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Brazilian miner Vale plans to invest up to 13-billion reais ($2.56-billion) in decarbonization initiatives to meet its voluntary emissions reduction targets and mitigate climate-related risks, a sustainability report showed on Monday.

The company did not specify the timeframe for the investment. The amount includes up to four-billion reais for decarbonizing operations, with 24% invested in the medium term and 76% in the long term.

Another eight-billion reais is linked to building industrial complexes focused on low-carbon technologies, which includes steelmaking transition technologies and iron ore briquette development.

The remaining one-billion reais would go for research and development, the firm said.

Vale invested nine-billion reais in decarbonization initiatives from 2020 to 2025.

Through these initiatives, Vale sees potential for financial and environmental returns for its business, sustainability executive VP Grazielle Parenti said in an interview with Reuters.

"Within Vale's governance framework, all projects and decisions of this caliber are evaluated using an environmental, social, and governance matrix that identifies potential risks and opportunities for each one," she said.

The company also warned on Monday it could face carbon costs of up to 22-billion reais at present value from carbon pricing mechanisms, with substantial impacts expected from 2030 onwards.

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.

Trade union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has expressed concern about the alleged deaths of two employees at Northam Zondereinde mine in Northam, in Limpopo.

According to preliminary information, AMCU notes that, on June 13, a development crew was conducting an early entry examination at 1 Shaft when a strain burst occurred at the development face. The union says the rock drill operator attempted to take evasive action but was struck by the rock.

AMCU says crew members immediately assisted the injured worker, moved him to a safe area, and administered first aid. The control room was informed, and paramedics were dispatched underground.

It notes that the occupational medical practitioner (OMP) and life support team attended to the injured employee and prepared him for airlift transfer to Milpark Hospital. He allegedly succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment at the mine medical centre.

AMCU adds that a second fatal incident occurred at the same mine later that day in the processing plant's smelter converter aisle where a contractor employee supposedly died after falling from a crane during maintenance work.

The trade union notes that the control room was immediately notified and that paramedics were dispatched to the smelter. It adds that the OMP and life support team attended to the injured contractor employee.

Unfortunately, despite emergency response efforts in both cases, AMCU says they succumbed to their injuries.

"We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families, friends, and colleagues of the two workers who lost their lives while on duty. These tragic deaths represent not only the loss of workers but also the loss of breadwinners whose families will bear the consequences of these incidents for years to come," says AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa.

Mining Weekly has reached out to Northam for comment.

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 lithium explorer PMET Resources has confirmed in a concept study that the Shaakichiuwaanaan project, in Québec's Eeyou Istchee James Bay region, can viably produce a value-added lithium chemical at site.

This offers reduced logistics intensity over time and aligns with Canada's objectives for domestic processing of critical minerals.

PMET set out to evaluate future potential to process spodumene concentrate into a value-added lithium product directly at the Shaakichiuwaanaan site.

The company completed a structured review of seven processing flowsheet options in this regard, opting ultimately for ASX-listed NRW Holdings' subsidiary Primero's ALi atmospheric leach process as the preferred value-added pathway for further study.

PMET says Primero's ALi proprietary process offers the best economic potential, strong logistics efficiency benefits and a low technical risk profile. The technology also minimises the project's environmental footprint.

Primero undertook bench-scale testwork on spodumene concentrate samples from Shaakichiuwaanaan using its ALi process, which produced a 99.8% battery-grade lithium carbonate.

If combined with the use of electric calcination through Québec's low-cost renewable energy, on-site value-added processing has future potential to reduce carbon intensity and improve efficiencies within the battery materials supply chain, PMET confirms.

The company adds that the on-site refining strategy is a staged, longer-term growth opportunity and is not required for the current proposed development of the base spodumene concentrate project outlined in the Shaakichiuwaanaan 2025 prefeasibility study.

Next, PMET aims to determine more economic benefits of value-added products on site including potential introduction of electrical calcination technology to leverage the full potential of Québec's renewable and low-cost hydroelectric power.

