MiningA uranium mine has
MiningA uranium mine has changed hands for R500-million.Neo Energy Metals, which describes itself as the only companylisted on the London Stock Exchange Main Board providinginvestors with exclusive access to the uranium sector, haspurchased the Beatrix 4 shaft, pictured, from Sibanye-Stillwater for R500-million in cash and shares.The transaction includes the Beisa uranium project and stipulatesthat royalties will be paid to Sibanye-Stillwater on all uranium sold.Rates will depend on the spot uranium price, with a maximum set at/lb. Neo Energy will be responsible for any shaft rehabilitation andenvironmental issues related to the Beatrix 4 shaft.Sibanye-Stillwater announced in 2024 that it would continue torun the gold-producing shafts at Beatrix, which is located betweenWelkom and Theunissen in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality,but a close watch would be kept on profitability because it is amature mine. The 422 employees and 100 contractors at Beatrix makeup a small proportion of Sibanye-Stillwater’s South African workforceof about 70 000, a figure which is 14% lower than it was in 2022.Sibanye-Stillwater has restructured its South African business withits local Platinum Group Metals (PGM) and gold mines being placedunder one regional operational structure.Historically, the north-west part of the province was famous forgold, with Harmony Gold’s Bambanani mine forming an essential partof Welkom’s economy for many years. The plan to close Bambananiin 2024 was moved forward because of concerns about safety.However, there are other areas where Harmony Gold is still extractinggold and investigating possible expansion programmes. Althoughthe Joel mine did not perform well in 2024, Target 1 produced 46%more than in the previous year and earned R2.26-billion in goldrevenue, a 73% increase.The company is conducting an exploration programme to confirmthe geological model of Target North and further define a potentialblock of well-mineralised Ventersdorp Contact Reef. AngloGoldAshanti sold most of its assets to Harmony Gold. These assets increasedHarmony’s underground resource base in South Africa by nearly40%. The mines include Tshipong and Phakisa (near Odendaalsrus),SECTOR INSIGHTHarmony Gold’s Target 1improved revenue by 73%.Virginia, Target (near Allanridge),Masimong (Riebeeckstad) andJoel near Theunissen.Harmony Gold has secured aloan and signed an agreement tobuy 30MW of solar photovoltaicenergy. The company’s FreeState assets will benefit fromthis, the first phase of Harmony’srenewable energy strategy whichwill see a further 137MW rolledout at other mines.Harmony has established anindependent power producerfor the construction of the threePV plants that will comprise theFree State plant. These plants willmitigate 65 000 tons of carbondioxide emissions in their first 12months of operation; 1.3 terawatthours of clean energy is expectedto be delivered over their 20-year lifespan. The solar plantprojects were jointly developedby Harmony, Energy Group (aspecialist advisor and investor inindustrial clean-energy projectsin Southern Africa) and BBEnergy.FREE STATE BUSINESS 202532PHOTO: Neo Energy Metals
OVERVIEWThe project was funded by a project-finance debt solution fromRand Merchant Bank, a division of First Rand Bank Limited, and with thesupport of African Clean Energy Developments (ACED), equity-fundedby African Infrastructure Investment Managers and Mahlako EnergyFund. The plants rank among the biggest solar PV plants for privateofftake in South Africa to date. Many other South African miners areexpected to follow Harmony’s lead.Gold mines in the Free State also supply a substantial portion ofthe total silver produced in the country, and large concentrations ofuranium occurring in the gold-bearing conglomerates of the goldfieldsare extracted as a by-product.Other mineralsThe Lejweleputswa District Municipality is also home to many industrialminerals, with six companies currently active. Matsopa Minerals, forexample, runs a bentonite mine at Koppies between Heilbron andVredefort. Sandstone and sand-mining operations are underway inQwaqwa, Fouriesburg, Senekal, Sasolburg and Zastron.Limestone and calcrete occur in the western Free State where salt isalso panned. Production is concentrated around the Florisbad salt pan,north-west of Bloemfontein.The mining sector makes up 11% of provincial GDP. A mineralsbeneficiation strategy has been developed because this is a key areaMiners prepare to go underground at a Harmony gold mine.ONLINE RESOURCESMinerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.zaNational Department of Mineral Resources and Energy:www.dmre.gov.zaSouth African Mining Development Association: www.samda.co.zafor potential growth. PetraDiamonds’ Koffiefontein mineis on the western edge of theprovince, about 80km fromKimberley. The mine is regardedas a low-grade deposit, but thediamonds produced are of highvalue. White stones of excellentquality are produced, and fancypink diamonds are sometimesfound. The Voorspoed mine ofDe Beers Consolidated Minesclosed in 2018. De Beers, theSouth African government andthe South African diamondcuttingindustry have launcheda project to encourage diamondbeneficiators. Among thefirst companies involved areThoko’s Diamonds, AfricanDiamonds, Nungu Diamonds andKwame Diamonds.Coal is mostly found in thenorthern part of the Free State.The Sigma-Mookraal mine isrun by Sasol Mining and hasthe capacity to supply SasolInfrachem in Sasolburg withtwo-million tons of coal per year.Seriti Resources has purchasedthe New Vaal Colliery from AngloAmerican. Together with twoother mines in MpumalangaProvince, Seriti paid R2.3-billion.New Vaal is in the middle of atriangle of three towns that playan important part in industrialproduction: Vereeniging,Sasolburg and Vanderbijlpark.The mine employs more than900 people and supplies about15-million metric tons of coalto Eskom’s Lethabo powerstation annually. ■PHOTO: Harmony Gold 33 FREE STATE BUSINESS 2025
