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With first-quarter gold production down 34% at South Deep gold mine, Gold Fields is focusing on setting up the well-endowed long-life Gauteng operation for longevity, quality ounces and sustainable production increases.
The challenging quarter of the bulk mechanised mine near Westonaria, west of Johannesburg, which has been built to extract one of the world's largest gold deposits, is focusing the resolve of the Johannesburg- and New York-listed Gold Fields to increase backfill tipping points, increase long-hole stope drilling and improve ventilation, road conditions and service utilities underground.
In the three months to March 31, Gold Fields' overall attributable production from all of its mines was 464 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1 738/oz and an all-in cost of $2 115/oz, of which South Deep contributed only 56 300 oz.
Impacting South Deep's operational momentum was the fatal injury to a trackless engineering supervisor in an incident involving trackless mining equipment underground.
On the 23 000-employee company's commitment to ensure safety, new Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser stated in a release to Mining Weekly: "We have fallen far short of our commitment."
A second fatal incident occurred at Gold Fields' St Ives mine in Australia when the employee of a contractor was fatally injured in a mobile equipment-related incident at a construction site on the mine.
An independent review of the group's safety processes, systems and practices is being conducted by DSS+, formerly Du Pont.
Salares Norte gold project in Chile, which Gold Fields has taken from discovery to production in 13 years, is progressing slower than anticipated with 2024 gold equivalent production now expected to be between 220 000 oz and 240 000 oz.
Salares Norte has a payback period of less than three years at current gold prices and extensive exploration drilling is under way to identify further opportunities to extend the Salares Norte life-of-mine.
Meanwhile, in Ghana, a joint venture (JV) proposal between Gold Fields' Tarkwa mine and AngloGold Ashanti's neighbouring Iduapriem mine has the potential to create Africa's largest gold mine.
In addition to leveraging operating efficiencies to unlock higher grades and enabling an extension of life to at least 18 years, the JV, which has still to be approved, creates compelling shared value for all stakeholders.
In Canada, the Windfall project in Quebec, which is a 50:50 JV with Canada's Osisko Mining, is expected to decide on mine construction in late 2024 or early 2025.
Gold Fields reports that its investments in renewable electricity projects are paying dividends in the form of greater energy supply security, reduced energy costs and lower carbon emissions.
Construction of the renewable power project at St Ives at a cost of $195-million is under way to become operational towards the end of 2025.
Female representation is at 25% and $3.8-billion worth of value has gone to economies in West Africa, South America, Australia and South Africa. Of this, 33% of the total was shared with host communities through employment and procurement.
The process to transition the operating model from a three-layered organisation - group, region and asset - to a two-layer global functional guidance model of group and assets is expected to provide stronger functional leadership, guidance and support to the assets.
With the regional layer removed, the group's Australian and African operations will report into Martin Preece, who has been appointed as COO.
Stuart Mathews, who was previously executive VP Australia, has retired from Gold Fields, and Joshua Mortoti, who was previously executive VP: Ghana, has left the company.
Both executive VP roles will not be replaced as the company transitions to the new operating model.
The Cerro Corona and Salares Norte mines in South America will continue to report to the executive VP South Americ

