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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.

  1. hace 11 h

    Australian energy exploration hits ten-year high in hunt for gas

    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. Energy exploration has picked up sharply in Australia driven by growing Asian gas demand, technological advances and an improved investment climate, with the Iran war underscoring the urgency to develop supply, after years of sluggish spending. Quarterly oil and gas exploration spending in Australia, the world's second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer, hit a 10-year high of A$471-million ($329-million) in the March quarter, government data released in June shows. Energy investment sentiment has improved in part following last year's election of a more supportive second-term Labor government, which faces pressure to fill a looming end-of-decade domestic gas shortfall without harming valuable LNG exports. Spending is expected to increase about 10% in 2026 to more than $1-billion, according to Rystad Energy, although Canberra's move last month requiring that 20% of gas be set aside for domestic use has sparked industry backlash. Much of the drilling is focused on three gas-rich regions: the Otway Basin offshore western Victoria, the Beetaloo shale in the Northern Territory, and the Taroom Trough in Queensland. Among them, the Otway is the most established and is close to existing infrastructure. While the search for more gas and oil in recent years has been concentrated onshore, costlier and riskier offshore investment is on the rise. "We're seeing renewed interest in frontier and unconventional plays as modern techniques de-risk development," said Krishan Pal Birda, vice president at Rystad Energy. SHALE HOPES In the Beetaloo, the territory government is pushing development of what it hopes can become an LNG-scale shale gas resource. It recently offered new acreage in the area for prospective explorers, along with co-funding. Australia's second-largest gas producer Santos is set to drill three appraisal wells there this year. In March, Japan's Inpex took a stake in a Beetaloo permit. Development of the Beetaloo could eventually provide the company with an onshore gas source for its Ichthys LNG plant in the Northern Territory's capital, Darwin. Drilling in the Beetaloo has benefitted from the arrival of more powerful rigs, used by companies such as Tamboran Resources, capable of drilling long lateral wells with many fracking stages. "Shale developers are the answer to the short supply in Australia," said Bryan Sheffield, a co-founder of US private equity firm Formentera Partners, which is working with Tamboran and invested along with Inpex. Sheffield, who ran Parsley Energy focused on the giant US Permian shale, cited a more welcoming regional government. "They want Americans to come in," he said at the Australian Energy Producers conference in May, adding that officials want the US service companies and flex rigs. "I think the experience of Texas is very relevant ... They prove that they're able to do massive multi-stage fracks," said Rick Wilkinson, CEO of advisory firm EnergyQuest. Not all are convinced on the Beetaloo's development. Bill Hare, the founder of Climate Analytics, raised concern that drilling the vast shale resources could be "very destructive", due to the impact on the land and emissions when gas is burned. "Quite apart from the climate issue, the water demands are huge in an extremely arid region," Hare said. SUCCESS, DISAPPOINTMENT AND SURPRISES In the Otway, exploration has jumped, with companies sharing rigs to cut costs, but their campaigns have had mixed results. "There is a lot more activity in the Otway than we've seen in years," Amplitude Energy CEO Jane Norman told Reuters. US major ConocoPhillips drilled two wells in late 2025, the country's first offshore wildcat wells in several years, with one well yielding gas, while a second found gas but not at the l...

