MiningWeekly.com Audio Articles

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The global energy transition needs investment of a further $304-trillion, Glencore CEO Gary Nagle pointed out during the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed diversified mining and marketing company's Capital Markets Day 2025. The global energy transition investment of $9.6-trillion made has so far has reduced fossil fuel's share of global demand by 7%, Nagle reported. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) The Glencore commodities to support the pathway requiring that further $304-trillion investment were displayed on a slide that listed copper, cobalt, nickel, aluminium, zinc, vanadium and steelmaking coal - metals used in items including batteries, solar power, wind power, electric vehicle mobility, electronics, grid, artificial intelligence infrastructure and packaging. The big focus of the day was on copper, where Glencore emphasised the global need for significant supply growth and investment. "Now today, in copper, we're producing about 850 000 t of copper this year, rebasing back up to a million tons of base copper production, as we were few years ago. And then the growth beyond that is really is going to be big," Nagle pointed out during the event covered by Mining Weekly. Highlighted was a portfolio of ten copper growth options capable of increasing Glencore copper production to a level of 1.4-million tonnes of copper a year from mines including Mutanda Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Coroccohuayco and Antapaccay in Peru, and Collahuasi in Chile, to name a few. Its base copper portfolio is sufficient to return Glencore to one-million tons a year by 2028 and a growth pipeline targeting 1.6-million tonnes a year by 2035. Nine of the ten growth options in the pipeline are brownfield, capital efficient opportunities. A slide displayed showed Glencore as a big-five copper producer by 2029 and potentially the world's biggest by 2035 with a projected first-quartile total cash cost position. Then, moving to fossil fuel, Nagle described the coal as continuing to be "a key part of our business". On why retains coal and why Glencore needs coal, Nagle explained that it's not only because shareholders said the company should retain coal. "We believe we should keep coal. It makes a lot of sense to keep coal. "Look, if shareholders change their minds and don't want to keep coal, we can always relook at it. But as we sit today, we believe there's a strong case for particularly high-quality energy coal for many decades to come," Nagle said while pointing out that coal is a major generator to cashflow even in low coal price environments. Overall, Glencore has delivered more than $25-billion to shareholders over the last five years to shareholders and believes with the market and the business set up like it is, it will be able to continue to provide good returns. While Glencore is feeding the global energy transition with the copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, and lithium, which it mines and trade, this is taking place amid fossil fuels losing 7% of the market share over 20 years, since 2004. "That's true, but the world has spent nearly $10-trillion on the energy transition, and the use of fossil fuels have gone down from 85% to 79%. That's all that $10-trillion has managed to achieve, and when you look at it in absolute terms, the pie has grown. "In fact, the use of absolute units of fossil fuels has gone up from 2004 to 2024 and thinking forward, you want to go build a nuclear power station today, we know Hinkley Point, here in the UK, is 20 years away, at least. "If you want to build a gas-fired power station, you've got a five-year waiting time for a gas turbine. "So, the need for fossil fuels, in particular high-quality steam coal in today's world is absolutely required, and that's where our strong con...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. China considers platinum a critical mineral with strategic value owing to its importance in new energy technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysers to produce hydrogen. China, which has negligible domestic platinum group metal (PGM) resources, has thus invested in physical platinum through its new Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX), which is a natural mechanism for attracting metal to supply future industrial demand. The GFEX enhances platinum and palladium liquidity and is supportive of industrial development and growth. World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) regional head Asia Pacific Weibin Deng provided this important insight to Mining Weekly on the interesting significance of last week's launch on the GFEX of platinum and palladium futures and options. "For the first time, domestic industrial users and fabricators have a direct, regulated tool to hedge against global platinum and palladium price volatility. "Previously, many were exposed to this risk without an efficient hedging mechanism," explained Deng, who described the GFEX as being "transformative" for China's PGMs market. "The ability to enter into platinum and palladium futures contracts enhances price stability for key industries and it is expected to narrow the spreads on platinum jewellery and investment products - meaning lower premiums for buyers and smaller discounts on buybacks. "Ultimately, this boosts consumer confidence and supports demand growth, while also encouraging a more robust domestic recycling ecosystem," Deng noted. This initiative directly supports China's national strategic priorities amid the GFEX mandate being to develop financial instruments that serve the real economy. Given