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A prefeasibility study (PFS) for ASX-listed Tungsten Mining's Mt Mulgine project, in Western Australia, confirms the potential for the world's largest, lowest-cost tungsten development.

The company intends to move to a definitive feasibility study and final investment decision by the first quarter of 2028, with first production envisioned for the second quarter of 2029.

At a base case eight-million-tonne-a-year scenario, Mt Mulgine has a net present value (NPV) of A$6.8-billion (before tax) and internal rate of return (IRR) of 55%, should prices average $1 509/t. In a higher spot price scenario, the project's NPV increases to A$15.5-billion and the IRR widens to 113%.

The eight-million-tonnes processing scenario requires initial capital of A$870-million, while a Stage 2 expansion that ramps up to 16-million tonnes a year requires an additional A$420-million.

Under the expansion case, the project's NPV and IRR increase to A$8.1-billion and 57%, respectively, at base case prices and A$18.3-billion and 113%, respectively, at spot prices.

The PFS estimates a mine life of 21 years for Mt Mulgine, producing up to 12 000 t/y of tungsten trioxide at the world's lowest C1 cash cost of $53/t and all-in sustaining cost of $127/t.

From a market perspective, Tungsten Mining explains Chinese export restrictions, tighter quotas and dependence on imported concentrate have cut primary availability, shifting the market into a structural deficit that is expected to be sustained through 2028 and beyond. This while demand continues to grow from a current base of 154 000 t up to 215 000 t in 2035, which equates to a compounded annual growth rate of 3.4%, driven by increasing defence and manufacturing requirements.

Additionally, the ammonium paratungstate price has remained at $3 000/t following a sharp increase in 2025 and early 2026.

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.

If a 20% global truck fleet share can be secured at current or near current platinum loading, there is a six-million-ounce opportunity from a demand perspective, according to Valterra Platinum executive head: marketing Hilton Ingram, who added that truck fleets in their thousands are already being driven around China by producers, distributors and users of low-cost hydrogen.

A fundamental driver of truck fleet demand is the reduction by China of its reliance on energy imports from other countries, said Ingram, who sees China as the most appropriate country to establish a low-cost source of hydrogen at refuelling stations ahead of global replication, hopefully also in South Africa. (Also see attached Creamer Media video.)

In response to Mining Weekly's request for energy-security pursuit insight, Ingram hydrogen stays a strategic element in China's strategy as a result of reliance on energy imports being lessened.

"We're seeing areas of industrial demand uplift, particularly in China, particularly in response to energy security," Ingram reported during Valterra's online and in-person platinum group metals (PGMs)value chain media briefing in Rosebank.

In another response during the webinar, Ingram explained that while Valterra is working with Sasol and other industry players around the hydrogen economy in South Africa, establishing a low-cost source of hydrogen at refuelling stations is best solved in China and then replicated globally.

"The nice thing about it, on the hydrogen side of things, is that China is in its 15th Five Year Plan, and they're talking about significant resource upgrade investments in China.

"We've just in the last week or so had greater clarity around the city clusters that will be impacted by that, and we're waiting to see what each of those individual city clusters and regions are going to focus on, so that'll give us greater insight into the impacts and applications there.

"But the fundamental driver in the space around China is diversifying their energy base, and as result, reducing their reliance on energy imports from other countries," said Ingram, who is next year's incoming chairperson the 100-member International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association (IHFCA), a global non-profit organisation established in July 2022 and headquartered in Beijing.

This has already given rise to the development of China's current closed-loop hydrogen fuel cell mobility system, which is taking place amid aspirations to advance from closed-loop into a new open-loop era that can be emulated globally.

"So, what you'll see is truck fleets in their thousands being used by folk that produce low-cost hydrogen, distribute the low-cost hydrogen, and use the low-cost hydrogen.

"You have a company like Rockcheck, which moves its iron-ore from port to its steel mill with fuel cell trucks, and it moves its finished product from steel mill to customer using fuel cell trucks," Ingram explained. Tianjin Rockcheck Steel Group Company is a Chinese steel manufacturing enterprise based in Tianjin that processes ferrous metals and utilises iron-ore for steel production.

In March, Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne expressed the belief that the world had moved from over-estimating hydrogen to under-estimating it and spoke of the need for more extensive China travel to further witness the emergence of the hydrogen economy.

