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  1. hace 7 h

    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

  2. hace 8 h

    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

  3. hace 9 h

    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

  4. hace 11 h

    Strikes, soaring costs and M&A await BHP's new CEO Craig

    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. Newly minted BHP CEO Brandon Craig faces a crowded in-tray as he takes mining's top job on July 1, from threatened iron ore strikes and ballooning costs to a potential uranium push and a febrile M&A backdrop that could yield fresh opportunities. The 53-year-old starts as geopolitical instability and inflation persist, and as BHP shares trade near a record high hit last week on investor bets that data centres, energy and defence will drive demand for copper and other metals. "Cost control is definitely a priority in this inflationary environment, especially after the Jansen blowout," said Elan Miller, a deputy portfolio manager at Blackwattle Investment Partners, which owns BHP shares. For investors, concerns about inflation and cost overshoots have intensified after BHP last week flagged a $2.3-billion charge due to overruns and a delay at its Jansen Stage 2 project which was under Craig's purview as head of Americas. "Capex increases are on everyone's mind, and BHP has other major projects underway," said Glyn Lawcock, head of resources research at Barrenjoey in Sydney. Those projects include BHP's Vicuna copper joint venture in Argentina and Chile, and Copper South Australia, where a decision on a multibillion-dollar smelter expansion is due by year-end. Miller said labour relations and productivity in South America and Australia were also major issues. An immediate challenge will be the growing threat of industrial action in Australia's iron-ore heartland, with unions escalating tensions at BHP's Port Hedland operations and threatening to mount coordinated strikes for the first time in decades if talks on July 7 fail. M&A ON THE BACKBURNER Craig is not expected to immediately follow in his predecessor Mike Henry's footsteps chasing major M&A. However, in the current environment, opportunities could still come knocking. BHP pursued Anglo American in the past two years but the London-listed miner opted instead to merge with Teck Resources. When that deal completes, the merged entity could become appealing again, depending on valuations, investors and analysts say. "BHP and diversified peer Rio are expected to continue to target growth inorganically and organically. BHP's valuation premium positions them well to pursue M&A," said Baden Moore, an analyst with CLSA in Sydney. Glencore has made no secret of its ambitions to get bigger and allow major investors to exit but has been rebuffed, at least for now, by its number one target Rio Tinto, with talks subject to a six-month standstill. In March, sources said that Glencore CEO Gary Nagle was hoping a surge in coal prices would help bring Rio Tinto back to the table for a fresh attempt at creating the world's biggest mining company. While BHP has maintained a focus on growing its own assets, people familiar with Glencore's thinking said a friendly approach for a conversation by the Swiss trader and miner couldn't be ruled out. Glencore and BHP declined to comment on mergers and acquisitions. URANIUM AMBITION One area for growth could be uranium, a business that BHP has recently commented on more than in the past. However, it sees achieving sufficient returns from the tiny market as a major hurdle, investors and analysts said. Craig told one investor that he would have a "really good look at uranium, but scale is hard." The investor declined to be named because it was against company policy. Uranium demand is expected to grow as power-hungry data centres boost the need for new generation capacity, including nuclear plants, while governments also look to diversify their energy sources in the wake of the Iran war. Analysts point to potential from BHP's Australian copper expansion, where the company already produces around 5% of global uranium suppl...

    5 min

  5. hace 1 día

    Sibanye-Stillwater's mass of metal 'probably one of planet earth's biggest'

