MiningWeekly.com Audio Articles

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 third phase of the August 20-launched Government-Business Partnership for Growth and Jobs names freight logistics as a foundational enabler of growing the economy by 3%-plus and generating a million new jobs by 2030.

"This is a welcome signal and confirms our consistently communicated and strong belief that logistics reforms – and rail reform in particular – are central to South Africa's growth targets and are not a technical issue alone but rather a fundamental economic driver," South Africa's Manganese Producers Consortium has pointed out in a media release to Mining Weekly.

The partnership's own scorecard records the entry into the logistics network of 11 private train-operating companies, Durban being recognised as one of the world's most-improved ports (albeit from a low base), and R14.7-billion in Budget Facility for Infrastructure funding being approved for rail related maintenance backlogs.

While the Manganese Producers Consortium supports all tangible results and proof that reform commitments can move from policy to delivery it expressed concern that bulk commodity export corridors are not getting the priority that they "urgently" demand despite lending themselves to "globally proven" private sector participation projects with "significant upside to the South African economy".

What is appreciated by the Manganese Producers Consortium is that the Government-Business Partnership scorecard sets these hard new deadlines involving:

a manganese private sector participation transaction being issued by year-end;the National Rail Bill coming before Parliament by March 2027, andalso by March next year, the Transport Economic Regulator being fully operational.

These targets echo the direction that the Manganese Producers Consortium itself has been supporting for years – but what has been missing are speed, sequencing and executable timelines.

What is different now is that Phase 3 puts government's own credibility on the line to meet these targets.

"Phase 3 matters even more for institutional design as it is critical to ensure that there is a capable delivery 'machine' that encompasses and empowers independent institutions, introduces appropriate regulation and procurement processes with clear roles and responsibilities," the Manganese Producers Consortium emphasised.

Phase 3's architecture assigns focal area leads and CEO sponsors to each priority, and commits to quarterly, public reporting on progress and slippage, which is precisely the kind of visible accountability called for and which remains essential to make this architecture work in practice:

named leadership;transparent milestones;consequences when delivery falls short; anda capacitated, independent unit to drive private sector participation and rail transactions which are bankable and without institutional veto or conflict.

The Phase 3 scorecard lays down that a manganese transaction must be brought to market by December 2026 and the manganese ore industry has a direct stake in the timelines announced.

"This is a specific test, with a set deadline, of whether this Phase 3 can convert intent into action. The development of the long-awaited new manganese terminal at the Port of Ngqura and significant private sector participation on the Ore Export Corridor connecting Sishen in the Northern Cape with the Port of Saldanha cannot be delayed any further.

"Manganese producers stand ready, with capital, committed volumes and long-term rail allocation arrangements, to anchor bankable projects. The 12x12 corridor strategy – 12-million tonnes through Saldanha and 12-million tonnes through Gqeberha – offers a demand-led, investable pathway that fits squarely within the partnership's mining and logistics ambitions.

"The risk is familiar. South A...

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.

Leading Australian gold producer Northern Star has appointed mining veteran Mark Cutifani to its board following pressure from major shareholder Elliott Investment Management to make strategic changes.

Elliott has been quoted as saying that Northern Star is persistently underperforming relative to industry peers.

Peter Rozenauers joins Cutifani as an independent nonexecutive director effective October 1.

Suresh Vadnagra is due to take over as MD and CEO, succeeding Stuart Tonkin, while Jeff Quartermaine and Terry Bowen have also recently been appointed as new independent directors.

Northern Star had reviewed a list of six candidates proposed by Elliott in accordance with its normal processes.

Cutifani's career spans nearly five decades in mining, including as CE of Anglo American and CEO of AngloGold Ashanti. He is currently also chairperson of Vale Base Metals.

Rozenauers brings to his position 34 years' experience in natural resources investment management and trading, having been a managing partner of Orion Resource Partners. Rozenauers is also a nonexecutive director of Nasdaq-listed Uranium Royalty Corporation.

"With Rozenauers and Cutifani's appointment and the recent appointments of Quartermaine and Bowen, we will have a board with the mix of skills and experience needed to work with our new senior leadership to unlock the full potential of Northern Star's assets," says chairperson Michael Chaney.

