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  1. hace 7 h

    R964m to be spent at Sibanye-Stillwater's K4 platinum group metals project

    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. Remaining project capital of R964-milion of the total of R4.4-billion in real 2026 terms is to be spent this year and next on Sibanye-Stillwater's K4 platinum group metals (PGMs) project at Marikana in South Africa's North West Province. The project is on track for steady state production in 2033 and has a 48-year economic life, which bodes well for the community of the Rustenburg municipal area in particular. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Ramp-up of production at K4 began in the second quarter of 2022 and the operation is expected to employ 4 380 people when it reaches steady state. Already 77% complete, K4 has a net present value of R17.6-billion and is described as "a high-return project" underpinned by extensive existing infrastructure. Monthly rock break is projected to be at a rate of 39 000 m2/m and monthly reef hoisting 190 000 t/m, which equates at steady state to 21 000 four element (4E) ounces a month and 250 000 oz a year. The reef mix of 55% Merensky and 45% upper group two is described as being key for the smelting strategy within Sibanye-Stillwater's PGM segment. This was spelt out by Sibanye-Stillwater EVP mining operations Dawie van Aswegen, in his overview of the Johannesburg stock Exchange-listed company's South Africa PGM operations, which stretches from the town of Brits to the town of Rustenburg, in the lower section of the western limb of the PGM-rich Igneous Bushveld Complex. Sibanye-Stillwater commenced its PGM business in mid-2016, when it acquired Aquarius Platinum. Later that same year, it acquired the Rustenburg platinum mines from the then Anglo American Platinum, which is now Valterra Platinum. K4 was acquired from Lonmin in 2019 and that acquisition marked the conclusion of Sibanye-Stillwater's South Africa PGM acquisition strategy. "The orebody is homogeneous, so what that means is that it stretches all 70 km from east to west, and it's got a constant of dip of nine degrees from south to north," Van Aswegen explained during his presentation covered by Mining Weekly. Sibanye-Stillwater's underground PGM business consists of six trackless mechanised operations and eight conventional operations, with 44 000 people employed it total, own employees as well as contractor employees. From inception, the PGM operations have met annual guidance. Owing to a closure at Marikana and a shaft reaching end of its life at Kroondal, slight production reductions have been recorded but "this was partly countered by the gradual buildup of our K4 operations at our Marikana operations", Van Aswegen pointed out. Optimisation, restructuring, and a simple operating model resulted in a right-sized PGM segment, added Van Aswegen, who described operating cost per 6E ounce as being comparable to "the lowest of our peers". Increased stay-in-business (SIB) capital spend per 6E ounce is also said to rank below two of peers. On average, for the last couple of years, in the region of R4.5-billion had been spent on ore reserve development (ORD) and SIB capital requirements, with continuous ORD being under way at conventional shafts and SIB per 6E ounce comparing well with peers since 2023. However, a primary mining profile in steady decline – excluding projects – was displayed on the screen. "If we look at our primary mining outlook, there's a drop in profile but also very important to note is that this excludes our East 4, Siphumelele and Thembelani projects," Van Aswegan pointed out. But despite the declining profile, the cost forecast would remain competitive, with all-in sustaining costs benefiting from by-product credits that include chrome. In general, the SIB capital spending involves 9% of total operating cost for trackless mobile machinery operations, and 7% for conventional...

