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  1. 4 hrs ago

    Valterra Platinum remains 'highly confident' in 'robust outlook' for PGM demand

    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 platinum group metals (PGM) mining and marketing company Valterra Platinum is actively supporting long-term PGM demand growth through strategic industry partnerships. Following its collaboration with Johnson & Matthey and Sibanye-Stillwater earlier this year, two separate partnerships have been initiated, one with Umicore in Germany and Pujing Chemicals in China, to expand the use of PGMs in industrial applications. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) "We remain highly confident in the robust outlook for PGM demand," Valterra CEO Craig Miller reported during the company's presentation of stunning 1 633% headline earnings in the half-year to June 30. "Consensus forecasts are largely built around today's known applications, and in our view, continue to underestimate the potential impact of innovation, substitution, and supportive policy developments. "As economies become wealthier, demand naturally increases for technologies that enhance efficiency, productivity, and sustainability, creating new opportunities for PGMs," Miller explained during the presentation covered by Mining Weekly. At Valterra's Capital Markets Day last year, details of ten-million ounces of additional PGM demand by 2035 were outlined. "Based on the evidence that we see today, we continue to hold that view. Importantly, these opportunities are becoming increasingly tangible. "Over the past 15 months, we've seen several developments that give us confidence that at least two-million ounces of this potential upside is progressing towards high conviction demand. "We are working hard to shift more ounces from the known potential category into the high conviction bucket," Miller reported. Three areas which stand out for Valterra are: First, hydrogen. China's inclusion of hydrogen in its long-term strategic development plans, together with increasing deployment of fuel cell trucks and higher platinum loadings, points to demand that could materially exceed current assumptions.Second, AI-driven industrial demand. "We're already seeing PGMs used across data infrastructure applications, including hard disk drives, silicone, specialised crucibles, and power systems. As AI infrastructure scales globally, this demand should continue to grow," said Miller.Third, substitution opportunities. Elevated gold prices are improving the economics of replacing gold with platinum and palladium in industrial applications, while platinum jewellery continues to gain share from white gold in key Western markets. "These opportunities are not theoretical. We're actively working to accelerate them through collaborations with Johnson Matthey, Sibanye-Stillwater, Umicore and Pujing Chemicals, creating pathways to commercial adoption across multiple demand sectors. "So, in short, we see a market that is already in deficit today, underpinned by compelling medium-term fundamentals and supported by multiple credible sources of long-term demand growth. "As a result, we remain confident that consensus demand forecasts will need to move higher over time," Miller added. RENEWABLE ENERGY Sustainability remains embedded into everything done by Valterra, which is continuing to support the company's long-term value creation. A key milestone during the period was the commissioning of 520 MW of renewable energy capacity through Envusa, with Valterra the largest offtaker. This is already contributing to lowering Valterra's emissions as well as reducing its energy costs. Valterra contributed R46-billion to the South African economy in the half-year through employment, procurement, investment, taxes, royalties, as well as community development initiatives. The company also completed water resilience projects, including a new wastewate...

  2. 8 hrs ago

    Rio Tinto posts highest H1 earnings in four years as data centre boom boosts copper

    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 diversified miner Rio Tinto posted its highest half-year underlying earnings in four years on Wednesday as performance from its copper and aluminium units tied to energy demand outshone profits from mainstay iron-ore for the first time. The world's largest iron-ore miner is now deriving around 56% of its profit from copper and aluminium combined, boosted by electrification and AI megatrends as CEO Simon Trott executes on a simpler and sharper strategy in his first year in the job. It joins BHP in reaping gains from stronger copper demand, with the peer company reporting in February it gained more profit in the half-year ending in December from the red metal than from iron-ore. Rio reported underlying earnings of $6.85-billion for the six months ended June 30, up 43% from $4.81-billion a year earlier and broadly in line with a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $6.8- billion. While the result met analysts' expectations and delivered on productivity promises, the company fell short of any major announcements related to optimising its portfolio of assetsand infrastructure, said Andy Forster, a stock portfolio manager at Argo Investments in Sydney. "It was an in-line result," Forster said, adding the lack of news around plans to optimise the assets was "slightly disappointing." In December, Rio said it could unlock $5-billion to $10-billion in cash through portfolio management and infrastructure initiatives. On Wednesday it said it expects to achieve half of that by the end of the year. Part of that will be through the agreed sale of its share of a seawater desalination plant in Dampierin Western Australia, Trott told a media call on Wednesday, but Rio did not disclose the sale amount. Trott said the miner had delivered a "step-change in performance" in the first half, helped by higher commodity prices, rising copper output and productivity gains across the business. "We are seeing shifts really across all of our commodities in terms of underlying demand," he said, flagging growing data centre and grid storage battery demand for copper and lithium. Rio rose 4.5% to A$178.71 as of 02:29 GMT, while the benchmark index gained 0.8%. PRODUCTIVITY MOMENTUM Productivity growth delivered $870-million in benefits in the first half despite headwinds from high diesel prices and the strengthening Australian dollar, and Rio said it was on track to generate annualised gains of $1.8-billion by year-end. "That was a very strong performance, and there's a lot more to come," CFO Peter Cunningham told Reuters. Major miners and their lobbyists have asked Canberra for help in pushing back against China's efforts to extract better terms for their iron ore, including raising the prospect of a single selling desk for Australia's most valuable commodity export. Asked about whether Rio would support such an effort, Trott said that Rio's focus would be "solely" on its own business and "capturing synergies with adjacent producers in ways we probably haven't done before." The company flagged challenges to its goal to cut emissions by 50% from 2018 levels by 2030, warning that depended on the timely delivery of third-party renewable energy projects and commercial agreements that could not be guaranteed. Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) surged 84% to $5.7-billion for its copper division, while iron-ore generated underlying Ebitda of $6.8-billion, down 1% from a year earlier. The miner declared its highest interim dividend in four years at $2.11 per share, compared with $1.48 per share a year earlier. It kept its 2026 production and sales forecasts unchanged.