China's strong focus on the energy transition and decarbonisation, platinum and palladium have been prioritised to the benefit of South Africa, which hosts more PGMs than any other country. The approval of platinum and palladium aligns with China's national agenda to secure supply chains and manage risk for what have become essential raw materials for all countries that are pursuing a cleaner and greener planet to save Mother Earth from climate catastrophe. These are Deng's replies to a series of questions put to him: What has prompted GFEX to make these products available now? This initiative directly supports China's national strategic priorities. GFEX's mandate is to develop financial instruments that serve the real economy. Given the government's strong focus on the energy transition and decarbonisation, platinum and palladium have been prioritised. The approval of these products aligns with the national agenda to secure supply chains and manage risk for these essential raw materials. What are the contracts' key features and how do they align with other markets? GFEX offers innovative bi-monthly contracts, similar to those offered by Japan Exchange Group, with frequent opportunities for platinum and palladium risk management. A truly unique feature is the acceptance of both ingots and sponge for physical delivery. No other global exchange allows delivery of sponge, pure metal in a powder form which is most needed by industrial and automotive end-users. This ensures that contracts meet the precise needs of the real economy. Furthermore, the delivery mechanism is robust. Metal is accepted from both approved domestic refiners and international suppliers accredited by the London Platinum and Palladium Market, ensuring trustworthy and reliable physical settlement. Will GFEX's platinum and palladium contracts promote greater integration with global commodities markets? By making the contracts available to both institutions and individuals domestically and, in due course, internationally, GFEX creates a new, accessible benchmark using C...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. An electricity tariff proposal by South Africa's State-owned power utility Eskom is supporting the continued operation of the Lion ferrochrome smelter in Limpopo province, Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture has announced following its recent electricity tariffs engagements with Eskom. However, a viable tariff solution has still not been arrived at for the Wonderkop and Boshoek ferrochrome smelters in the North West province and in the absence of a power solution being achieved for Wonderkop and Boshoek, both of these ferrochrome smelters will be placed on care and maintenance from January 1. Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture described the review undertaken to assess the feasibility of the proposal as being comprehensive and while the proposal remained subject to further approval processes, analysis indicated that it supported only the continued operation of Lion, which is the most efficient of the ferrochrome smelters. "Unfortunately, it does not provide a sustainable solution for the long-term viability of the Boshoek and Wonderkop smelters," Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture noted in a release to Mining Weekly. As a result, formal retrenchment notices are proceeding. Voluntary severance package approvals began on December 1, with certain of these notices and approvals remaining conditional until December 8. Should a viable solution not be received from the government by December 8, these notices and approvals would automatically take effect and become binding. Furthermore, in the absence of a viable solution, Wonderkop and Boshoek would be placed on care and maintenance from the start of the New Year. Importantly, Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture continued to be unequivocal about its commitment to engaging with all stakeholders and emphasised its actively exploration of other viable options to safeguard jobs and maintain operational sustainability wherever possible. In August, Mining Weekly reported that Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture was working with the South African government to find solutions amid not one of the ferrochrome smelters being operative, although Lion was expected be brought back into operation following maintenance. Glencore Alloys produces chrome ore and then beneficiates it into ferrochrome product but is finding that it is getting most value by exporting chrome ore rather than adding value to the ore by producing ferrochrome, which should be a five-times value multiplier compared with chrome ore. Moreover, beneficiation is a job-creation cornerstone, so closing all the smelters is not good for South Africa. A negotiated price agreement, which is a flat rate, had, at that stage, been secured from Eskom, which eliminated the need to continue to shut down during winter months when tariffs are high. What is being sought now by Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture is electricity that is cheap enough for ferrochrome smelting to be competitive, as well as smelter inclusion into special economic zones, and the elimination of illegal mining of chrome ore, which accounts for about 10% of exports. Taking 10% of the chrome units out of the market by stopping chrome crime would benefit the industry, which is well aware of the benefit of beneficiation. More South African beneficiation means more revenue, more jobs and less logistical pressure. Also, capital investment in the new lower-energy SmeltDirect technology that slashes power needs will be taken up if there is more industry certainty.