    6 min

  2. hace 11 h

    China expands strategic mineral toolkit with new investment firm

    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 new, Beijing-backed mining investment vehicle is aimed at bolstering China's grip on overseas resources, as the country pushes back against US and European efforts to curb its dominance of the mineral supply chain. Chinese companies have been aggressive buyers and builders of overseas mining assets for more than a decade, with a few champions leading the way. At a time when Western rivals were under shareholder pressure to cut spending, firms from the world's top metals consumer expanded in Congo's copper and cobalt production, took stakes in key iron-ore projects and transformed Indonesia's nickel industry. But fresh challenges — including more demanding producer nations and rising geopolitical tensions — have prompted Beijing to increase the number of tools at its disposal when it comes to managing strategic supply chains, according to people familiar with the matter. Guangyan International Investment Company will be part of a broader effort led by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which oversees economic planning, the people said. The relatively new company will be used to provide support ranging from direct equity investment to advice on compliance, risk-management and market conditions. China is seeking to standardize its process for international metals deals to improve oversight of proceedings, the people said, asking not to be identified given the sensitive nature of discussions. Miners will also be encouraged to manage their risk by bringing in other partners, rather than taking full ownership of projects, especially as costs rise and political challenges become more complex. Guangyan, which also uses the English name Vast Rock International Investment, does not appear to sit within the upper ranks of Chinese political hierarchy — but it fits neatly with Beijing's efforts to increase control over its supply chain. In the iron-ore industry, China Mineral Resources Group has already been working to tighten the country's control of purchasing and to increase the steel sector's bargaining power. NDRC did not immediately respond to faxed queries. Guangyan did not respond to telephone calls and questions sent to its registered email address. China has been a major investor in overseas resources for since the early 2000s, taking large bets on vital minerals, including in jurisdictions where most Western mining giants have been reluctant to buy, from Tajikistan to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The spree, combined with heavy investment in processing at home, helped create an unparalleled grip on the mineral supply chain. Over the last two decades, Chinese companies have spent over $100-billion in strategic outbound merger and acquisition deals in the mining sector, according to Bain & Co, with copper, iron-ore and gold assets among the most sought after. But increasingly, deals have become fraught. Minerals have become a flashpoint in global geopolitics, as supply chain shocks and an increased awareness of China's dominance pushes countries to respond with investment and industrial policies of their own. The US has been seeking allies to build an alternative supply chain from China, including by concluding partnerships with Congo to grant US investors preferential access to the African nation's metal deposits of copper, cobalt, lithium and tantalum. The European Union, and countries including Japan, are trying to catch up too. Producer nations have also begun demanding more from natural resources companies, eager to create higher-value jobs and more tax revenue. Congo began export controls on cobalt last year. Guinea, the world's biggest bauxite producer, has discussed plans to limit shipments of the material used to make alumina. The country also wants the companies...

    5 min

  3. hace 3 días

    Platinum receives major retail boost at Shanghai Platinum Week 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. Platinum has received a major boost from a strategic agreement signed at Shanghai Platinum Week 2026 at a time of rapid expansion of China's platinum bar and coin market. The boost is the result of Beijing's Caibai signing a strategic agreement with the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC). The agreement involves the introduction of the first-ever platinum investment bar series to be stocked by Caibai, a time-honoured gold bar and coin retailer, which turns 50 this year. With immediate effect, a series of seven 30 g platinum investment bars have hit the market "The growing interest in platinum as an investment product presents an exciting opportunity for us, and we have added the first platinum investment bar series to our range to give our customers more choice and enable them to access this market. We believe that there is significant development potential for platinum investment," Caibai GM Caigang Ning stated. "Our partnership with Caibai supports WPIC's broader strategy of expanding platinum investment demand by improving retail accessibility. Caibai's strong reputation and high footfall provide a compelling platform to introduce platinum to an even wider base of Chinese investors," WPIC Asia Pacific regional head Weibin Deng added in the release to Mining Weekly. Caibai's dual role as jewellery retailer and bullion distributor reflects a distinctive feature of Asian precious metals markets, where jewellery has long held a quasi-investment function. High-purity pieces are commonly purchased as both adornment and a store of value, with pricing often closely linked to underlying metal prices. This has led to a high degree of interchangeability between jewellery and investment products, making it common for retailers to offer both. Consumers frequently make jewellery purchases with the expectation that the items can be resold or exchanged based on metal content, reinforcing precious metals as a trusted investment vehicle. The addition of platinum bars to Caibai's range is therefore a natural progression, positioning the metal within an already well-established retail investment framework. It also comes at a time of rapid expansion in China's platinum bar and coin market, which has grown from negligible levels in 2018 to an estimated 404 000 oz in 2025. Meanwhile, industry leaders from across the global platinum group metals (PGM) value chain are engaging in Shanghai on the opportunities and challenges shaping the sector. Other takeaways from the Shanghai Platinum Week are the manner in which AI is driving PGM demand through printed circuit board demand growth. Much of the expenditure in optical crystal production centres on platinum and iridium needed for the crucibles to grow the crystals. Fibreglass production has grown from 5.8-million tons in 2021 to 8.13-million tons in 2025 in China alone, with exports having doubled to 1.95-million tons. Production capacity for low dielectric constant/low loss yarn made using PGM bushings needs to be expanded. China's platinum and palladium markets have developed following the launch of futures and options contracts on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX), which was launched after last year's Shanghai Platinum Week. GFEX is said to have contributed to improved price discovery, with platinum open interest averaging around 620 000 oz and average daily trading volumes of 186 000 oz. A key potential milestone will be qualified foreign Investor approval. If granted, this could allow broader international participation and make the natural arbitrage between GFEX and global exchanges more accessible.

    4 min

  4. hace 3 días

    Martin Creamer talks about Northern Cape copper and South African PGMs

    Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the growing activity in copper exploration and mining in the Northern Cape; Mintek's plans to add value to the South African platinum group metals (PGMs) sector; and Sibanye-Stillwater's growing PGM project portfolio in South Africa.