    6 min

  2. hace 11 h

    Northern Cape becoming the copper gift that just keeps on giving

    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. Okiep in South Africa's well-endowed Northern Cape is becoming the copper gift that just keeps on giving, with yet another new Intercept confirming copper continuity. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Orion Minerals described the results being generated from its resource optimisation drilling programme as validating its development strategy. As part of the current drilling campaign at the Okiep Copper Project Flat Mine East prospect, the completed second drill hole completed, taking in the OFMED158 intersection. (Also see above graphic). These assay results confirm the down-dip continuity previously revealed by the OFMED157 drill hole, which uplift understanding of the structural controls to mineralised mafic units. They build on the good outcomes of the 2024 confirmation drilling programme, which highlighted the endowment of the Flat Mines area, where the latest results are exemplified by the numbers 3.96m at 4.64% copper. "These outstanding new high-grade drilling results from the Okiep Copper Project further strengthen the potential upside at Flat Mine East," Orion CEO Tony Lennox explained. "Crucially, this exciting intersection further extends the recently identified high-grade copper zone down-dip and shows that it remains open at depth. The continuity of these high-grade intercepts provides compelling support to extend the geological model and increase the size of the deposit. "Importantly, it confirms that the mineralised system remains open and continues well beyond the current mineral resource envelope and block model. These results further reinforce the quality and growth potential of the Flat Mines area as a cornerstone of Orion's broader Okiep development strategy and will directly inform the next phase of our resource optimisation drilling programme," Lennox outlined in a media release to Mining Weekly on Monday, June 29. These results provide strong support for follow-up drilling. By integrating these results with insights from an ongoing geophysical survey, Orion can further refine drill targets and enhance the potential for discovery success across the broader Flat Mine East area. The Okiep Copper Project's 703 km2 ground holdings encompass most of the Okiep copper mining district, where 105-million tons of extraction has taken place over the past 100 years, 77-million tons of it from the project's prospecting and mining rights area. Current drilling offers the potential for additional mineral resources at Flat Mines, where past drilling has proven up extensions and infill potential. Sampling has been carried out using diamond drilling procedures in sampling areas that have been selected through visual observation and handheld analyser reading. Interestingly, metallurgical test work is being undertaken by Maelgwyn on the Okiep Copper Project's Flat Mines South deposit amid previous test work having been limited to the Flat Mines North and Flat Mines East areas. The current programme is designed to validate the performance of the proposed process flowsheet for the resources of Flat Mines South. Dewatering of Flat Mines North has commenced, following completion of the building of a new wastewater dam. During the three months to March 31, value engineering, operational readiness and critical skills identification took place for project execution at Orion's Prieska copper/zinc mine, also in the Northern Cape. The Prieska mine, located near Copperton, is on a major volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit. A definitive feasibility study has outlined an accelerated development strategy. This is based on an initial "Uppers" mining operation at a rate of 20 000 t a month as well as dewatering in preparation for the "Deeps" mining phase at a production rate of 200 000 t a month.

    4 min

  3. hace 3 días

    Martin Creamer talks about: SA's platinum assets, hydrogen fuel cell tech, green molecules

    Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer notes that Sibanye-Stillwater’s CEO has declares the company’s South African platinum assets the ‘world’s best’; he discusses Deputy President Paul Mashatile's recent working trip to China over hydrogen energy and fuel cell technologies; and th

    10 min

  4. hace 3 días

    IMF says it will take time for energy, commodity prices to normalize after US-Iran deal

    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 International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday it has seen energy and commodity prices fall since the US-Iran agreement to halt hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but it will take time for prices and Gulf trade flows to normalize. IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a news briefing that in the next update of its World Economic Outlook on July 8, the Fund will decide whether to continue with the three growth scenarios it presented in April that depended on Iran war outcomes. As the Strait of Hormuz remained closed in May, keeping benchmark oil prices above $100 a barrel, Kozack had said the global economy was moving from the more benign "reference forecast," which had assumed a quick end to the conflict, to an "adverse scenario" with 2.5% global growth for 2026. The adverse scenario assumed a full-year 2026 average oil price of $100 a barrel, but also a tightening of financial conditions and rising inflation expectations. Kozack said on Thursday that inflationary expectations have been well anchored, as some central banks have moved to raise interest rates, and financial conditions have remained accommodative, with both advanced and emerging market countries able to access international financing markets. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures for August delivery traded around $73 a barrel on Thursday, their lowest level since before the February 28 start of the US-backed war with Iran. Kozack also said prices for urea, other fertilizers and base metals had fallen with the resumption of shipments from Gulf countries, but it will take time for full normalization of prices and trade because of shipping lead times to final destinations. "So this means that there will be some time before we ... go back to a normal state, and of course that all assumes that the ceasefire remains in place," Kozack said. She added the IMF is most concerned about the conflict's impact on developing countries that are net energy importers with few fiscal reserves or stockpiles of oil and other commodities, especially in Africa. Asked about the war's impact on India, Kozack said India's domestic demand remained strong, with real GDP growth projected at 6.5% for the 2026/27 fiscal year.