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Valterra Platinum, South Africa's impressive 2025 platinum group metals (PGM) creation, is bringing its inaugural 2025 year to a massively fruitful close with a market capitalisation that has sky-rocketed to north of R300-billion. Since demerging from Anglo American in mid-year, the value of this strongly performing instant stalwart is up just shy of 100% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and also up 60% on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). "We're absolutely delighted at how Valterra has played itself out," an upbeat Valterra Platinum CEO Craig Miller told journalists attending the company's year-end media event on Friday. "It's been a year defined by both confidence and delivery," Miller noted after, in her introduction, Valterra Platinum executive head corporate affairs and sustainability Yvonne Mfolo had described the PGMs sector as being "technically complex and absolutely critical to the South African economy and to growth". On the factors that helped Valterra to become the 14th largest company on the JSE, Miller put "coherent strategy" on the top of the list of what had helped to remove the uncertainty surrounding Anglo American's demerger decision and, moreover, the then PGM prices failing to fairly reflect the real market tightness. "I'm pleased to say that we predicted that the prices would rise, and they did. But I think the real driver for us - and how we look to the future - is continuing to build that credibility as a company - and as an organisation - is remaining focused on delivering what we say we're going to deliver. "We're not going to give you a production or cost update or anything like that, but our firm commitment is to continue to deliver to our shareholders and to all our stakeholders around what we're going to do as a company," Miller outlined, while also being forced to acknowledge that "the world around us is shifting, and we've certainly seen a lot of geopolitical shifts this year". Regarding the domestic front he added that "we've certainly seen changes in terms of how the energy transition is going to play itself out and we've certainly said before that it's not going to be just one size fits all, and I think that's starting to play itself out. "We've certainly seen the scramble for critical minerals, and where PGMs feature on the critical minerals list. Therefore, it's going to continue to give us confidence about just how amazing the important properties of PGMs are and the uses that they can have in so many economies globally, and therefore, as a consequence of that, how we then invest capital back into our business. "We've certainly had a more vocal and more demanding public and that includes our communities, and we've certainly hope to demonstrate how we engage with the issues at hand, and how we try to lead and create solutions for those issues. "We've seen the rapid impact of technological disruption and the opportunities a new technologically advanced world will have and the role that PGMs can play," Miller told the journalists attending the year-end event. Also at home, Mining Weekly can report that Valterra Platinum has been engaging with Minerals Council South Africa and other peers regarding chrome tax and chrome quotas, and what that could mean for the PGM industry. The company has also worked collaboratively at public sector and private sector levels regarding the proposed amendments to the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act and will keep ongoing sight of what the beneficiation chain can bring for South Africa as well as the jobs that need to be created. Against all that background, Is Valterra Platinum still optimistic about the PGMs? The answer to that, as has been firmly stated since its Capital Markets Day earlier this year, is an "absolu...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Platinum is already very well embedded as an indispensable catalyst in the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) technology that very impressively powered the Toyotas that chauffeured delegates during last week's B20 and G20 global summits in Johannesburg. Now, the precious metal that South Africa hosts in greater abundance than any other country on earth could also find that its remarkable catalytic qualities are utilised by battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as well. This is because platinum group metals (PGMs) have been found by Florida International University to be able to extend the life of lithium-sulphur batteries for the betterment of not only sustainable mobility but also for renewable-energy storage, and to have potential to be a significant efficiency and sustainability boost for electricity grids as well. New York- and Toronto-listed Platinum Group Metals Limited reiterates this in its latest 2025 annual results, in which the Canada-based company makes clear that it is continuing to advance the use of PGMs in lithium battery technologies by way of Lion Battery Technologies, which is highlighting