"Gold mining has been a huge part of my life and it's great to be back in the sector. As Australia's leading listed gold producer, Northern Star has an enviable portfolio of assets and, at a personal level, it's something of a homecoming given I was the inaugural general manager for the establishment of the Kalgoorlie Superpit way back in 1989," Cutifani comments.

"It's an honour to join the board and I'm excited about what the company has ahead of it under the new leadership. I'm very pleased to be joining at a time when the full potential of KCGM is being delivered through commissioning of the new Fimiston Mill and to have the opportunity to contribute to the successful development of the new Hemi project," Rozenauers adds.

"As one of Northern Star's largest shareholders, we are encouraged by the new appointments to the board. We believe their highly relevant and complementary skills can help Northern Star realise the full potential of its world-class gold mining portfolio. Elliott remains committed to working constructively with Northern Star to help the company deliver the outcome its shareholders deserve," concludes Elliott partner John Pike.

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 definitive feasibility study for the promising Soweto gold tailings retreatment project, west of South Africa's Gold City of Johannesburg, has been completed, Pan African Resources reported on Friday, September 10, when the London-, Johannesburg- and Sydney-listed company headlined the study as "delivering a robust long-term growth pathway" for its thriving West Rand Mogale tailings retreatment complex.

The Soweto tailings project, designed to leverage existing Mogale elution, carbon regeneration, electrowinning and smelting infrastructure, significantly improves project economics and will come in at an estimated capital cost at R3.68-billion.

Acquired as part of the Mintails transaction, the Soweto Cluster tailings storage facilities host mineral reserves of 0.98-million gold ounces.

"We've been able to define a project that delivers attractive returns, meaningful production growth and accelerated environmental rehabilitation," Pan African CEO Cobus Loots stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

The project has the resources to increase the Mogale complex's gold production to 100 000 oz/y at peak production.

Importantly, it will address historical West Rand environmental liabilities at the same time.

Gold production over the 15-year project life is expected to total 561 000 oz at a production rate of 35 000 oz/y to 40 000 oz/y.

The forecast all-in sustaining cost of $1 750/oz to $1 800/oz excludes cost savings from renewable-energy supply.

Evaluated is 600 000 t of tailings retreatment a month alongside the operating Mogale tailings retreatment processing facility.

Using a gold price of $3 550/oz, the project returns post-tax net present value of R1.85-billion, internal rate of return of 29.55% and a post-commissioning payback period of three years.

From the final investment decision date, which is anticipated in December, construction will take 28 months.

Environmental authorisations are expected during financial year 2027.

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.

A joint report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and International Energy Agency (IEA) says high levels of supply chain concentration and rising trade restrictions are limiting investment and creating real vulnerabilities in critical mineral supplies.

While efforts to diversify sources are gathering pace, investment still falls short of what is needed to keep up with demand, the organisations state.

In parallel, the operational and governance risks that come with mining and processing activities need to be managed more effectively, lest they delay projects, erode trust and cause future disruptions.

OECD and IEA say reliable access to critical minerals has become central to economic security and competitiveness, but market concentration of processing, smelting and refining is acute.

They explain that national and multilateral initiatives to enhance economic security by developing more resilient and diversified critical mineral supply chains will require supply chain transparency to be fully implementable.

Having surveyed 90 companies covering all major critical minerals to compile the 'Enhancing resilience through traceability' report, OECD and IEA determined that responsible business conduct standards, transparency and traceability are important tools to address some of the world's current challenges.

"When applied in a targeted and pragmatic way, traceability can strengthen resilience, derisk investment and support responsible sourcing. By improving visibility across supply chains, traceability helps identify dependencies, verify responsible practices and target interventions where risks persist," the organisations state.

By looking at the lithium and nickel supply chains in Latin America and Southeast Asia, in particular, the report highlights the importance of a tailored approach to traceability. In Latin America's lithium sector, high refining concentration creates opportunities for targeted interventions while Southeast Asia's nickel sector, with its complex ownership structures, is more challenging.

OECD and IEA say reliable supply chain data is at the core of traceability systems and that price floors and similar trade-related measures need verified information on origin and production conditions to direct support toward trusted and responsible producers.