PMET COO Frederic Mercier-Langevin comments Shaakichiuwaanaan is already a Tier-1 asset and this concept study potentially identifies a credible pathway to capture additional value on top of it.

"Converting spodumene concentrate to a 'value-added' and potentially battery-grade lithium chemical on-site could deliver a lower-cost, lower-carbon flowsheet powered by Québec hydroelectricity. Primero's bench scale results on our concentrates indicate battery-grade purity possibility and the logistics savings could be material."

PMET CEO, MD and president Ken Brinsden highlights that the lithium industry has been mining hard-rock lithium in one place and refining it in another for decades. The refining has often taken place overseas, which is hardly the most efficient supply chain solution.

"The work we are reporting points to the potential for a redefinition of the supply chain. It could be a credible alternate pathway, demonstrated at bench scale with our spodumene concentrates, to refine battery-grade lithium at the mine gate in a stable, Western and low-carbon supply chain.

"This is the king of industry step-change, coupled with Shaakichiuwaanaan's premier geology, that drew me to this project," Brinsden concludes.

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.

South Africa's platinum group metals (PGMs) mining and marketing company Valterra Platinum this week affirmed sustainability as being at the heart of the future of mining when it hosted its inaugural Sustainability Day to highlight the role responsible mining plays in driving competitiveness and long-term value creation.

The event followed the publication of Valterra Platinum's first sustainability report in March and reinforces sustainability as a strategic imperative embedded across the business.

Sustainability is the practice of using resources responsibly so that human needs are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, ensuring long-term viability for the planet and society.

Valterra Platinum supplies PGMs that underpin cleaner technologies. These cleaner technologies, it stated, specifically include:

hydrogen energy systems; andemission reduction solutions.

Collectively, hydrogen energy systems and emission-reduction solutions make this Johannesburg Stock Exchange- and London Stock Exchange-listed PGMs company a central driver of the transition to a lower-carbon global economy.

As demand grows for cleaner mobility, industrial decarbonisation, energy security, and emerging technologies such as AI, sustainability is increasingly shaping operational performance, market access, customer relationships, and future growth.

"The cleaner, more electrified and more connected future the world is building, depends on the metals that we mine, and we need to produce these metals in ways that are responsible, resilient and trusted," Valterra CEO Craig Miller stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

"The scale and pace of today's challenges call for integrated thinking, stronger partnerships, real innovation, and a willingness to lead. Sustainability should be more than a compliance exercise. It has to be a driver of operational excellence, an enabler of innovation and a source of resilience – and that's why sustainability is integrated into everything we do," Miller added.

Valterra's sustainability strategy is guided by two mutually reinforcing principles: protecting and creating value. Value protection focuses on securing the company's licence to operate, managing regulatory and social risks, and ensuring reliable delivery to host communities and stakeholders. Value creation focuses on strengthening operational resilience, enabling cost efficiencies and energy security, supporting long-term growth, and building enduring customer relationships.

The sustainability strategy is also anchored in three interconnected priorities.

The first of these is climate and environment, which involves advancing decarbonisation, resource stewardship and climate resilience.

This year, Valterra and Envusa Energy announced the commercial operation of the 240 MW Mooi Plaats solar PV project in South Africa's Northern Cape.

The Koruson 2 project, when completed later in 2026, will reach up to 520 MW of renewable energy, of which 79% will be allocated to operations.

This will meet about a third of Valterra's electricity needs, strengthening the pathway to a 30% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030.

It will also ensure operational energy security, deliver cost savings of about R300-million a year and is expected to abate about 2.2-million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year.

Furthermore, Valterra's smelting operations comply with the Minimum Emissions Standard regulations and with SO₂ abatement systems that convert emissions into sulphuric acid.

While this investment delivers no additional PGM ounces, it reflects the company's commitment to doing the right thing for the environment in which it operates.

Water stewardship remains a priority, with programmes to improve water effi...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the completion of Manganese Metal Company’s new plant in Mpumalanga; the rare earths project in the Northern Cape that was highlighted on day two of the Junior Indaba; and the fantastic opportunity for junior mining companies.