the benefits that PGMs can bring to the lithium battery space. Interestingly, Platinum Group Metals Limited spelt out in a media release to Mining Weekly that it is also continuing to take the Waterberg project on the northern limb of South Africa's PGM-rich Bushveld Complex in Limpopo province towards a development and construction decision. While this is underway, the company, headed by CEO Frank Hallam, is continuing to collaborate with an affiliate of South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Valterra Platinum and Florida International University to take PGMs to the next level. Valterra, it should be noted, is the company that last week chauffeured B20 and G20 delegates around Johannesburg in Toyota Mirai cars, which are FCEVs. Valterra led a mine-to-market FCEV display, which involved South Africa's Sasol providing the hydrogen, Air Products dispensing the hydrogen, Bambili Energy providing the South Africa-manufactured membrane electrode assemblies for the fuel cells, and Bosch, providing the fuel cells. On top of this, it is envisaged that the use of PGMs in BEVs will be achieved by allowing the catalytic contribution of PGMs to extend the life of lithium-sulphur batteries significantly, through the addition of nanoparticles of platinum to the sulphur side of the battery so that the tiny particles can work at molecular scale to ensure a cleaner, greener and healthier tomorrow. This comes against the background of diversified demand for PGMs having already extended well beyond the automotive, jewellery, investment, and hydrogen sectors into the fibreglass, semiconductor, health and even food preservation sectors in what many see as "only the beginning". Interestingly, research and development by Florida International University is repeatedly pointing to the lighter weight and higher energy density of lithium-sulphur batteries as important competitive advantages engendered by PGMs. "The unique properties of PGMs as powerful catalysts are being applied to various technologies as possible solutions for more efficient energy generation and storage, which may create new demand for PGMs. "The company's battery technology initiative through Lion with partner Valterra represents one such new opportunity in the high-profile lithium battery research and innovation field," Platinum Group Metals Limited stated, while also pointing out that the investment is creating a vertical integration with a broader industrial market development strategy to bring new PGM-using technologies to market. Lion's reiterated target is to develop batteries with specific energies that are 20% to 100% higher than current...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer says South Africa's PGMs could get a boost with China’s platinum futures exchange debut; good news for the Phalaborwa rare earths project with a surge in the European prices of yttrium; and Mining Weekly was recently taken around Johannesburg i

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The commitment of one of the largest black-empowered businesses listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) to transition towards a low-carbon future while continuing to meet current energy demands through coal operations took a major leap forward on Thursday through a 213 MW combined wind and solar renewable energy acquisition and maintenance transaction. In yet another iteration of the commitment to power possibility through a just and inclusive energy transition, JSE-listed Exxaro Resources, through its wholly owned Cennergi subsidiary established in 2012, has entered into binding agreements with Acciona Energía to acquire majority interests in two fully operational renewable energy assets. These are the 138 MW Gouda Wind Farm in the Western Cape and the 75 MW Sishen Solar Facility in the Northern Cape. The deal also involves Exxaro's Cennergi being the entity responsible for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of both assets. The timing linked purchase price will range from between R1.7-billion to R1.8-billion. The transaction is described as one that strengthens the position of the coal-anchored Exxaro as a growing energy solutions business, as well as in acquisitive growth in energy transition metals. "Exxaro is not only investing in cleaner energy but also securing long-term, stable, and sustainable value for all our stakeholders," Exxaro CEO Ben Magara emphasised in a release to Mining Weekly. Both assets were procured under Bid Window 2 of South Africa's Energy's renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme and sell electricity to Eskom under 20-year take-or-pay power purchase agreements, Sishen until 2034 and Gouda until 2035). Gouda and Sishen are held 54.9% by Acciona Energía, 25.1% by Celenex - a majority owned Royal Bafokeng Holdings subsidiary - 10% by Soul City broad based empowerment company, and 10% by local community trusts. The transaction includes Acciona's 80% stake in Acciona Energy South Africa O&M, an operations and maintenance company, providing services and parts to