-terminal port complex that pushes up costs.

Several manganese mining companies tell Mining Weekly that the way to go is for 12-million tonnes a year to go down the Saldanha line, and a matching 12-million tonnes to go through Gqeberha – and not the current 16 t to Gqeberha and 8 t to Saldanha.

Fortunately, a lot of research is available for the DoT and Transnet to use for the good of South Africa's economy.

THE RESPONSES OF MANGANESE MAJORS

Will South Africa's ore advantage translate into long-term competitiveness?

South Africa holds one of the world's most substantial manganese ore resource endowments. Yet the limits confronting the sector today are increasingly defined not by what lies underground, but by what happens above it.

The country remains one of the world's most important sources of manganese ore, with the Kalahari Basin estimated to hold between 75% and 80% of global geological resources. This has supported decades of mining activity and export earnings. However, this natural advantage is under growing pressure for reasons largely unrelated to resource scarcity.

The central challenge is whether manganese ore can be moved to global markets competitively and reliably, year after year, in an increasingly contested global envir...