  3. 1 day ago

    Australia plans first domestic oil refinery in 60 years to boost fuel security

    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 will consider building its first new oil refinery in more than 60 years, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday, as war in the Middle East squeezes supplies from overseas and underscores the urgency to improve energy security. Albanese said the project will help build Australia's resilience and sovereign capability on fuel, potentially helping shield the country from future supply shocks. If the project proves feasible, the new large-scale oil refinery will be built by industrial chemical producer Perdaman in Western Australia, Albanese said. "The war in the Middle East ... is having an impact here, like it's having an impact right around the world," Albanese told reporters from Karratha in Western Australia's Pilbara region. "One of the things that building national resilience does is it makes Australia less vulnerable to the impact of events around the world." Albanese said his government and the Western Australia state government will jointly spend A$4-million ($2.8-million) on a feasibility study for the refinery. "We want to make sure that we get the right location but we want to make sure as well that it's a project that stacks up, that can go forward," Albanese added. Australia depends on imports for about 80% of its fuel needs and has been racing to secure supplies amid the Iran war. The government's push to cut its import dependence on oil comes after an Australian Treasury report warned that the global oil market has become more vulnerable "with weaker buffers against supply shocks". Global oil inventory levels have dropped since conflict in the Middle East intensified, while refined fuel markets are now at risk of tightening further, the treasury said in a briefing provided to Treasurer Jim Chalmers over the weekend. Most of Australia's domestic oil refineries were built during the 1950s and 1960s, but high operating costs and the emergence of large refineries across Asia forced many to shut down over the past three decades. Ampol's Queensland refinery and the Viva Energy facility in Victoria – both on the country's east – are the only two operational now, compared to eight in 2000. Western Australia's only refinery was shut down in 2021 after BP decided to convert its 146 000 barrels a day Kwinana plant into a fuel import terminal.