    2 min

  5. hace 3 días

    $870m ilmenite beneficiation project enters construction phase at Richards Bay IDZ

    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 construction of the first phase of the Nyanza Light Metals plant to advance ilmenite up the value curve in the form of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment has begun at the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. Nyanza CEO Donovan Chimhandamba confirmed this to Mining Weekly on Thursday, June 25 at the Coatings for Africa show in the Sandton Convention Centre, where Nyanza is exhibiting. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video interview.) Foundation piling works are in progress and the targeted date for the start of TiO2 production is the end of 2029. The plant will process ilmenite produced from the mining of heavy mineral sands to produce the many-times-higher-priced TiO2 pigment for industrial coatings, architectural paints, paper and plastics. A multi-phase industrial platform linking titanium beneficiation with downstream battery materials production is part of the overall design. Nyanza has an engineering, procurement, construction and operations management contract with East China Engineering Science and Technology Company, a subsidiary of China National Chemical Engineering Group Company. Firm offtake agreements are already in place. The $870-million first phase TiO₂ project is being financed by Afreximbank and African Finance Corporation (AFC), together with pan-African and local development finance institutions. An estimated 3 000 people are expected to be employed at the peak of Phase 1 construction and 850 permanent jobs created. The second phase is expected to generate 2 000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs. A Phase 2 battery materials and advanced chemical project is planned as part of a $750-million downstream expansion. Fully integrated with Phase 1, the second phase project will make use of process by-products. Planned is the production of lithium iron phosphate, zirconium oxychloride, and fumed silica. It is being designed as a closed-loop, high-value industrial materials platform. The Phase 2 project has entered bankable feasibility study phase, which is expected to be completed in 2028 and advanced with the same engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Project development and financing leadership will be by Afreximbank and AFC acting as co-mandated lead arrangers. The project will be co-developed by Afreximbank, AFC and South Africa's State-owned Industrial Development Corporation, with support from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the RBIDZ. The overall strategic positioning of the initiative is designed to advance titanium beneficiation and value addition, downstream expansion into battery materials, export diversification and industrial deepening. Its integration of mineral beneficiation with battery materials production is described by Nyanza as positioning South Africa within global energy transition, AI compute and advanced manufacturing value chains. The vision is to link titanium resources to downstream applications in energy storage, electric mobility, advanced materials, AI and computing supply chains.

    4 min

  6. hace 4 días

    Lithium producers bet on battery storage as demand shifts beyond EVs

    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 lithium industry is growing more optimistic about a market recovery as booming demand for battery storage systems helps offset a slowdown in some electric vehicle (EV) markets, leading producers told an industry conference this week. While EVs have been the main driver of lithium demand for years, regulatory changes in the US and elsewhere have cooled sales in some key markets. That slowdown coincided with industry overproduction, pushing lithium prices sharply lower. But growing demand for stationary battery storage systems, driven by the expansion of artificial intelligence and efforts to strengthen power grids, is helping reshape the market outlook. "The period of market overcorrection is over," said Raju Daswani, CEO of consultancy Fastmarkets. "Energy storage has become a primary driver of growth in this market." Fastmarkets estimates that lithium demand for battery storage systems is growing at 40% per year, he said. "This is a fundamental change and it adds a robust foundation if you compare it to a far-more volatile consumer-driven electric vehicle demand picture," Daswani told the Fastmarkets Global Lithium, Battery and Critical Materials Conference in Las Vegas. Attendance at the conference, considered the world's largest annual gathering of lithium investors, executives and consumers, rose 10% this year to roughly 1 100, organizers said. The mood was a marked shift from the dour one that pervaded the 2025 conference. Lithium prices since then have more than tripled. "Lithium demand in the next two years is going to be much more balanced between EVs and energy storage," said Jérôme Pécresse, head of Rio Tinto's aluminum and lithium business unit, which aims to boost lithium production capacity by 2028. Albemarle, the world's largest lithium producer, noted it is seeing steady growth for battery storage, in contrast to lumpy EV demand. "Grid storage is much more evenly distributed around the world," Eric Norris, the company's chief commercial officer, told Reuters on the conference sidelines. "It's an interesting demand driver." In a further sign of market demand, ioneer said on Monday it had signed a letter of intent with Hyundai Engineering and an arm of the South Korean government to support its Nevada lithium project. GOVERNMENT PRICE SUPPORT STILL SOUGHT Despite the improving market, executives urged governments to do more to financially underpin lithium processing, a segment dominated by low-cost Chinese companies. G7 leaders last week, for instance, agreed to better coordinate efforts on boosting Western lithium and nickel markets. "What are governments willing to pay for security of supply? There's a tax to be paid for that, and it hasn't been paid yet," said Dale Henderson, CEO of PLS, Australia's largest independent lithium producer. Audrey Robertson, the US assistant energy secretary, encouraged the industry to focus on technological innovations that could change how the markets for lithium and other critical minerals function. "The way that we're processing lithium today is not the way we're going to process it in five years," Robertson told Reuters on the conference sidelines.