    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. This is an incredible endowment and we are executing a deliberate strategy to extract more value from every single square meter of our resource base, an ebullient Sibanye-Stillwater COO Richard Cox asserted categorically at this week's South Africa Capital Markets Day, where he described the company's 70 km of contiguous platinum group metal (PGM) operational activity, many brownfield projects and integrated processing facilities as being "probably one of the biggest single metal accumulations on the planet". To get a good view of it, he said one would probably have to be 40 km above surface – and the blue shown on the attached Creamer Media video highlights the large number of new possibilities that offer long-life production. "We have a very high quality underground PGM business, long-life assets, operations delivering season in and season out, a credible brownfields growth pipeline, and a super passionate team that's excited to work in the PGM environment," Cox pointed out at the event covered by Mining Weekly. Moreover, the upper group two (UG2) orebody on the western limb of South Africa's superbly endowed Bushveld Complex – the world's most concentrated source of platinum group metals (PGMs) – has significantly higher value per square metre than the Merensky reef, which itself contributes platinum, gold and base metals to support crucial smelter balance. When the metals that are recoverable are aggregated, the UG2 provides about 30% more, owing to its higher grades of rhodium, ruthenium and chrome. The leveraging chrome technology enables the recovery of fine chrome from UG2 tailings. "Chrome is no longer just a byproduct in our thinking. It's a deliberate additional value stream that improves margins and strengthens project economics. We see a pathway to becoming one of the top five significant chrome ore producers in the world," Cox said "What's very exciting about the UG2 is that these resources are shallow. They open themselves up for low-cost mechanised mining, and that's the future of the western limb for Sibanye-Stillwater," which described itself as a "Proudly South African producer of 27% of South African PGM production". By increase exposure to high-grade PGMs, UG2 is providing the foundation for a more competitive PGM business. Sibanye-Stillwater has several mining projects at various stages along the confidence curve, such as Siphumelele and Thembelani, which are in execution, Marikana's East Four Extension, Kopaneng Extension, East Three Extension, and Bathopele. Secondary mining projects include repurposing the WLTR concentrator for UG2 surface material, largely chrome, precious metal refinery, as well as smelter optionality. Brownfields UG2 projects are expected to maintain the 1.5-million-ounce underground production profile and increase the lower-risk UG2 contribution to 80% by 2035. The prill split of the South Africa PGM business positions this Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company well with a substantial amount of its chrome moving into contract arrangement with Glencore. "We've got a very high-quality metal basket. Our chrome management agreement further strengthens our position in chrome recovery, and we're actively investing to sustain and grow a competitive position inside Africa," said Cox. Marikana's got 45 years of mine life and Rustenburg 32. "K4 proved that we can execute. Siphumelele and Thembelani will prove that we can scale that execution across the footprint. If market conditions change, we can pull back. If they expand, we can lean into that as well. "We've got a new surface business emerging. What DRDGOLD's able to do in gold, we're going to do in PGM," Cox promised.

    4 min

  6. hace 1 día

    Anglo, Codelco inks definitive agreement for joint mine plan in Chile

    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. Diversified miner Anglo American has completed a definitive agreement with Chile's State-owned miner Codelco to implement a joint mine plan for their respective Los Bronces and Andina copper mines. Anglo inked the agreement through its 50.1%-owned subsidiary, Anglo American Sur. The joint mine plan is expected to unlock 2.7-million tonnes of additional copper over a 21-year period, delivering an average 120 000 t/y of additional low-cost copper production to be shared equally with minimal capital investment required. The companies expect the move to create at least $5-billion in shared value. Implementation of the joint mine plan remains conditional on the relevant environmental permits being secured, as well as other customary conditions to final implementation, which should all be finalised by 2030. Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad says the agreement with Codelco demonstrates what is possible through partnerships, particularly to unlock compelling industries synergies and deliver significant value for multiple companies. "The next important milestone for Los Bronces - Andina is the timely receipt of the permits which will allow us to begin delivering the additional volume and value that we are targeting, for the benefit of all our stakeholders, and for Chile," he adds, referring to Chile's ambition to increase national copper production to six-million tonnes a year by 2030. By integrating the Los Bronces and Andina mine plans, it will comprise one of the most significant copper adjacency opportunities globally. Codelco chairperson Bernardo Fontaine says the agreement represents a more efficient and responsible way to develop one of the world's leading copper districts, allowing the companies to make better use of existing infrastructure, capture greater benefits for Chile and move forward with a long-term vision based on operational excellence, sustainability and responsible use of resources. "It is a tangible example of how collaboration can generate greater value without compromising the thoroughness, discipline, and commitment that Codelco demands today. The Andina–Los Bronces Joint Mine Plan reflects the principles that guide Codelco today: safety; maximizing returns to the State, while ensuring operations remain profitable without increasing debt; putting the house in order with firm leadership and transparency; and strengthening sustainability," Fontaine concludes.