  4. 1 day ago

    South African iron-ore quality among strongest of seaborne market, Kumba reports

    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 quality of iron-ore from Northern Cape is continuing to differentiate South Africa in the global iron-ore market. During the first half of this year, the average realised export price of $90 per wet metric tonne (wmt) was 8% above benchmark and among the strongest in the seaborne iron-ore market. Kumba Iron Ore's average iron content of was 63.6% while its lump-to-fines ratio remained approximately 66%, placing the Anglo American group company's products "We continue to supply markets beyond China, including Japan, South Korea, and Europe, achieving an overall price premium of $7 per ton above the benchmark," Kumba CEO Mpumi Zikalala told journalists during media call in which Mining Weekly participated. While China's steel demand is expected to plateau over time, long-term demand for premium iron-ore is expected to continue to be positive as higher-grade products play an increasingly important role in supporting new steel capacity, particularly in India as well as South East Asia. Moreover, ultra-high dense media separation (UHDMS), an advanced mineral processing technology being implemented by Kumba at its Sishen iron-ore mine, is expected to increase the volume of premium iron-ore to 55% of Sishen's production, up from the current 18%. At its core, UHDMS provides greater flexibility across a wider range of ore grades and densities. Meanwhile, Sishen's production will be lower as Kumba goes ahead with the UHDMS project tie-in, which means that Kumba's DMS plant at Sishen will be shut down, with only Sishen's jig plant remaining operational. The main tie-in is on track to begin next month. Engineering is substantially concluded, and all major procurement is complete at the UHDMS project, which is now 45% complete. To date, we have invested R5.2-billion rand in UHDMS, with the approved project capitals remaining unchanged at R11.2-billion. "The UHDMS is an investment in Kumba's future. It will improve our product quality, increase recovery from our existing resource, strengthen the competitiveness of our business, and also more critically, extend the life of the Sishen mine," Zikalala reported Kolomela production will continue at normal levels and Kumba remains on track to deliver full-year production guidance of between 31-million tons and 33-million tons. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Mining Weekly put this question to Kumba: Are you planning any modernisation along AI lines? Zikalala: Great question. Firstly, I can confirm that we do have an AI strategy as a business, and, as you would imagine, some people see AI as a threat. We actually see it as an opportunity, and it's something that we're already working on in various parts of our business. We're implementing AI to assist us to improve the safety of our people in the business and I'm pleased to say that part of the reason why we can talk about the improved safety performance is due to work that our teams have been doing around AI. Interestingly, we're also implementing AI from a geology perspective and, as you can imagine, geology is very important in our business. We spoke earlier in the year about the growth in both our reserves as well as our resources, and our teams are utilising AI as we progress. Because ultimately, the significant growth that we saw from a resource base is something that we'd like to convert into reserves and actually ultimately see the extension of life at both Sishen and Kolomela. Then, secondly, from a full potential programme perspective, we are implementing AI in all the various parts of our business from a value chain perspective, touching on the mining side as well as the processing side. Pleasingly for me is that when I look at the teams that we have, it's something that we fundamentally decided we will see...

  5. 2 days ago

    AI can help fill South Africa's cadastre with deposits, mine modernising event hears

    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. Instead of relying primarily on traditional geological interpretation, South Africa can turn to artificial intelligence (AI) for help in the same way as has been done with huge success to discover Zambia's biggest copper deposit in a 100 years, South Africa's Mining Modernisation Showcase attendees heard. To achieve this success, KoBold Metals digitised 300 years of handwritten geology reports, taught geology to AI, used AI models to analyse the vast amounts of geological, geophysical, drilling and historical exploration data to predict where high-grade mineralisation was most likely to occur, and then drilled a hole. The outcome is that ground has already been broken at Mingomba, where the construction of a $2.3-billion copper mine is under way. "It's crazy good, and the reason why I've given this example is because this is one of the specific things that South Africa needs to do," PwC Associate Director Smart Mining South Africa Ian Mackay explained at the mine modernisation event led by Minerals Council South Africa, Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS), the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators specialised research unit within South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, the National Advisory Council on Innovation, and PwC Smart Mining South Africa. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) The need for South Africa to be able to identify deposits where its next mines will be built was emphasised as being ultra urgent given the high dependence of South Africa's economy on mining. "Before we can go and talk about investors and all the rest of it, we actually need deposits. We need something to put in the cadastral system in order to be able to sell it," Mackay outlined. Mining cadastres track precise geographic boundaries, active operations, permit expiration dates, and the status of applications and South Africa's has still to be fully developed, amid Minerals Council South Africa pointing out at its 136th annual general meeting in May, that there is an urgent need for a one-stop shop for mineral right applications to coordinate and align all relevant regulations from other departments, to streamline and expedite approval processes. In addition to optimising exploration, AI can already support a range of mining use cases such as detecting illegal mining using satellite imagery, predicting equipment failures before they happen, improving environmental performance, automating hazardous tasks, and improving metal recovery and processing. AI could support research into new uses for platinum group metals, find new industrial applications for rare earths and battery chemistries, and potentially help to unlock deep gold resources. "AI is not magic but used properly, it can help us see earlier, decide faster, operate faster, reduce waste, improve productivity, and unlock new forms of value," Mackay pointed out at the event covered by Mining Weekly. PwC's full study is based on ten structured, anonymised CEO interviews, additional focus group sessions with line management from a diverse range of miners, and industry meetings and strategy sessions. South Africa's mining industry is not growing in the way it needs it to grow. Very few large new mines have started in recent years, more mines have closed, economically viable deposits are harder to find, employment continues to decline, and illegal mining, infrastructure failures and community pressure are adding further strain. Can AI and the Fourth Industrial Revolution help South African mining become safer, smarter, more competitive and more inclusive — or will South Africans allow the opportunity to pass their country by? Mining is being hit by clima...