    3 min

  7. hace 4 días

    IN FOCUS: Portfolio Diversification – Why Copper, Why Now?

    Mining companies are increasingly reshaping their portfolios around copper as investors place a premium on exposure to the metal, driving a wave of acquisitions, asset reviews and strategic repositioning across the sector. This is according to BMO Capital Markets managing direct

    17 min

  8. hace 4 días

    New longer-term platinum metal applications needed, Sibanye-Stillwater headlines

    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. To replace declining demand for the autocatalysis that curbs emissions from vehicle exhausts, new longer-term platinum group metal (PGM) applications are required, Sibanye-Stillwater headlined at its South Africa Capital Markets Day. Flashed on to the screen under the headline were three initiatives in which the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed PGM mining and marketing company is investing. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) These initiatives include: the substitution of iridium with ruthenium in proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser catalysts;a palladium-based application for the purification of hydrogen;the substitution of platinum with palladium in glass bushing applications;a multi-year programme focused on identification, evaluation, development and commercialisation of industrial applications using PGMs; andthe development of a radioactive palladium isotope derived from rhodium for use in targeted radionuclide therapy. "We're investing in creating new demand. We prefer industrial demand. It's stickier, it's in an application for longer, and it's certainly not metal that's suddenly going to come back to market and flood it over," Sibanye-Stillwater Sales & Marketing EVP Kleantha Pillay commented. Sibanye-Stillwater's electrolyser catalyst project with Heraeus is focused on replacing an iridium oxide catalyst with ruthenium, a more cost-effective catalyst and a less scarce metal. "What this does is it provides more confidence to OEMs and users that this technology is actually something sustainable that can be used. We've got the metal for it, and it's not going to cost an arm and a leg." Pillay explained at the event covered by Mining Weekly. The other initiative Pillay singled out for reiteration was Sibanye-Stillwater's collaboration with Johnson Matthey and Valterra. "We've kicked off a longer term programme, and here the real initial focus is on actually finding the projects and originating ideas, technologies, chemistries that we can work on, develop and commercialise into applications that start using our PGMs,. "So, the early part of the collaboration is really focused on origination, and we're not just looking at projects coming out of Johnson Matthey. We're also looking at projects coming out of startups, academic institutions, and research groups," Pillay added. As Pillay re-emphasised the need, in her conclusion, for longer-term investment in market demand amid internal combustion engines decline in her conclusion, flashed on to the screen were these words: "Longer term green hydrogen market grows and market development investments to create new applications for PGMs." Interestingly, shortly before Sibanye-Stillwater's Capital Day, South Africa's government communication medium #GovZAUpdates reported that as part of a working visit to China, a South African delegation led by Deputy President Paul Mashatile had met with the International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association, led by Secretary-General Wang Ju, who promotes the development and adoption of hydrogen energy and fuel cell technologies. South African PGM companies will also be taking part in the upcoming Shanghai Platinum Week in China from July 6 to 10. The working meeting is said to have provided an important opportunity to advance technology transfer, build local manufacturing capabilities and support skills development in South Africa. As part of its 15th Five-Year Plan now under way to 2030, China is accelerating structural shifts across AI, hydrogen, environmental protection, and carbon reduction. PGMs, which underpin these national priorities, are being reinforced as critical and strategic. The World Economic Forum noted in a release on June 25 that China's Five-Year Plan prioritises green energy. "China...

    5 min
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