both Gouda and Sishen. The remaining 20% stake is owned by Soul City. This acquisition is set to increase Cennergi's net operating capacity by 117 MW, from 200 MW to approximately 317 MW, representing a material expansion of its operational base. The acquisition is viewed as accelerating the execution of Exxaro's sustainable growth and Impact strategy by bringing the company closer to its 2030 goal of 1.6 GW managed net renewable energy capacity. It is also seen as broadening Cennergi's footprint across South Africa and uplifting predictable earnings through long-term, inflation-linked power purchase agreements with South Africa's state-owned power utility Eskom and backed by National Treasury. Exxaro executive head of energy Leon Groenewald highlighted the geographical diversification and scale that the transaction brings to Cennergi. "It brings us closer to achieving our goal of reaching 1.6 GW of capacity by 2030. Acquiring the O&M company allows us to provide asset management and O&M services to two additional utility-scale renewable energy assets," Groenewald pointed out. It also provides skilled staff, advanced systems, and expertise to strengthen Cennergi's position as a South African renewables management and O&M provider. The transaction closing date, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2026, will coincide with the transfer of ownership of the sale equity to Cennergi. In addition to coal, Exxaro has equity accounted investments in iron-ore and base metals, with a manganese transaction currently underway.

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Physically settled platinum and palladium futures contracts and futures options will commence trading on November 27 on China's Guangzhou Futures Exchange, which is cracking a world first by taking delivery of sponge, an advance that is highly attractive to industrial and automotive end users. Up to now, exchanges have only been prepared to take delivery of platinum ingot and bar. Despite being the world's largest consumer of platinum group metals (PGMs), China has typically been a PGMs price taker, with only its varying levels of imports impacting on international price discovery. Now, the listing of platinum and palladium futures is seen as increasing the influence of China's future demand expectations on global price discovery. Moreover, the provision of an alternative mechanism to gain exposure to platinum and palladium supports broader liquidity and the overall effect is viewed as being a major boost for South Africa's world-leading PGMs endowment in that fabricators can register their future production under a 120% bank guarantee and price risk hedging across the supply chain will likely lower buyback discounts. Guangzhou will publish stock holdings daily amid rising hope of a link-up with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to bring a ready-made green finance derivatives system to South Africa. "The launch of the Guangzhou Futures Exchange and the fact that it's open to international participation, means that China's future demand expectations can begin to be reflected in the price discovery process, and that's going to be quite beneficial to the market," World Platinum Investment Council research director Edward Sterck pointed out to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) As with other futures exchanges, exposure will need to be collateralised with physical platinum in exchange approved warehouses as margin against short positions. This may result in a demand draw as volumes increase. Since the platinum-trading Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) offers only one-way trading with purchase for delivery, Guangzhou is positioned to attract two-way domestic volumes. Platinum volumes have averaged around 0.8 t a week on SGE, well below average spot trading on London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The latest available data for Osaka Exchange Platinum Standard Futures trading volume as of November 21 was 7 157 contracts. In the view of Sterck, Guangzhou is going to be of significant benefit on many different levels. To begin with, it will increase liquidity in China and eventually increase liquidity globally. "If you look at the platinum trading volumes on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, as an example, they average only about 4 t a week, whereas if you look at, say, NYMEX trading volumes, it's more like 200 t a week. So, clearly, the ability to bring into play another derivatives market within China has the potential to massively scale up liquidity there." The exchange makes platinum more accessible as an investment. It also uplifts platinum an industrial metal to the end users within China and eventually to available to international participants, which creates another avenue by which arbitrage can take place on the regional pricing differentials between London, New York, Japan and China. Again, that helps to increase liquidity and the availability of platinum to market participants. The other thing to bear in mind is that within China, there has historically not been an easily accessible way to manage price risk for end users. "For example, jewellery manufacturers or the fabricators of investment products or automakers don't have the ability necessarily, to easily manage their price risk. As a result, particularly when it comes to...