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Proudly South African Manganese Metal Co (MMC) of Mbombela, Mpumalanga, is making a fantastic first-mover advance to enter the manganese battery metal market, which is advancing super-fast.
To be established is a faster stream to market, which is not only ahead of the global game, but also provides time for this remarkable value-adding company to become a manganese-ore-to-sulphate producer from its current position of being the producer of the world's purest 99.9% pure manganese metal from manganese fines.
"From Mbombela, this is a phenomenal exponential expansion - the South African story taking a big step forward," MMC chairperson Bernard Swanepoel explained to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview in which MMC CEO Louis Nel provided detailed insight. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
MMC has taken the decision to enter the electric vehicle (EV) battery market to meet the urgent needs of some of its customers, who are already taking their own steps to do so by melting MMC's fantastically pure manganese metal and turning it into manganese sulphate themselves.
MMC is now not only following some of its customers, but also becoming a supplier to new entrants.
Manganese is a key component. It brings strength and is relatively cheap when compared with some of the other minerals that go into batteries.
But as much as there is an abundant supply of manganese ore as such, there is absolutely limited capacity to make pure manganese metal, which MMC has been doing for half a century.
"Outside of China, it's only us," said Swanepoel.
While continuing to provide its traditional offering to export markets, MMC will now also be using its pure manganese metal to produce manganese sulphate for batteries, ahead of launching a manganese ore-to-sulphate project.
For 50 years, MMC, described by South Africa's Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies organisation as "a South African industrial jewel that could be much bigger than what it is today", has been transporting manganese waste - fines - from the manganese fields of South Africa's Northern Cape.
It also has well-established logistics to get the manganese metal that it produces from those fines to the ports of Maputo and Durban, and to international markets.
"So, for us, this is not an additional new challenge. There's a cost associated with it, but that is the cost that every supplier in the world faces. We mine where the orebodies are, we beneficiate where there's a competitive advantage, and we need to supply the product in the shape and form that the users want it, where they want it.
"We certainly think in time, some of our facilities may be offshore, but right now, from Mbombela, this is a phenomenal exponential expansion - the South African story taking a big step forward," Swanepoel highlighted.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses developments around Gold Fields’s potential wind energy project at the South Deep Gold Mine; Copper360's Rietberg underground copper mine opening three months ahead of schedule; and South Africa’s economy can benefit quickly from getting mineral exploration going at pace.

The retreatment, or remining, of mine tailings can provide usable land, provide profits for companies and clean the environment by moving the reprocessed tailings to more advanced and well-managed facilities.
Owing to changes in legislation, tailings need to be stored in facilities that are better managed and controlled than historical facilities. This means that the tailings from remined sites are sent to new tailing storage facilities (TSFs), said specialist consulting engineering firm Jones & Wagener environmental engineering closure and rehabilitation associate civil engineer Alice Harvey.
"Typically, existing tailings are present in smaller facilities, but are being sent to be managed more centrally in larger facilities. Processes have changed, stability assessments have improved significantly and facilities are required to be aligned to certain standards to have a much lower, or no, impact on water quality, compared to the historical facilities," she said.
The tailings facilities or mine dumps that have not been rehabilitated still have existing safety risks and environmental impacts that are not being managed. However, if these facilities and dumps are seen as a resource and remined, then there is more control over and management of the risks, she noted.
There are about 6 000 unrehabilitated, dormant or abandoned mining dumps and tailings facilities in South Africa, and about 337 of them are at high risk and need immediate attention, said Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy tailings committee member, hydrogeologist and mine water strategist Dr Kym Morton.
In the industry, mining houses are finding that increasing their efforts in managing their TSFs and retreatment of tailings is an opportunity to improve their social licence.
People in South Africa are familiar with seeing mine dumps daily, especially in Johannesburg, Welkom and along the Witwatersrand belt. There are massive opportunities for South Africa in the way it manages active and abandoned TSFs, including for the minerals in them and potentially to use the materials as building materials, she said.
JSE-listed gold miner DRDGold is processing about 500 000 tonnes a month from one site and recovering about 30 kg of gold. This gives an indication of the throughput that must be maintained to have a financially viable model, highlighted DRDGold CEO Niël Pretorius.
Tailings from multiple smaller sites, usually tens of kilometres apart, need to be transported, processed and then moved to a central tailings site. These operations typically require liquefying the tailings, pumping them and then dewatering them again. Therefore, partner companies are usually involved and a holistic approach to designing the flowsheet must be taken, said minerals and mining engineering company Weir Minerals tailings and backfill global manager Erik Vlot.
No materials that DRDGold reclaims in the Johannesburg area and West Rand are sent back to their original sites where they were reclaimed from. The materials, once processed, are sent to a large central facility, where they are managed to a stricter set of health and environmental standards than when the tailings sites were initially established, said Pretorius.
"South Africa has about 120 years of tailings accumulation on the surface in a small area. Once there is a resource of adequate size, then it is a matter of setting up the technology and logistical infrastructure in such a way that you can process at the requisite throughput rate," he said.
Healthy Land
But, while operations must be commercially viable, remining and storing tailings more securely is a long-term sustainability game of incrementally creating an environment that is healthier and more pleasant to live in and near, Pretorius said.
Either remining and rehabilitating sites, or rehabilitating sites in situ can provide footprints of land that can be used for alternative applications, said Harvey.
"A contaminated land assessment needs to be done to unde

