OVERVIEW Mining Green
OVERVIEW Mining Green minerals could power Limpopo mining. SECTOR INSIGHT Afrimat has become a miner. Although mining is something that Afrimat has done for a long time, the focus was for many years on construction materials and lime and lime products. With the acquisition of mines in three provinces, the company has now decided to shift its listing on the JSE to the “General Mining” classification. Afrimat’s Glenover phosphate mine, pictured, falls under the company’s newly created Future Materials and Metals division, the others being Mining Services, Industrial Minerals and Bulk Commodities, which houses iron ore and anthracite assets in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. Phosphates, rare earth elements and vermiculite will be mined at Glenover mine, which is located near Lephalale. An Anglo American geologist is upbeat about the platinum group metals (PGMs) prospects of the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex. Writing in Business Day, Andy Lloyd describes the area as “one of the world’s most interesting exploration frontiers”, not least because it “has been largely underexplored compared to other parts” of the complex. The area Lloyd describes, several hundred square kilometres north of Mokopane, has the resources vital to the transition to a greener world economy. PGMs are used as catalysts in electrolysers, which split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and are a critical component of fuel cells, which produce clean energy. Writes Lloyd, “Electrolysers are needed to produce green hydrogen, which can ultimately decarbonise sectors such as chemicals, agriculture (green ammonia), aviation (power fuels) and steel (green steel).” Increased demand for platinum group metals has been a trend for some years, driven by the vital role played by PGMs in reducing pollution in the automotive sector. This has been boosted more recently by applications for renewable energy. The soils of Limpopo are rich in platinum group metals, coal, copper, diamonds, gold, iron ore, nickel, rare earth minerals and tin. Limpopo contributes 4% of coal mining in South Africa, according to the National Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, but it is likely that within the next three decades, the province will be supplying about half of South Africa’s coal. Limpopo’s Waterberg coal field is estimated to contain about 75-billion tons of coal. Exxaro’s two coal mines in the Waterberg represent threebillion tons of Measured Coal Resources and 1.8-billion tons of Indicated Coal Resources. This is where Exxaro LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2024/25 24 PHOTO: PBA Projects
OVERVIEW New finds could mean more work for Anglo’s smelter in Polokwane. operates its giant Grootegeluk Mine. Nine plants serve a 4kmlong and 120m-deep opencast mine on a 1 200ha site. Originally intended to supply the nearby power plants, Exxaro is now eyeing the export market with countries such as Ethiopia, Egypt and Pakistan being potential markets. Mantengu has made a R700-million investment commitment in a chrome and platinum group metals mine near Thabazimbi. Mantengu was previously known as Mining Restoration Investment and operated as an environmental-services company which worked on the environmental impacts created by the mining industry. The Langpan Mine, which reportedly has a chrome and PGM reserve statement of 2.17-million tons and a valuation of R851-million, also has a processing plant which forms chrome concentrate from the chrome ore. The by-product has a high concentration of PGMs. African Rainbow Minerals has purchased the Bokoni platinum group metals mine for R3.5-billion. Bokoni is located near ARM’s Modikwa and Two Rivers PGM mines and gives the ARM more palladium to mine. Glencore (with a 79.5% stake) and Merafe Resources jointly own chrome mines in Limpopo on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex (Helena, Magareng and Thorncliffe), the Lion smelter complex near Steelpoort and the Lydenburg smelter. Expansion projects Rustenburg Platinum Mines (RPM), a subsidiary of Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), has bought the prospecting rights for two blocks close to its existing Mogalakwena PGM mine, south-west of Polokwane near Mokopane. The blocks were purchased from Atlatsa and provide space to expand what is already the biggest ONLINE RESOURCES Department of Mineral Resources and Energy: www.dmr.gov.za Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: www.saimm.co.za and richest opencast PGM mine in the world. A new mining right has been granted to PTM in the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex. The Waterberg project will be operated by PTM on behalf of Waterberg Joint Venture Resources which comprises Mnombo Wethu Consultants, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, Hanwa Company, PTM and Impala Platinum. Implats intends expanding production at its Two Rivers PGM mine by 180 000oz. The project will take four years and cost R5.7-billion. The other strong mineral focus in the eastern part of the province is at Phalaborwa where Palabora Copper, a subsidiary of Palabora Mining Company, produces about 45 000 tons of copper annually, most of which is sold domestically. It runs a smelter and a refinery and also mines magnetite, vermiculite, sulphuric acid and nickel sulphate. In July 2023, as scheduled, De Beers Group celebrated the beginning of production at its Venetia Mine. The long-term, .3-billion conversion project of the diamond mine to an underground mine began in 2012 and will extend the life of the mine to 2045 or beyond. The mechanised underground operation will deliver up to seven-million tons of kimberlite ore per year to produce fourmillion carats of diamonds. Construction of the mine, which employs 4 300 local people, is nearly complete. ■ PHOTO: Anglo American 25 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2024/25