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Even though there is consensus that gold has probably already hit its 2025 high point and is unlikely to go beyond the all-time-record it set in October when it breached the $4 300/oz mark, a Santa gold rally during the Christmas period and into year-end should not be ruled out. Also, while the incomplete reopening of US administration is encouraging, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needs to return with key risk-assessment data required by the Federal Reserve as all eyes focus on December 10 when a further interest rate change could have implications for gold. Moreover, the indication of the US Supreme Court that tariff implementation is probably beyond executive office scope could also impact. These and several more points are made by World Gold Council senior market strategists John Reade and Joseph Cavatoni in their latest episode on gold market developments, gold price movements, the impact of political events in Washington, and year-end gold predictions. The World Gold Council's latest GoldHub also provides an update on China's gold market, where stability and growth are prevalent, and on India's peak Diwali and Dhanteras peak gold-buying occasions. Regarding China, World Gold Council research head in China Ray Jia reports that gold capped further gains in October, with wholesale gold demand defying seasonal patterns, rising to 124 t. Chinese gold exchange trade funds (ETFs) added 34 t worth at $4.5-billion last month, and gold futures volumes surged at the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The People's Bank of China, which has reported gold purchases 12 months in a row, added 0.9 t in October, lifting the total to 2 304 t, 8% of China's foreign exchange reserves and 24 t higher than at the end of 2024. Looking ahead, the recent Chinese gold market value-added tax (VAT) change is likely to put pressure on local gold jewellery demand as the sector is impacted by additional tax. But consumer sensitivity to price may also be lessening as the gold price has been rising steadily for more than three years now. The VAT change does not apply to gold bars sold by Shanghai Gold Exchange members, gold ETFs or gold accumulation plans, and there may be further room for growth in gold bar sales, as consumers may purchase them for jewellery making purposes, Jia adds. World Gold Council's Reade and Cavatoni also analyse the sentiment from the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and London Platinum and Palladium Market Global Precious Metals Conference 2025 in Kyoto and the implications of upcoming economic data on gold prices, amid gold calming down from its $4 300/oz October breaching and correcting below $4 000/oz. "Gold now seems to have stabilised broadly around the $4 000/oz level," said Reade, based on conversations with participants at the LBMA conference in Kyoto, for example. "I think that seems to be the consensus that we've probably seen the highs of the year. Based on conversations on the US side, Cavatoni agreed and spoke of the US sentiment being the same - "pretty calm, pretty much interested in looking forward at the gold price and understanding that the short-term volatility is something to expect. Reade: I was speaking to a couple of hedge fund managers that I chat to from time to time, they expect the same. They think most of the work has been done in gold this year, but don't rule out a bit of a Santa rally into Christmas and into the end of the year, as fund managers want to establish positions that they can have for 2026 and also show their chief investment officers that, yes, they're the gold guy, and they are long gold. Never does any harm with that. Now, Santa rallying is something that comes through in equity markets, particularly in the US sometimes, so into the holiday season ...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The economics of South Africa's Phalaborwa rare earths project in Limpopo province has been uplifted very materially by the 3 000%-plus surge in the European prices of yttrium, a silvery white, moderately soft, ductile metal used in the aerospace, energy and semi-conductor industries, to name a few. Yttrium, as reported by Mining Weekly earlier this month, is now included in the Phalaborwa resource and the project is expected to produce 213 t yttrium oxide a year as part of the high-purity, mixed product, which already has neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium in its proposed samarium, europium, gadolinium (SEG+) product basket. SEG+ serves as a foundational material for downstream separation and refinement into high-purity rare earth products used in magnets for wind turbines and electronics.It is a mix of all