    2 min

  7. hace 2 días

    Sibanye-Stillwater declares its South African platinum assets 'world's best'

    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 you gave me an option to have any portfolio of platinum group metals (PGM) assets in the world, this is the portfolio I would take – without a doubt, Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Dr Richard Stewart declared unequivocally as he pointed out his company's South Africa PGM asset base during Capital Markets Day on Tuesday, June 23. Stewart outlined how the "magnificent" asset suite, which hosts two-million-plus PGM ounces, is providing the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Sibanye-Stillwater with size, scale, timing, mining method, and orebody optionality, in its building of a long-term 30- to 40-year PGM business on the western limb of South Africa's endowed Bushveld Complex, the world's most concentrated PGMs source. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Flashing across the screen as Stewart presented were Sibanye-Stillwater's contiguous mine-to-market portfolio of PGM operations labelled as Anglo American Platinum (Rustenburg), Aquarius (Kroondal) and Lonmin (Marikana). "We're sitting with a huge amount of optionality within the company. There's no other PGM business in the world that has that kind of optionality … and the opportunity we've got is how best to create value through that optionality, and that's the strategy we've put together," an upbeat Stewart told investors, analysts and media. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) While the PGM mining industry is pretty certain about what is going to happen for the next ten years, it is less certain about what could happen beyond that, owing to structural vehicle change. "It could be stable. It could go down a little bit, or it could significantly ramp up as we find new demand. To have our level of flexibility, to be able to deliver into that market wherever it changes, is unique." Contiguous resources were intentionally targeted for two reasons. Number one, to realise value through operational synergies and savings, something learnt during many years of gold mining. Number two, to reimagine resource extraction by dropping mine boundaries. "We've only done the first step so far and in doing that first step, we've been able to realise almost R3-billion savings per year. That's been banked, just by putting these three together. I think it's well known what these operations have returned more than seven and a half times what we paid for them, just through that." The acquisitions of the three mines at the time of purchase were based on life of mine and synergies alone. Not yet unpacked is the value of dropping mine boundaries. Not yet unpacked is the value of investing within the resources that came with the operations. That is only being started now at a time when Sibanye-Stillwater owns 100% of the property. "You're going to see how, by dropping a simple mine boundary across significant mines like Bambanani and Siphumelele, which were due to close within the next two years, are now going to have plus ten to 15, years and unlock hundreds of thousands of resources that were previously sterilised, that could not be mined by Aquarius, could not be mined by Anglo. "They tried. They had technical plans. You couldn't make it economically liable, but by dropping that boundary, suddenly we've unlocked tens of years of mineral resource, and that's why, I'll say it again, this is the best portfolio of PGM assets that you'll find in the industry today," Stewart reiterated at the event covered by Mining Weekly.

    3 min

  8. hace 2 días

    Iluka secures $1.2bn loan from Australia for rare earths refinery

    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. Iluka Resources said on Tuesday that the Australian government has provided a A$1.65-billion ($1.15-billion) non-recourse loan to build the Eneabba rare earths refinery in Western Australia. Iluka said the loan access was confirmed by Export Finance Australia, the country's export credit agency. The funding comes as Western countries look to reduce their dependence on rare earths from China, the largest producer, for the materials that are vital for electric vehicles and other technologies. Iluka expects the first tranche of the funding, comprising A$1.25-billion, to be fully drawn by 2026-end, when Eneabba is expected to be 75% complete. The refinery is currently over 50% complete, the company said. Eneabba will be Australia's first fully integrated rare earths refinery, according to the company. The miner said Civmec has been awarded a contract for structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation works at the refinery. Separately, Iluka said it had concluded a binding agreement for the supply of magnet rare earth oxides to an unnamed global automotive company. The agreement has an initial term of four years, and represents about 10% of Iluka's planned production over that period. Iluka expects revenue over the contract period to be $155-million minimum and $172-million assuming prices forecast by the industry.

    2 min
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