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Last month copper mining company Copper 360 surprised on the upside by producing its first copper concentrate from surface material well ahead of schedule.
Now, this month, it is doing the same on the underground mining front in that it will be opening its Rietberg underground copper mine three months ahead of schedule.
It both instances, this Johannesburg Stock Exchange's AltX-listed company, headed by CEO Jan Nelson, is helping to return South Africa's Northern Cape to being the substantial copper mining hub that it was two decades ago.
"All the credit has to go to our team," an upbeat Nelson told Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
Copper 360 has already de-risked itself from having only one processing plant to more than one plant and Rietberg is now providing more ore, which de-risks the business still further.
Moreover, the company is building up to generate cash flow, which is important for a mining business.
"We've spent close to R800-million on capital expenditure to get here and now it's time to make some money and give the shareholders their return and cash flow is now happening," said Nelson.
Rietberg's first development underground is now scheduled to take place in the first half of this year, amid instalment sale agreements having been entered into for the financing of dedicated underground equipment for the mine.
The equipment is financed with instalment sale agreements, payable over a period of 36 months.
The agreement entered into for the procurement of underground mining equipment is with Epiroc Financial Solutions AB and it will facilitate the extraction of sulphide ore.
Delivery of the equipment will take place in phases and will consist of a fleet of Epiroc and AARD underground equipment, ranging from loaders, haulers, drill rigs, scissors lifts, scalers, and a grader.
Another twin boom drill machine is also on the way as part of the first sequence and then in two to three months, a similar flow of equipment will again be received.
Mining Weekly: What do you expect the initial production output to be at Rietberg once mining commences and what will a steady state potentially look like?
Nelson: Initially, we will ramp up from about 15 000 t to 35 000 t and eventually over a three to four month period that will go to close to 50 000 run-of-mine tonnes per month from the mine.
How much copper does the total Rietberg resource contain and what are its grades like?
At the moment, the reserve is estimated at just over 1.2-million tons of copper metal and that gives us a life well in excess of eight to nine years, but we've still got significant upside to drill out. The grades that we're looking at are between 1.2% to 1.6% copper in situ. But the thing to remember there is that we're dealing with considerable widths. This orebody is about 40 m to 50 m wide and continues for about 400 m in length, so it's an extremely wide orebody that runs over its whole width at 1.2% to 1.6% copper.
Indications are that your timing is fortuitous - copper futures are on an upward trend and the trading price of copper is up over 20% since January. Where do you see it heading? Any further North?
From the reports we've gained and looking at certain market analysis, we do think that the copper price is going to move to about $15 000/t. I can't tell you exactly when but you've seen that it has started moving in the right direction, and we're very happy with that.
When do expect the first copper metal to arise from underground material?
Within the first half of this year, and that will also be the first time that a purely copper focused mine in this area has started up in over 21 to 22 years, which is a significant milestone for the area and the company.
Is there anything new to report on the renewable energy generation front?
Not yet, but what's the watch this space.
LARGE RESOURCE
As was reported by Mining Weekly

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ASX- and JSE-listed Orion Minerals has reached the final stages of its acquisition of a controlling interest in the Okiep copper project, located about 570 km north of Cape Town in the Northern Cape.
Strategic funding partner the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) has now obtained internal approvals and counter-signed the addenda to the agreements which will see Orion acquire the controlling interest in Okiep.
In addition, all the supplementary conditions to implement the first phase of the Okiep transaction have been fulfilled, including receipt of the relevant approvals from the Foreign Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank and the South African Takeover Regulation Panel.
Given this, the Okiep transaction agreements have now become unconditional.
"Orion's 641 km2 package of mineral rights holdings in the Okiep copper district represents a highly strategic asset, located in the heart of a rich historic mining camp that produced over two-million tonnes of contained copper under previous ownership, including Newmont and Gold Fields.
"This district is in the early phases of an exciting new chapter in its history, with a huge opportunity to meet surging global demand for copper metal from the electric vehicle and artificial intelligence-driven revolutions that are currently transforming the global economy," Orion MD and CEO Errol Smart said on May 6.
Orion said that it expects to complete the first phase of the Okiep transaction on May 7, with payment of R46-million, made up of R11-million in cash and R35-million settled by way of Orion issuing fully paid ordinary shares.
Orion will at a general meeting to be held on May 23 seek shareholder approval of, among other things, the ratification of the agreement to issue the consideration shares.
The IDC approval has been received for R43.75-million funding for its proportional share of drilling and operating costs for the New Okiep Mining Flat Mines project.
Moreover, a diamond drilling programme started in the Flat Mines area of Okiep in February. Eleven diamond core drill holes have been planned, made up of five holes at Flat Mine East, four holes at Flat Mine South and two holes at Flat Mine North, comprising a total of 5 800 m.
The programme has been designed to confirm historical drilling information and resultant interpretations, provide geotechnical information, and provide additional drill core for confirmatory metallurgical testwork.
Assay results from the first two completed holes at Flat Mine East were reported on April 22 and included the high-quality intercept in drill hole OFMED153 which returned 49 m at 4.89% copper from 231 m to 280 m, including 10.23 m at 12.47% copper.
Drilling is progressing well, Smart said, with the next batch of assay results from this ongoing drill programme expected before month-end.
"Given the major activity at the Okiep copper project, we are looking forward to delivering significant news flow from Okiep in the coming months," Smart added.
Completion of the Flat Mines feasibility study is on schedule for completion in July, Orion said.