the economically important medium and heavy rare earths. The Phalaborwa project, which is expected to produce 213 t yttrium oxide a year as part of the high-purity, mixed SEG+ product, is turning out to be very distinctive in that it hosts commercial quantities of the full gamut of economically important rare earths. Its medium and heavy rare earth elements (REEs) are enhancing the outlook for the earnings before income taxation depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of the London-listed Rainbow Rare Earths. "This price increase positively impacts annual estimated Ebitda for Phalaborwa as there will be no extra cost to produce it as part of our proposed SEG+ product," Rainbow Rare Earths CEO George Bennett commented. Inclusion of yttrium in Phalaborwa's SEG+ mixed rare earth product could add $30-million to the project's annual estimated Ebitda at the lower range of the European price, based on a conservative SEG+ payability of 70%. The price of yttrium oxide 99.999% cost, insurance, freight - CIF - Europe started the year, according to Argus Media data, at about $6/kg. It has since risen to between $220/kg and $320/kg, the large spread the result of differing pricing contracts. Shortfalls have emphasised how extensively yttrium is used across civilian high-technology and defence applications. Phalaborwa is a near-term and low-capital intensity source of all the economically and strategically important rare earths, with prices expected to stay elevated. The project is one of the world's most resilient rare earths projects at a time when these elements are in growing demand for use in permanent magnets to help the world go green. Involved is the first commercial recovery of REEs from phosphogypsum, which makes project developer Rainbow Rare Earths something of a pioneer. The large-scale pilot plant was built as part of Rainbow Rare Earths' close collaboration since 2022 with South Africa's State-owned Mintek research organisation. The pilot operated at the high level of 20 kg per hour of feed, making it six to ten times the size of a normal pilot plant. The availability of phosphogypsum is the result of the mining of a hard-rock phosphate deposit, which has been carried out by Foskor for more than 60 years. The mined material is concentrated through a flotation process into a phosphate slurry, which over the period has been the feed for a nearby phosphoric acid plant, where two key ingredients were added, namely sulphuric acid and heat to create phosphoric acid. An agreement was signed with phosphate mining company Bosveld Phosphates in June 2023 to ensure 100% ownership of the Phalaborwa project. An interim economic study released in December 2024 proposed a project life of 16 years - two years longer than the one envisaged in the October 2022 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) - processing an average of 2.2-million tonnes of phosphogypsum a year. The overall recovery rate of magnet rare...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Africa's minerals are indispensable for a clean economy and these range from platinum group metals (PGMs), which power hydrogen and fuel cells, to cobalt and manganese, which will drive battery storage, and rare earths, which enable solar and wind technologies. Valterra Platinum CEO Craig Miller pointed this out during a B20 event covered by Mining Weekly on Friday. Interestingly, Miller created great B20 and G20 excitement by making use of a platinum-catalysed hydrogen fuel cell electric Toyota Mirai car that gave real-life visibility to the clean economy that this continent's PGMs can bring to the entire world. "Our opportunity, and I dare say our responsibility, extends far beyond mineral extraction. It is to transform our natural endowment into a foundation for industrial growth that supports technological innovation, as well as shared prosperity across the continent," Miller highlighted at the event where African Continental Free Trade Area secretary general Wamkele Mene noted forcefully that all the signals, from the private sector and public sector, are dictating that "we have to seize this moment". Transformation beyond extraction, Miller pointed out, required the activation of a set of enablers that together form the architecture of a thriving critical minerals ecosystem. Needed first was an integrated forward-looking strategy embedded with clear and predictable rules and regulations. Miller highlighted the next enablers as reliable feedstock, a fit-for-purpose infrastructure, affordable finance, a skilled workforce, and strong market access - the levers that determine whether value is created locally and at scale. "And lastly, perception enablers, which are investor confidence and community confidence built on trust and transparency," he added. Market development, "which I know many of us are incredibly passionate about", as well as market access, were singled out by Miller as the two most catalytic changes required to achieve industrial and economic development. Market development and market access were, he