The next step in the journey is looking to develop open-loop systems, which Ingram outlined as requiring low-cost hydrogen produced by one company, distributed by another company, and used by others.

"That challenge, we think, is best solved inside of China, and for the moment we think the best chance of that success is in the Yangtze River Delta region and so we're working with our partners in the...

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.

Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed gold and copper mining company Harmony is very optimistic about adding additional surface gold production from its surface retreatment operation options in the Free State and on the West Wits.

In flagging these organic options during its latest presentation of excellent financial results, Harmony CEO Beyers Nel expressed the belief that, on a conceptual level, the Free State and West Wits surface options could add about 100 000 oz of annual long-term, low-cost, high-margin production to Harmony, whose surface retreatment assets contributed 7 t of gold at a solid 46% margin in the 12 months to June 30.

To add more surface ounces, new tailings storage facilitation has to be constructed, similar to what Harmony has at Karreerand, the location of Mine Waste Solutions' mega surface retreatment operation.

"It's a process of working through regulatory approvals, doing the capital estimates correctly, and making sure that these projects, which are hydro-mining operations, have adequate water supply, for example," Nel pointed out to Mining Weekly in a one-on-one interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Being worked on are options to ensure that it has enough water to mine without interruption the water-scarce Free State, where Harmony has 5.7-million ounces on surface. Once feasibility studies, now being concluded, have been determined, those outcomes will be disclosed to the market.

UNDERGROUND EXPERTISE

Harmony, which produces 1.4-million to 1.5-million ounces of gold a year, is particularly good at extending the life-of-mine of underground operations. It does so by injecting new life into undercapitalised assets, or short-life assets, or strategic-exit assets, though capital infrastructure redevelopment.

These organic mine life extensions in which Harmony excels are relatively low-cost resource-to-reserve conversion opportunities when compared with inorganic opportunities, "so we continue to extend mine life, and we'll probably continue to do so for many years to come", said Nel.

Mining Weekly: When it comes to copper, Harmony seems to be moving quite steadily in new terrain in Australia.

Nel: We're very excited about our copper prospects. What we do say is that gold is Harmony's foundation, our cornerstone, who we are, and that copper is a growth lever for us. We've got two copper operations at the moment. We're building a mine called the Eva copper mine, that will be in contrast to the mine we own. Eva is an openpit bulk mine, slightly lower grade but a big volume openpit mine, which is under construction. Then, we've also got the CSA copper mine, which is a deep underground copper mine but very high grade.

We do believe the two dovetail. CSA has a clear pathway to 40 000 copper tons per annum level and Eva will be 60 000 t of copper per annum. That is a pathway for Harmony to be at 100 000 t of copper per annum within about three years from today. Most importantly, that excludes the copper we'll be getting from the Wafi-Golpu Tier 1 copper/gold project, which on a standalone 100% basis, will produce 180 000 t of copper per annum, with more than 200 000 oz of gold, and that's a mine that we own 50:50 with our JV partner, Newmont.

Minerals Council South Africa has been saying South African mining is falling behind other mining jurisdictions on the modernisation front.

Let me first acknowledge the work that the Minerals Council is doing. The Minerals Council is doing phenomenal work for the mining industry in South Africa and Harmony is a key contributor to that work and an active participant. I do think some of the modernisation lags are a little bit structural. We do mine these deep underground orebodies. It is slightly easier to modernise surface pr...

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.

Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Claude Guay has affirmed that, in a time of uncertainty and changing trade and economic relationships worldwide, Canada continues to expand and strengthen its network globally, including in Chile.

In meeting with industry leaders from Chilean mining companies Codelco, Antofagasta, Corfo, Teck Resources and MineSense, as well as senior Chilean government officials, at the Conference of Mining Ministries of the Americas last week, Guay confirmed the two countries continue to advance responsible resource development, strengthen critical mineral supply chains and create new opportunities for trade and investment.

He said the growing ties between Canada and Chile are evidenced by a recent five-year agreement signed between Codelco and Canada's MacLean Engineering to accelerate innovative technologies for underground mining operations; Canada's support for critical minerals capacity building, including training, across Latin America and the Caribbean through the G7 Minerals Skills Network; and the Canada-Chile Eureka project, to which Canada is contributing $450 000 for research and development of network analytics and Internet of Things connectivity solutions.