  6. 2 days ago

    Fortescue chair calls for fair negotiations with China

    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. Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest called for China and Australia to "always negotiate fairly," at an event in Perth on Monday, as the world's fourth-largest iron-ore maker negotiates annual supply terms with its biggest customer. Global iron-ore miners have faced increasing resistance from China's state iron-ore buyer, China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG) in annual supply talks over the past year as China seeks better terms for its steelmakers. Measures by CMRG have included restricting China's vast network of steel mills from buying certain iron-ore products from miners while negotiations were underway. "Bilateral trade has supported Australian jobs, businesses, and public services, and also provided China with a secure and reliable supply of iron-ore that drove its extraordinary, unprecedented, historic, and industrial growth," Forrest, who is also Fortescue's executive chair, told the Boao Forum Perth, an offshoot of the larger Boao Forum for Asia. Australia is the world's top iron-ore producer, accounting for some 53% of global supply. It expects iron-ore export earnings to fall to A$108-billion ($75.57-billion) in the 2026/27 financial year from A$117-billion last year as global supply rises. The "shining light of partnership" should encourage Australia, China, and also Gabon, where Fortescue is building more iron-ore operations, to "grow together," he said. "Let's always negotiate fairly... true partnerships are built on a partnership of the future." CMRG notified China's domestic steel mills in early July that from July 15 they must not take delivery of Fortescue's Super Special Fines product held at ports.

  7. 5 days ago

    Modernisation of South African mining is an 'urgent strategic priority'

    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. Mining modernisation, with private and public sectors as drivers, is an urgent strategic priority for the South African economy, a study undertaken by industry leaders, researchers, government partners, and innovators from across the South African spectrum reported very forcefully this week. "We see that our competitors are investing heavily in digitisation and automation, as well as critical minerals and beneficiation. "They're moving really quickly, and because they're moving really quickly, they're able to attract a lot of investment," Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS) consultant Ashleigh Muller reported during the Modernisation Showcase that displayed a strong partnership between Minerals Council South Africa, the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators' specialised research unit within South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council, PwC Smart Mining, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the National Advisory Council on Innovation. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) "We know that mining is a significant contributor to our national GDP. We also have a really strong mineral wealth endowment. We have established historical markets that we can make use of, and most importantly, we have a legacy of mining experience that we can draw from. "But the problem is that the benefits that come from these advantages are increasingly being offset by … aging infrastructure, lack of skills, and slow adoption of technology really hinders our ability to be globally competitive. "I think everyone in this room understands that South Africa … has an adoption and implementation problem. South has the raw materials to lead but the regulatory, skills and technology gaps must be closed with urgency and coordination," Muller pointed out. The purpose of the global benchmarking of South African mining was to understand the best practices being undertaken by other mining jurisdictions across the globe and to see what lessons South Africa could learn and implement from them. "Not necessarily because we're looking for a copy-paste solution. We understand that each mining jurisdiction is unique, but there are lessons to be learned from each of the nine", which were classified under the categories of 'visionaries' – Australia and Sweden – 'competitors' – Canada, China and Chile – and 'contemporaries' – US, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. The only 'green' achieved by South Africa was in markets and value chains. South Africa's 'reds' were under the headings of 'enabling environment' and 'advanced technology' and 'yellows' in the categories of human capital, sustainability, health, safety and security and exposed were the critical gaps of technology adoption, enabling environment and governance. INNOVATION PRIORITIES Drawing on work published by South Africa's State-owned CSIR and public research initiative Mandela Mining Precinct, seven innovation priorities for the uplifting of South Africa's mining sector were identified, namely: diigital transformation and automation,;exploration and mineral intelligence; research and development intellectual property; decarbonisation and energy modernisation; inclusive and responsible innovation; andvalue addition and beneficiation. These priorities align closely with South Africa's Cabinet-approved Critical Minerals & Metals Strategy, which is designed to create 2.3-million jobs and boost mining's contribution to GDP to 12% by 2030 through local beneficiation, but with success dependent on the resolution of energy, logistics, skills and regulatory issues. South Africa's innovation priorities were described as being well-defined but in need of implementation speed, funding, and cross-sector coordination to eradicate...

  8. 5 days ago

    Martin Creamer talks about China's PGMs focus, AI efficiencies and DRDGold's R10bn expansion

    Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer talks about China’s Five-Year Plan, which has a focus on platinum group metals; the benefits of AI efficiencies, particularly for lower quality operations; and DRDGold’s regional tailings storage facility, which forms part of its R10-billion ex

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MiningWeekly.com provides real time news reportage through originated written & video material. Now you can listen to the top three articles on Mining Weekly at the end of each day.

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