The organisations find, however, that current traceability systems worldwide are fragmented. In practice, a combination of supply chain mapping, mass balance and auditing are often part of wider due diligence efforts, which does support partial visibility but not end-to-end traceability.

OECD and IEA cite the example of Indonesia's Simbara system that can provide a foundation that targeted policy measures could strengthen.

They find that update of traceability by the private sector is uneven and most traceability systems are being developed within individual companies using proprietary tools with limited public disclosure. OECD and IEA find the strongest traceability uptake is among traders and the weakest is among miners.

BARRIERS TO TRACEABILITY

The joint report affirms there are substantial barriers to the uptake of traceability and that more than half of the survey respondents identify costs and lack of interoperability as barriers to setting up traceability systems.

The operation of such systems is further constrained by confidentiality concerns, supplier leverage and data quality concerns.

Half of survey respondents rank regulatory consistency as the top priority for scaling traceability, with a similar share citing shared data infrastructure.

Ownership opacity is also a significant blind spot. Complex and layered corporate structures obscure who ultimately controls key mineral assets, particular...

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.

Committed investment in clean hydrogen has hit the $130-billion-plus mark, driven by global energy security and resilience issues, with 90% of 570 clean hydrogen projects already under construction or in operation.

"Clean hydrogen's no longer a future bet," the Brussels-based Hydrogen Council reported in Global Hydrogen Compass 2026 on Thursday, September 10.

Construction of a capacity of 6.9-million hydrogen tonnes a year is under way right now.

Operational capacity has nearly doubled in the last 12 months, and based on the pipeline, it is predicted that operational capacity will double again in 2027, an upbeat Hydrogen Council CEO Ivana Jemelkova forecast during a global webinar in which Hyundai vice-chair and Hydrogen Council co-chair Jaehoon Chang, Sinopec vice-chair Zhao Dong and Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO Boudewijn Siemons also took part.

The latest report, co-authored with McKinsey & Company and informed by the perspectives of some 70 global CEOs, coincides with shifting geopolitical priorities, which are strengthening hydrogen's role as a "strategic resilience lever".

As governments seek to strengthen energy security, build more flexible economies and support long-term industrial growth, hydrogen is receiving renewed attention for its ability to help address multiple strategic priorities alongside deep decarbonisation, complementing growing electrification and use of renewable-energy sources.

Geographically, China remains the largest market, accounting for more than half of global committed renewable hydrogen capacity.

During the webinar covered by Mining Weekly, Dong's call was for the creation of a global system to facilitate large-scale cross-border green hydrogen trade.

"We need to promote key international standards such as full life-cycle carbon-footprint verification for green hydrogen," said Dong.

Describing hydrogen as the new-energy future, Dong urged all parties to embrace openness and cooperation. "We need to enhance communication and programmatic cooperation in innovation, mutual recognition of standards, and joint investment."

While he was talking, it was reported out of Oslo that Norwegian hydrogen enabler Nel ASA had entered into a framework agreement with Hydrasun to establish dedicated assembly and integration capabilities for the MC Series, Nel's modular and scalable proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology platform. Interesting for South Africa is that PEM is catalysed by platinum group metals (PGMs), which South Africa hosts in abundance.

"We're pleased to be working with Hydrasun to establish an experienced European integration partner for our standardized PEM electrolyser solutions, the MC Series.

"As demand for standardized, modular systems grows, this collaboration enhances our ability to serve key markets while creating greater flexibility and scalability across our production network," Nel PEM operations senior VP Tushar Ghuwalewala stated in a media release to Mining Weekly.

With this partnership, Nel gains an experienced integration partner in Europe, complementing its existing integration setup in the US and widening its delivery capabilities for the European market. Nel's PEM stack production will continue at Nel's Connecticut facility in the US.

Europe now follows as the second-largest market, leading in project count and relative investment growth (+35% since 2025), while the US accounts for about 75% of globally committed low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia capacity.

Siemons described the Port of Rotterdam as having "a nice concentration of the elements that you basically need to build up a new hydrogen market and to go through this energy transition. On top of all, we're close to the sea, and a lot of the hydrogen will either be produced here throug...