Northern Cape Business 2024-25

The 2024/25 edition of Northern Cape Business is the 14th issue of this highly successful publication that has, since its launch in 2009, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Northern Cape Province. Officially supported and used by the Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDaT), Northern Cape Business is unique as a business and investment guide that focuses exclusively on the province. Specific investment projects are outlined in detail by DEDaT in this journal, covering opportunities in energy and mining, together with reports on dedicated investment zones. One of these new zones is on the Atlantic Ocean, a short distance north of Port Nolloth. The Northern Cape is almost uniquely qualified to play a lead role in the development of the country’s green hydrogen economy, given its bountiful resources of land, wind and sun. The blending together of an earlier idea to develop a deepwater port at Boegoebaai with the creation of a Special Economic Zone devoted to green hydrogen production is particularly exciting. With the year 2024 signalling the end of an election cycle, two special features in this edition focus on important elements of the brief of the public sector, namely education and infrastructure.

OVERVIEW Mining Copper

OVERVIEW Mining Copper is shining brightly. SECTOR INSIGHT Industrialising zinc is a priority. Mining assets The Northern Cape provides: Copper 360 more than doubled its potential capacity when it bought Nama Copper from Mazule Resources in 2023. With the new facility, Copper 360 will be able by 2025 to have an annual output of very nearly 8 000 tons. In 2024 an offtake agreement with Fujax UK, an international commodity trading company, replaced an earlier deal with Mazule Resources, which had signed an offtake deal as part of the sales agreement. Prepayments by Fujax over a three-month period will enable the mining company to increase production at the plant. Copper 360 has a mining right over 19 000ha to the north of the town of Springbok. Three new copper flotation plants are being built at a cost of R280- million. With 280 new employees over the last two years and plans to recruit a further 1 000 staff members in the next two years, global copper demand is good news for this sector and for the Northern Cape. Batteries need copper, as do systems used to transmit energy from solar or wind sources so the future looks bright for copper. Australian mining company Orion Minerals is also active in the Nababeep/Okiep area, with its flagship Okiep Copper Project, pictured, about 450km west of the company’s flagship Prieska Copper Zinc Project, also in the Northen Cape. Orion is also listed on AltX and the JSE main board. The Prieska facility, which is being revived, produced a million tons of zinc and 430 000 tons of copper before it closed in 1991. Another funder of the early development of the Prieska project is the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), one of the country’s largest institutional investors. The IDC has identified key opportunities for the national economy on the path to zinc industrialisation including fertiliser phospates, zinc-coated steel and battery storage. The New SOUTH AFRICA 95% of diamond output 97.6% of alluvial diamond mining 93% of South Africa’s lead production 100% of South Africa’s tiger’s eye Largest national production of sugilite Industries unit of the IDC has developed a strategy for zincbromide redox flow batteries. There is potential for a copper smelter plant in the Namakwa Special Economic Zone (NAMSEZ), which would further stimulate exploration and mining. Multiple assets The biggest new mine in the country is a zinc mine at Aggeneys, NORTHERN CAPE BUSINESS 2024/25 38 PHOTO: Orion Minerals

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