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Soweto Cluster gold study on way as Pan African hits gold production top spot

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 Soweto Cluster definitive feasibility study (DFS) is on track for completion this month, Pan African Resources reported on Monday, June 1 in an operational update ahead of its financial year ending June 30 to highlight its 40% increase in annual gold production to 275 000 oz.

The option to construct a new 600 000-t-a-month tailings processing facility next to the London- and Johannesburg-listed company's thriving Mogale Tailings Retreatment (MTR) surface gold operations west of Johannesburg, is the focus of the Soweto Cluster DFS.

Envisaged is a standalone operation producing 30 000 oz to 35 000 oz a year for 15 years.

Pan African, headed by CEO Cobus Loots, has achieved improved safety statistics as it continues to concentrate on safety initiatives amid MTR contributing to a 14% higher half-year gold output of 147 000 oz, along with excellent production performances from the Elikhulu Tailings Retreatment Plant as well as the Evander and Barberton underground operations, which offset slower-than-anticipated ramp-up of production from Tennant Mines, the company's acquisition in Australia.

Initiatives to expand annual gold output to 300 000 oz and beyond are under way.

On the cost front, all-in sustaining cost (AISC) guidance of $1 870/oz is expected against a background of record operating cash flow generation, projected cash of $220-million, and domestic medium-term notes of $49.7-million being the only outstanding debt.

AISC estimates allow for above inflation increases for reagents, electricity and other key inputs at a time when the company has never been in a stronger financial position, atop major growth investments and dividends to shareholders.

Further production increases are expected in later years, primarily driven by production growth from Tennant and MTR, where environmental approvals and processing of water use licence applications for the Soweto Cluster are in progress. The required pipeline servitudes from the Soweto Cluster tailings storage facilities to the Mogale plant site are being concluded and the study for the expansion of the Mogale plant to include a separate circuit for the treatment of hard rock ore from local surface material is being finalised. The treatment of the hard rock ore could potentially further increase the Mogale complex's production by 20 000 oz to 30 000 oz a year.

"The strong operational performance from our South African portfolio offset the slower-than-anticipated production ramp-up from Tennant. In the next financial year, we expect a much-improved performance from Tennant, with a full year of mining from the high-grade White Devil deposit, and a clear pathway to growing Australian gold production to 100 000 oz/y in the next three years. In addition, we anticipate increasing gold production from MTR in the next years, with the Soweto Cluster DFS now nearing completion," Loots stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

"Despite inflationary pressures, costs remain well managed. We're in a fortunate position in South Africa, with stable grid power to all our operations, and an accelerating renewable energy portfolio being rolled out to maintain this supply and reduce the impact of Eskom cost increases.

"In Australia, while diesel price increases have had an impact on production costs, sufficient storage facilities are now in place to minimise risks associated with potential fuel supply shortages. We are also investing in a large renewable energy solution for Tennant Mines, which will include battery storage, to reduce future operating costs.

"The conclusion of the Emmerson transaction will see Pan African consolidate the Tennant Creek goldfield, and we look forward to welcom...

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.

Global metals miner Rio Tinto has successfully commissioned its $1.5-billion AP60 smelter expansion at the Complexe Arvida operation, in Québec, marking a major milestone for the deployment of low-carbon aluminium smelting technology.

The startup, which began in March, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 with all 96 new pots operating. This will increase the plant's production capacity by about 160 000 t/y of primary aluminium for a total of 220 000 t/y produced with the AP60 technology.

The AP60 expansion, together with the planned aluminium recycling centre at Arvida, will more than offset the loss of production associated with the closure of Rio Tinto's older Arvida potrooms, which is expected to be completed in June.

The expansion will directly support 100 permanent high-quality jobs locally and help consolidate positions across the supply chain. During its peak construction period, more than 1 500 jobs were created and the project generated more than $1-billion in economic benefits for the province of Québec through spending with contractors and suppliers.

Representing the next chapter of Rio Tinto's century-long history in Québec, it strengthens its ability to supply customers in North America with low-carbon, high-quality aluminium for transportation, construction, electrical applications and consumer goods.

Developed by Rio Tinto's research and development teams, the AP60 technology is among the most efficient and lowest carbon technology currently available, at commercial scale.

When combined with the hydropower used at Rio Tinto's operations in Canada, it generates one-sixth of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per tonne of aluminium, when compared with the industry average, and half the emissions of the technology currently used at the adjacent older Arvida smelter. It will deliver significant improvements, including an expected reduction of up to 90% in fine particulate matter.

The AP60 expansion supports the transition to carbon-free aluminium electrolysis technology being developed by ELYSIS in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec, a partnership that includes Rio Tinto.

Supported by the government of Canada, through the Strategic Innovation Fund, a demonstration plant is being built in Québec in partnership with government, through Investissement Québec, to advance this breakthrough technology, which eliminates all direct GHG emissions from aluminium smelting and produces oxygen as a by-product.

Rio Tinto aluminium and lithium CE Jérôme Pécresse says for 100 years, Québec has been at the heart of the aluminium industry, and, with AP60, Rio Tinto is now strongly positioned for decades to come with one of the most advanced smelting technologies operating at commercial scale. "This milestone brings into production the first major primary aluminium project in the West in more than a decade and demonstrates Rio Tinto's ability to deliver world-class, low-carbon technologies," he explains.

He adds that the newly expanded AP60 smelter reinforces the company's competitiveness and offerings for customers in North America, while increasing the efficiency of the operations in Québec. The new plant will mitigate 290 000 t/y of carbon emissions compared to the old Arvida smelter.