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Green hydrogen, which is generated with the benefit of the catalysis that platinum group metals (PGMs) provide, is being increasingly highlighted as a pillar of the global decarbonisation transition that is poised to save the world from ruinous climate change.
News just out is that steps are being taken to locate a green hydrogen production facility in a location where the 2030 Winter Olympics are to be held in the French Alps.
The green hydrogen facility will not only decarbonise stainless steel production at a site in Savoie, France, but it will also provide green hydrogen to decarbonise mobility in the French Alps region where the 2030 Winter Olympics are to be held.
In the process, green hydrogen will be highlighted as the sustainable model of winter tourism.
The electrolysers that produce green hydrogen most efficiently are catalysed by PGMs that South Africa hosts in abundance.
Moreover, the hydrogen fuel cells that provide decarbonised land, air and sea mobility as well as green offgrid and minigrid electricity are also PGMs dependent.
By deciding to use green hydrogen at its Ugitech plant in Ugine, in the French Alps, Swiss Steel Group has evoked this comment from Lhyfe vice-CEO Philippe Desorme: "Green hydrogen can and must be deployed as quickly as possible."
Euronext-listed Lhyfe is designing the green hydrogen production unit to have a capacity up to 12 t a day as part of the plan to develop a local hydrogen ecosystem in the French Alps.
"The energy transition is going to become increasingly necessary to ensure the long-term survival of our industries, and green hydrogen is emerging as one of the pillars of this transition," Desorme added in a release to Mining Weekly.
Ugitech development director Frédéric Perret highlighted in the same release that the next step is to roll out this new green hydrogen solution to all systems for which direct electrification is not a compatible option.
The project planned is expected to eliminate the emission of 16 000 t of carbon dioxide a year.
France aims to install 6.5 GW of low-carbon electrolytic hydrogen production capacity by 2030, rising to 10 GW in 2035, according to a draft update of France's national hydrogen strategy.
Meanwhile, TignesNet.com reports that the Col du Palet, near Tignes, in the French Alps, is utilising a hydrogen fuel cell to supply clean renewable electricity for hikers staying at the mountain hut, the first in Europe to benefit from hydrogen technology.
At the Beijing Winter Olympics in China in 2022, more than 1 000 green hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were operated.
In the stationary power sector, fuel cells can convert hydrogen into electricity without producing any harmful emissions.
EUROPEAN HYDROGEN BANK AUCTION
The European Union has awarded €720-million to green hydrogen projects in the first European Hydrogen Bank auction, Hydrogen Insight reported on April 30.
Three of the auction winners are located in Spain, two in Portugal, one in Finland and one in Norway.
Together will have the capacity to produce 1.58-million tonnes of green hydrogen over ten years for use to produce green steel, green fertiliser, green chemicals as well as to supply green hydrogen derivatives to the maritime sector.
Meanwhile, the Georgia and Tennessee green hydrogen production facilities hydrogen solutions company Plug Power of the US have achieved full nameplate capacity, the World Platinum Investment Council has reported.
Using the country's largest proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser, Plug Power's Georgia plant now produces 15 t of liquid hydrogen a day, and its Tennessee plant contributes an additional 10 t a day. PEM electrolyser efficiency is elevated through the use of PGMs.
Before the end of this year, Plug Power expects to bring an additional 15 t a day of liquid green hydrogen production online from a joint venture plant with Olin, in Louisiana.
Green hydrogen is see

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses Barrick's recently revealed first quarter results where discovery and development were punted as the true drivers of value creation in mining; South Africa’s struggling economy, which could benefit relatively quickly from getting exploration going at pace; and Harmony Gold’s key South African gold projects and its Australian copper project.

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Diversified mining major BHP, which has made a rejected proposal to combine with Anglo American by way of a scheme of arrangement, confirmed on Thursday that it intended maintaining its multi-decade listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
BHPalso emphasised that, under its Anglo proposal, South Africa would continue to benefit from Anglo American Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore operating as independently listed South African companies investing in local operations, communities, and jobs.
The structure of its proposal, including the proposed distribution of Anglo's shares in Anglo Platinum and Kumba to its shareholders, reflected the priorities for BHP's portfolio as well as opportunity for synergies, BHP stated in its release to Mining Weekly.
Shares for the South African platinum and iron-ore businesses would, under the proposed structure, continue to be JSE listed and run by established South African-based management teams.
Moreover, the Australia-headquartered BHP said that the proposed structure did not reflect a view of South Africa as an investment destination and was based on portfolio and commodity considerations.
The great importance it attaches to creating social value for society and communities was also emphasised.
"We believe this structure unlocks immediate value, delivering shareholders and stakeholders access to future growth opportunities and investment currently not available under the existing ownership structure," BHP added.