    6 min

  5. hace 3 días

    Prairie Lithium takes delivery of four-column DLE unit on site in Saskatchewan

    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. ASX-listed Prairie Lithium has taken delivery of North America's largest commercial direct lithium extraction (DLE) unit comprising four columns at its Prairie project, in Saskatchewan, marking another milestone as the company advances toward Phase 1 commercial lithium production. The arrival of the DLE unit represents a derisking event and enables the next phase of equipment installation and commissioning, which remains on track for the fourth quarter of the year. Prairie has already established substantial infrastructure on site, including production and disposal wells, electrical infrastructure and a power transformer. The DLE unit is about four times larger than the commercial DLE system currently deployed at Standard Lithium's Arkansas project, where a single column was installed in March 2024 and is achieving industry-leading results. "This milestone demonstrates the scale of Prairie's Phase 1 development and our ambition to become a leading commercial DLE producer in North America," says chairperson Paul Lloyd. Lithium produced from Phase 1 operations is already secured under a binding offtake agreement with Hydro Lithium, which will purchase 100% of production.

    2 min

  6. hace 4 días

    Mintek spells out value of PGM preconcentration plus chrome recovery

    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. Successful removal of coarse waste is beneficial in that it reduces power requirements in the milling circuit, lowers water requirements, and increases platinum group metal (PGM) feed grades. With preconcentration, a head grade of, for example, 2 g/t can be as much as doubled to 4 g/t, resulting in PGMs being valuably increased in the circuit. Displayed was a PGM grade of 1.7 g/t being uplifted to 4.8 g/t through dense medium separation (DMS), at a flotation loss of around 0.4 g/t. Mining benefits include being able to lower the cutoff grade, which increases the reserves and provides the opportunity to extend the life of the mine, Mintek physical separation head Gertrude Marape pointed out during Mintek's PGM Day covered by Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Mintek flexibly provides clients with options. "Some clients already know the techniques, the technology that they want to use. Some ask us to advise, but essentially, we work with everyone," Marape stated in providing comprehensive information on the benefits of upfront waste rejection and chrome removal in PGM circuits. Marape was one of a dozen Mintek managers, engineers and scientists who presented in the auditorium of this 92-year-old State-owned research organisation, which is situated at 200 Malibongwe Drive in Randburg. While typical PGM reefs are Merensky, upper group two (UG2) and Platreef, Marape also paid attention to the PGMs present in chrome reefs such as lower group (LG) reef, middle group (MG) reef and, of course, UG2 reef. Mintek has found that it is easier to introduce a preconcentration stage on a greenfield project than it is at a brownfield project. As much as some brownfield projects were metallurgically suitable, practical implementation has generally been found to be inappropriate. Information was provided on the recovery of PGMs from the tailings of chrome-rich MG and LG reefs as well as UG2. In the work that Mintek has done, PGMs lost in the chromite concentrate ranged from 0.7 g/t to 0.8 g/t. Displayed was also significant enhancing of chrome recovery from secondary flotation. Mintek's studies show that upfront preconcentration is viable but mineralogy dependent. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work, but if it works, there's value in it, because then it reduces capital expenditure and operational expenditure of plants, lowers cutoff grade and also provides flexibility in the cases of PGM extraction being amenable to mechanised or conventional mining methods, Marape noted. Moreover, Mintek's experience regarding interstage chrome removal is that it provides better yields and higher chrome recovery but that this will be accompanied by some loss of PGMs to chromite concentrate. In addition, PGMs and chrome are recoverable from MG, LG and UG2 reefs, which uplifts revenue potential. PGMs come mainly from the Bushveld Igneous Complex's three limbs – the western, eastern, and northern limbs. While typical reefs are Merensky, UG2 and Platreef, there are also PGMs in chrome reefs such as LG reef and MG reef. While LG and MG reefs are initially mined mainly for their chrome, PGMs are there for the taking in LG and MG tailings. Displayed were infographics showing typical upfront coarse waste rejection, done after crushing and before milling. Most of the reefs have a lot of pyroxenite gangue in them and the rejection of this coarse waste in them can be through DMS or through sorting – dry on-site processing – depending on which is more beneficial and with greater throughput also being taken into consideration. Mintek used to provide on-site sorters but now has partnerships with various sorting companies and can link clients to these suppliers. The purpose of coarse waste rejection is to rejec...