The AP60 technology generates about 1.6 t of CO2 equivalent per tonne of aluminium produced, compared to approximately 3.2 t of CO2 equivalent per tonne of aluminium for the Arvida smelter's current technology – compared with the industry average of 10.9 t of CO2 equivalent per tonne of aluminium produced.

Together with the construction of the ELYSIS demonstration plant in Québec, using the first licence of this breakthrough technology, Rio Tinto is demonstrating its value as a secure, innovative and reliable ...

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.

He was born in Roodepoort but never imagined that one day he would be mining gold in Roodepoort, now the site of Qala Shallows, the first new underground gold mine to be built in South Africa in 15 years.

He was convinced all the gold had been mined out. But that was the furthest thing from the truth.

The thousands of tons of gold ore that he is extracting are being turned into gold bar that is being sold at a time of high gold price, which is helping to fund ongoing development.

He is Sam Molefi, the CEO of Modi Mining, the contracting company that is mining the gold at Qala Shallows, ASX-listed West Wits Mining's Roodepoort operation, which is located a mere 15 km from Johannesburg, the City of Gold.

Molefi and his co-entrepreneur wife, Motlapele Molefi, head a business that could well be putting many more people to work in the not-too-distant future. (Also watch the attached Creamer Media video.)

"For me, contributing in a meaningful way to the livelihoods of our communities, our neighbours, is a key achievement and something that I never thought could happen," Molefi confided in his interview with Mining Weekly.

"We've already created 193 jobs, and we're ramping up to about 1 000, and more people will be sourced from the local communities. Every time I look at my birth certificate and see the word Roodepoort, it excites me."

He was raised in Dobsonville, Soweto, and used to catch a taxi from Dobsonville to Wits Technikon, where he began his mining studies.

"For me it's a blessing, and I thank God," said Molefi, who looks forward to the creation of local job opportunities for local communities.

"Every now and then, when I'm back home and can see that there is a lot of unemployment and disparities in our communities, I think this mine will come in handy to alleviate some of that."

Modi Mining's corporate social investment programme targets enterprise development and the company is already engaged in business relationships with local suppliers.

"Since we last spoke in 2022, we've been able to establish the mine. The infrastructure you see on surface and underground was installed by us."

A milestone was its ability to achieve an early supply of 10 000 t of gold ore used for West Wits' first gold pour in March.

"We're now building up to steady state mining, and a key milestone has been the safe installation of water, power and air reticulation services," Molefi reported.

Last week, when level two was intercepted, historic tons plus some reserve ore was unlocked. "The highlight of this phase was when the tons were delivered to the plant, processed, and out there, gold bars were being poured and delivered."

The completion of the 1 West Decline into this area of historic 2 Level unmined stopes transitioned the project from development ore into higher-grade production areas with established underground infrastructure already in place.

The 1 West Decline forms part of a planned optimisation of the original mine plan and is specifically designed to accelerate payback, improve capital efficiency and further strengthen the overall project business case.

Mining Weekly: What are tasks that must still be carried out by Modi on this contract?

We still need to advance the main decline to greater depth. We have advanced from level one to level two, which needs to be made safe. The team is already doing the assessments there to see how much of the backlog tons are lying in there and how many of the unmined blocks are available. Further to that, we continue developing down, because we need to go to three level, four level, and we need to scope and scale the mine, because we need to reach the steady state of about 50 000 t a month. The ramp-up to that will come with developing and advancing the declines and ens...

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.

Billions of dollars worth of gold is still being extracted illegally from Brazil's Amazon rainforest, a study by nonprofit watchdog Greenpeace found, despite efforts by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to crack down on wildcat mining.

Lula pledged upon taking office in 2023 to eliminate illegal gold mining from Indigenous lands and protected areas after years of expansion encouraged by far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. Last year, Brazil's Federal Police seized a record 447 kg (985 pounds) of illegally mined gold.

However, as gold prices hit record highs amid intense geopolitical instability, the Greenpeace study found that miners have adapted by using permits from places with no mining activity to falsify the origin of illegally mined gold.

Greenpeace analyzed 187 forest areas with gold mining permits issued by Brazilian mining agency ANM near Indigenous lands and protected areas in the Amazon and found that 98 of them showed no signs of mining.

Still, so-called "ghost permits" from those areas were used to justify the sale of 26.8 t of gold worth an estimated $3.88-billion between 2018 and March 2026.

Reuters flew over two of the permitted areas in the dataset and verified that, despite paperwork for huge output from surface mining, there was no activity to be seen. Six minutes away by air, journalists spotted a large active illegal operation in a protected area.

It was not clear where all the gold backed by so-called "ghost permits" originated, but researchers and investigators believe much of it is extracted from protected areas and Indigenous lands, such as the Kayapo people's territory in the State of Para.

Kayapo chief Megaron Txucarramae expressed frustration at the government's failure to act.

"I don't know what else is needed to solve illegal mining on Indigenous land," he said. "It destroys the land, pollutes the rivers, and Indigenous people, without realizing it, end up eating poisoned fish."

ANM said in a statement that it was monitoring the permits that Greenpeace denounced for any irregularities and added that, with thousands of permits issued, the Amazon region imposes "large-scale logistical and oversight challenges."

"As long as it is possible to launder gold using mining permits, there will be an expansion of the activity in the Amazon," said Greenpeace Brazil spokesperson Danicley Aguiar.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer notes that the Minerals Council AGM heard this week that mining can elevate South Africa’s economic development; he also discusses the urgent need for a one-stop shop for mineral right applications; and he talks about the R180-million that has