OVERVIEW Mining Afrimat
OVERVIEW Mining Afrimat has acquired Lafarge. SECTOR INSIGHT Detailed mapping is revealing new resources. In April 2024 Afrimat’s acquisition of Lafarge finally won the approval of the Competition Tribunal. Afrimat has been following a diversification strategy in recent years, especially into mining, but the Lafarge transaction is something of a return to its roots, which lie in quarrying and aggregates. Both companies have a strong KwaZulu-Natal presence. The fly-ash and grinding plants of Lafarge give Afrimat access to more downstream operations while the cement kilns provide another income stream. The assets will be housed within Afrimat’s Construction Materials division. Although mining has been pursued in South Africa for many years, there are some experts who feel that the country’s potential has only begun to be tapped. In order to provide better and more detailed data about what lies beneath the surface, the Council for Geoscience (CGS) has embarked on a multi-year Integrated and Multidisciplinary Geoscience Mapping Programme (IMMP) of the country. The process is not only about finding new mineral resources but preliminary findings, especially in the kind of minerals that the world needs to help it switch to cleaner energy processes, have been encouraging and a stated goal is to secure a minimum of 5% of the global exploration expenditure. The multidisciplinary onshore geoscience mapping is being done at 1:50 000 scale and is providing data on groundwater, geo-environmental matters and geohazards. KwaZulu-Natal has had more than its fair share of floods and land washed away in recent times, so the research is relevant. A project to extend the life-of-mine of an anthracite coal mine in a rural community north of Richards Bay will go ahead after several visits to high courts. ONLINE RESOURCES Council for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.za National Department of Mineral Resources: www.dmr.gov.za Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group, has resumed operations at its mineral sands plant and refinery but has not yet committed to continuing to invest in a major mine-life extension. The main products of the RBM mine are zircon, rutile, titania slag, titanium dioxide feedstock and high-purity iron. Tronox exports titanium ore, zircon and other materials to its pigment plants around the world where titanium dioxide pigment is produced for use in paints, plastics and paper. The KZN Sands mineral sands operation comprises a central processing complex in Empangeni and the Fairbreeze Mine, which is flagged for an extension project. Processing facilities in the province include the steel plant owned by Arcelor Mittal in Newcastle. In early 2024 the company announced that it would defer by six months any decision to close the plant. Safal Steel in Cato Manor is South Africa’s only producer of aluminium-zinc coated products. Some of the coalfields of the province have been revived. Luxembourg-based Traxys Africa runs a high-carbon ferrochrome plant at Richards Bay. ■ KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2024/25 30 PHOTO: Afrimat
Oil and gas The Central Energy Fund has bought the SAPREF Refinery. OVERVIEW SECTOR INSIGHT Richards Bay is set to become an energy hub. The joint owners of the SAPREF Refinery in Durban, pictured, bp Southern Africa (bpSA) and Shell Downstream SA, have sold the 180 000 barrel-a-day plant to the Central Energy Fund (CEF). Since the companies announced in 2022 that they would freeze spending and suspend operations, speculation has circulated as to what would happen to this strategic asset. The reported price paid by the CEF, the entity charged with managing South Africa’s energy assets and which reports to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), was R1. When it was operating at full capacity, the facility accounted for roughly 35% of the country’s refinery capacity. Durban’s other oil refinery, Enref, was hit by a fire in December 2020 and it has since been operating as a storage facility for owner Engen. South Africa is a net importer of fuel and the Port of Durban handles 80% of South Africa’s fuel imports. In April 2024, the Competition Tribunal approved a proposed a merger whereby Vitol Emerald Bidco intends to acquire Engen, subject to a set of competition and public interest conditions. Among Vitol’s assets is the Burgan Cape Terminal, a storage and distribution facility in Cape Town The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved an application from national utility Eskom to build a 3 000MW gas power station in Richards Bay. An allocation of 3 126MW to natural gas has been made in the national medium-term energy policy to 2030. The DMRE allocated one of the first two gas-to-power plants to be constructed under the ONLINE RESOURCES Central Energy Fund: www.cefgroup.co.za National Energy Regulator of South Africa: www.nersa.org.za Petroleum Agency SA: www.petroleumagencysa.com Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (IPPPP) to Richards Bay. This has the potential to turn the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) into an energy hub. Environmental groups have lodged appeals in an attempt to stop the building of the plant, which is a step along the pathway outlined by national government to use gas as a “transitional fuel”, away from fossil fuels towards greener sources of power. The Port of Richards Bay is investing in new infrastructure. The supply of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is set to be made much easier and more reliable with the erection of the 22 600-ton Mounded LPG Facility at Richards Bay. The regulator and promoter of oil and gas exploration in South Africa, Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA), has awarded coalbedmethane gas exploration rights in KwaZulu-Natal to NT Energy Africa, which has a partnership with the CEF. These awards are for onshore exploration. PASA is an agency of the DMRE Eni, one of the world’s biggest energy companies, has an agreement with Sasol Petroleum International to explore for hydrocarbons off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal. ■ PHOTO: SAPREF 31 KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2024/25