    6 min

  7. hace 4 días

    Viridis announces industry-leading MRE on Colossus rare earths project

    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. ASX-listed Viridis Mining & Minerals has upgraded the mineral resource estimate (MRE) of its Colossus rare earths project, in Brazil, following targeted infill drilling. The measured and indicated MRE of the project is now an industry-leading 305-million tonnes grading 2 723 parts per million (ppm) of total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 659 ppm of TREO, respectively. Notably, the programme identified a measured mineral resource of 31-million tonnes grading 2 858 ppm TREO and 758 ppm mixed rare earth oxides (MREO), providing the company with a high-confidence resource foundation for the highest-value years of planned production supported by outstanding project economics, strong early cash flows and rapid capital payback. Viridis reports the Colossus mineral resource totals 473-million tonnes grading 2 505 ppm TREO and 592 ppm MREO. High value magnet rare earths continue to comprise 24% of the TREO within the measured and indicated resource. Viridis says the substantial measured mineral resource supports an anticipated conversion of the initial production schedule to proven ore reserves as part of the project's definitive feasibility study. This satisfies a key requirement for project debt financing and represents a major step towards a final investment decision on the project during the second half of the year. "The Colossus project continues to set the global benchmark for ionic adsorption clay rare earth developments through its combination of world's highest-grade measured and indicated MREO mineral resource, industry-leading measured resource grade supporting the early years of planned production, proven reserve conversion pathway supported by exceptional geological confidence, industry-leading metallurgical recoveries using a near-neutral pH leach process and significant potential for further resource growth," explains Viridis MD Rafael Moreno. Moreno mentions that the current MRE covers only 12% of Viridis' landholding, however, Colossus already hosts almost half a billion tonnes of mineralisation and the world's highest-grade measured and indicated MREO resource. "This is not just a geological milestone, it is a financing milestone. Defining more than five years of measured resources for the initial mine plan satisfies a key technical requirement for project debt financing," Moreno says.

    3 min

  8. hace 5 días

    First phase of Sibanye-Stillwater's secondary mining thrust given thumbs up

    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 lower-risk secondary mining business, which focuses on extracting value from platinum group metals (PGM) surface waste that hosts chrome, is being built by the South Africa PGM Operations of Sibanye-Stillwater. The opportunity lies in unlocking PGM and chrome value from the large, accessible upper group two (UG2) tailings resources on surface. UG2 tailings retreatment, fine chrome recovery and processing capability are creating a new value stream. The first part of the surface processing strategy – Phase 1 of the WLTR recovery plant upgrade project – has already arrived. This phase, which involves treating tailings to recover chrome as well as PGMs, supports the broader South Africa PGM Operations surface retreatment strategy. The feasibility study has been completed, board approval has been received, and construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of this year, with commissioning expected by the end of 2027, Sibanye-Stillwater executive VP processing Lucas Msimanga reported during the Capital Day covered by Mining Weekly. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) The projected capital is R0.9-billion, payback is two years, Phase 1's economic life is six years, net present value is R1-billion, internal rate of return is 43%, and operating costs were described by an upbeat Msimanga as being "very competitive". Historical UG2 tailings storage facilities (TSFs) across the Rustenburg and Marikana regions provide the material, the primary value driver is chrome coupled to meaningful PGM upside, and available PGM concentrator capacity offers the capability of recovering PGMs in an integrated and efficient manner. With a switch to magnetic processing technologies, the surface resources also present a significant chrome recovery opportunity. A million tons of historic UG2 tailings are there for the taking and Sibanye-Stillwater has vast processing and tailings infrastructure spread across 70 km of PGM footprint to handle current and future mining output. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange- and New York Stock Exchange-listed mining and marketing company's vast footprint takes in Marikana as well as the Rustenburg region, and within the footprint are concentrators for primary processing of the material from the underground operations. Capacity is adequate to process the current and future projects. Total available concentrate capacity across Sibanye-Stillwater's South Africa PGM operations is 1 605 000 t a month. All of this is linked to long-term TSFs. The life of the Paardekraal TSF in Rustenburg extends to 2060, as does the Marikana Pits TSF and Hoedspruit in Marikana extends to 2044. "We've got the capacity to dispose of those tailings safely, as well as in an environment-friendly manner. "When processing, we continuously seek to improve recoveries. We're benchmarking internally as well as externally, and we want to raise recoveries as high as possible," Msimanga pointed out. Standout 36% recovery is being achieved by the WTD5, Hoedspruit and Marikana Pits TSFs, with recoveries from the other TSFs ranging from 11% to 17%. "Our objective is to get close as possible to the 36%, which will be done by optimisation of the TSF operations and the deployment of the right technology," said Msimanga, who drew attention to the focus of Sibanye-Stillwater's seven relatively shallow primary adjoining mining projects also being largely on UG2 reef, which, provided the company continues to invest appropriately across concentrators, supports operational reliability. Targeted sustaining capital has maintained high equipment availability and recovery performance. This approach supports structurally lower unit costs. The result is a flexible processing platform that supports processing requirements of curren...

    6 min
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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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