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The role of hydrogen in the decarbonisation of the hardest-to-abate sectors of the global economy continues to be described as "irreplaceable" by AP Ventures, the independent venture capital fund that is focused on investing in early-stage companies that use or enable the use of platinum group metals (PGMs).
"We remain very excited about the hydrogen sector," was the comment of AP Ventures co-founding partner Kevin Eggers in a Zoom interview with Mining Weekly. (also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
"It's an existing market today. There's a tremendous amount of grey hydrogen that is produced on the market, and we ultimately, at a minimum, need to decarbonise that hydrogen production," said Eggers.
"Today, that hydrogen production is used in oil refineries, and some other emerging applications.
"In the future, it's going to be used in aviation fuels, steel production, transportation and other verticals.
"Based on what I see today, we have a very robust pipeline. We continue to see a lot of interesting technologies, and a lot of countries remain committed to the original hydrogen strategies and agendas.
"That said, we can't hide away from the fact that the last year has been a little bit more challenging for the transition.
"Interest rates have been higher. There's general concern around politics and there's multiple wars in the Middle East and Europe.
"All that has provided a little sense of caution. If I look back to two or three years ago, we're certainly in a slightly more cautious perspective. That's not a bad thing.
"We want to see sensible investment investments made. We want to scale the most interesting and relevant technology.
"We don't want to see the wrong technologies get funded. To the extent that that's causing people to be a bit more thoughtful and mindful about what gets funded, I'm all for that," added Eggers.
SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANIES INCUBATED
Meanwhile, in South Africa, AP Ventures has incubated two entities, which the venture capital company is using as a tool to develop new projects and opportunities in South Africa. The two entities are MatiTech, a water technology startup, and African Hydrogen Ventures.
"We're seeking co-investors into both those entities and we want to have a meaningful impact on the development of the hydrogen economy in South Africa.
"We're very grateful for the support we've received from Anglo American, Impala Platinum and the Public Investment Corporation, three very supportive LPs, who share the strategic ambition of ours to develop hydrogen projects and opportunities globally in terms of the meaningful impact that should have and will have on PGMs but also domestically in terms of the opportunity within South Africa, which has abundant wind and solar renewable energy resources.
"The production of green hydrogen relies on electrons from those renewable sources. That provides us with an interesting starting framework, and then we've got expertise in South Africa so we do continue to think that from our mining and extractive industries, companies such as Sasol et cetera, there's lots of existing infrastructure and expertise to leverage, and we're seeking to do most of that investment through MatiTech and African Hydrogen Ventures," said Eggers.
Mining Weekly can report that MatiTech is leveraging the technology of one of AP Ventures' existing Danish portfolio companies, which has developed technology to synthesise hydrogen peroxide in a continuous form and in low concentration, which enables its use in the elevation of water to potable status.
"It removes waterborne pathogens to enable safe drinking water for communities, schools, and the like. What we did is we incubated a business about three years ago. We had to find a team to lead that including various board members and a CEO, which we've done, and the company has made great strides.
"Their most significant installation is a project on an oper

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Mining company Gold Fields expects to be in a position to decide on the establishment of a wind power project at the South Deep gold mine, west of Johannesburg, in the third quarter of this year.
The project is currently undergoing scoping and feasibility and one of the key pieces of work has been around its environmental impact in general and its effect on a bat colony that exists in the nearby area in particular, Gold Fields CEO Mike Fraser said in response to Mining Weekly at this week's first-quarter results and environmental, social and governance (ESG) presentation. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
"We believe, at an economic level, the South Deep wind project is viable but we just need to close out the full feasibility," Fraser said.
Since early 2023, a metrological tower has been in place at South Deep, measuring wind availability at a number of different heights above ground level.
"We should have all the data we need during the third quarter, and we'll be in a position, at that point, with all of the wind availability data, and the environmental-impact assessment (EIA) having been completed, to then make a decision," said Gold Fields VP environmental performance Andrew Parsons.
"We've now got a years' set of data and that work is more or less done. We'll be getting the report quite soon," Parsons added.
The EIA studies currently underway have got another three months or so to run.
BACKFILL ISSUE
South Deep is finding that as it backfills its underground workings, there is significant leakage of backfill materials, which is restricting access to stopes and the availability of future stopes.
Some 2 000 m of backfill, which is causing significant challenges across different working and open areas, needs to be cleaned up before advanced development can be achieved.
Graphs displayed showed the considerable re-handling that is having to be done.
"I almost look at this as an opportunity for South Deep," said Fraser. This is because if successful rework can be achieved, it sets South Deep up for getting well ahead of what's perceived to be possible at the mechanised, long-life mine.
"We're working with a number of experts to help us. It's hard for me to give you a clear answer as to when the backfill issue will be solved.
"We have forecast lower production this year because we expect this to take some time and if we can fix it, the opportunity is there for South Deep to get to where it needs to be as an asset," added Fraser, who will provide an update in the second quarter.
DECARBONISATION COMMITMENT
Johannesburg- and New York-listed Gold Fields this week reiterated its commitment to decarbonisation across the business.
"I do believe that Gold Fields is one of the leaders in our sector when it comes to mitigating its climate change impact. The programmes and projects that are underway to reduce our carbon footprint demonstrate our willingness to make a difference," said Fraser.
"We all have a role to play in combating climate change, and the impact that it is having on our planet, our mines, and our people.
"We can just see by the report that we've spoken about in terms of production, the impact of severe weather events is having and we certainly believe that that is going to become more prevalent," he said.
Targeted is a 30% net emission reduction and 50% absolute emission reduction by 2030, based on an assumed production volume of around 2.8-million ounces by 2028.
Like many other corporates, it is committed to net zero by 2050, against its 2016 baseline.
"We also re-baselined our Scope 3 emissions during 2023 and set a 2030 target to reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 10%, against our 2022 baseline.
"The Scope 3 emissions make up around 37% of our total emissions. And whilst not in our direct control, we will continue to be working with our major suppliers to achieve this target." Fraser added.
The capital expenditure (capex) that w

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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