The National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Programme is also collaborating with Global Affairs Canada's Trade Commissioner Service to lead the Canadian Cleantech in Mining Mission in Chile. This involves helping 12 innovative Canadian companies to enter the Chilean market, strengthen their commercial readiness and accelerate the deployment of scalable and cost-effective solutions to address key challenges in the Chilean mining sector such as water management, decarbonisation, energy efficiency and environmental performance.

Guay further highlighted in a statement issued on August 28 the progress being made under a Canada-Chile Memorandum of Understanding on Critical Minerals and Sustainable Development of Minerals and Metals, signed in 2024, which includes initiatives to support innovation, skills development and commercial partnerships.

For context, Canada is the largest foreign investor in Chile's mining sector, having C$43-billion worth of assets in the country held by 52 companies. In turn, Chile is the second-largest destination for Canadian mining assets abroad.

Guay said his meetings with government officials and industry leaders reinforced Canada's role as a reliable global partner and opened opportunities for further collaboration between Canada and Chile.

"By advancing cooperation with Chile and countries across the Americas, Canada is diversifying our international partners, identifying reliable markets for our minerals and businesses, strengthening critical minerals supply chains and supporting long-term economic prosperity and security for Canadians," he concluded.

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.

Northam Platinum is looking to establishing the Eland mine as South Africa's first platinum group metals (PGM) mine operating solely on renewable energy.

In addition, Eland is water positive, and the phasing out external water sources before the end of the decade would turn it into a green mine, an upbeat Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne emphasised on Friday August 28 when the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed PGMs and chrome mining company presented a stunning set of financial results and paid record dividends.

"We will continue to roll out our renewable energy programme," Dunne said during the presentation, at which he described the commissioning of the first 80 MW solar farm at the Zondereinde mine as a major milestone.

"Each year, this facility will produce 220 000 MW hours of secure, behind-the-meter electrical energy, reducing annual carbon emissions by 240 000 t, and reducing Zondereinde's energy costs by 15%."

In addition, progress had been made, he said, on five other projects under construction, including the Karreeebosch wind farm, the Thakadu solar farm, and the solar farm at the Eland PGM and chrome mine.

The Karreebosch wind farm is a 140 MW renewable energy project located in South Africa's Karoo region between Matjiesfontein and Sutherland and Thakadu photovoltaic plant is a 255 MW utility-scale solar project near Klerksdorp, in North West.

Northam will soon begin to install 360 MW hours of industrial batteries across the operations, Dunne reported during the company's results presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

Once all the project were fully operational in FY28, the company would be delivering more than 1 000 GW hours of energy, reduced carbon intensity by 70% and shave about R1-billion a year off its current electricity bill.

"The economic benefit of these initiatives ensures their true sustainability," Dunne commented.

He said that batteries would allow Northam to extend the solar benefit into the peak tariff periods and thereby maximise savings.

Northam plans to install 250 MW of battery storage at Zondereinde, which would improve energy security and enable peak tariff arbitrage.

"It's worth noting that peak tariff energy represents only 14% of energy use, but 44% of energy cost. Hence, the arbitrage opportunity," he explained.

The build programme at Karreebosch has now erected 22 of the 25 towers, and remains on track for commissioning next year.

"This particular facility will deliver around 460 000 MW hours into the Eskom grid, and we will elect, on a monthly basis, where to apportion this power between the operations.

"This will reduce carbon emissions by over half a million tons per annum, and group energy costs by a further 10%," Dunne reported

Displayed during the presentation were renewable energy facilities that included Thakadu, which is scheduled to be commissioned in mid-2027 – "again, energy delivered to the grid, where we elect to apportion the energy through a wheeling agreement with Eskom on a monthly basis as we choose across the operations.

Pointing out the Eland solar and battery site, he said: "We've just started clearing for construction here, and this will initially be 20 MW, growing to 40 MW, producing initially 55 MW hours of energy, and displacing 60 000 t of carbon per annum.

"At Eland, we have a truly unique opportunity to create the first PGM mine in South Africa, operating solely on renewable energy. In addition, Eland is water positive, and we will phase out external water sources before the end of the decade, truly becoming a green mine.

"We are looking for more renewable opportunity. At this stage, we're only 70% abated on carbon, and there is more we can do but for the moment, that's the project work we do have," Dunne added.

Northam's op...