said, certainly what would transform a mine into an industry and a resource into a sustainable future creation. "Developing regional markets for our critical minerals - and for the technologies that use them - will shift Africa from being a source of raw materials to becoming a hub for refined metals, manufactured components and a clean-tech innovation. "To do that, one of the things that is required is the support of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which connects 55 economies into a 1.4-billion-person market. "It enables regional value chains in critical minerals, batteries and clean technologies. "The African Continental Free Trade Area provides the scale to attract capital, the rules to build investor confidence, and a platform to integrate SMEs and innovators into the global supply chains. "Too often we speak of investing in minerals as though this is primary about to mine the act of extraction. "We must instead see that investing in an entire value, a creating ecosystem, yes, mining, but also processing and marketing those minerals to final product is an imperative for the countries where we operate and for Africa's people. "It requires us to invest in logistics and infrastructure and into institutions which train skilled people, which support professional services and marketing capacity, as well as the sophistication of suppliers, from small businesses to multinational technology firms. "And critically, we have to enable this through the policy, through regulation, taxation, and a legal environment, legal environment that allows the ecosystem to thrive. "So, if we can all align on capital, on skills, on policy around these enablers, Africa will not just fuel the world's transiti...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses the first-of-a-kind platinum and palladium derivatives approved by China; trade tensions influence on the platinum industry; and the new Africa partnership era that the Mining Indaba is helping to build momentum towards.

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Mining Weekly as well several B20 visitors were this week chauffeured around Johannesburg in a platinum-catalysed hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) that journalists attending South Africa's B20 Summit witnessed being refuelled by Air Products with hydrogen from Sasol relatively quickly, with a full tank providing sufficient energy for a 500 km to 600 km journey. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Six companies were responsible for the impressive display of mine-to-market activation, which elevated the status of South Africa's platinum group metals sky-high at a time of visiting B20 delegates. The companies work collaboratively in a green mobility partnership that emphasises the local availability within South Africa of key ingredients needed to put FCEVs on the road at a time when South Africa's promising hydrogen corridor Project Rhynbow scheme is also progressing. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Valterra Platinum, as an official sponsor of the B20 Summit, led the mine-to-market display at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton, amid an advertising hoarding that drew prominent attention to the vital contributions of Sasol, which has been producing hydrogen in major volumes in South Africa since 1950; Toyota, which provided the top-notch FCEV Mirai car that was used to chauffeur Mining Weekly on the low-noise drive around town; Air Products, which showed how refuelling speed is basically what we're used to with petrol and diesel; Bambili Energy, the women-led local manufacturer of membrane electrode assemblies needed in fuel cells; Bosch, the German giant that makes use of the products made by Bambili; and BMW, which in February last year was the car company that laid on 'sheer driving pleasure' to the Mining Weekly team with its BMW iX5 FCEV taking journalists around Midrand. While President Cyril Ramaphosa was outlining the extent to which the hydrogen economy unpacks major potential value for the South African economy, Valterra Platinum principal: market development Fahmida Smith was reporting on FCEVs already giving taxi drivers a much longer range in Europe. This followed Toyota new energy business development senior manager Anton Smalberger pointing out that "the best model we have is what we've seen in Europe", a reference to the fleet of 200 FCEV taxis in Berlin. "As Anton says, it does make economic sense, because it's giving the taxi drivers much longer range, and longer use of the vehicle," Smith pointed out. Instead of having a vehicle offline for a few hours while it recharges, the taxis come into a refuelling station and take a few minutes to refuel their FCEVs, giving them a lot more drive time. "With that increase in drive time, they're able to then get to economies of scale. Within the South African context, we need to be cognisant that we don't have the large purse strings of Europe or the US or China, so we need to be very creative and innovative in how we do projects here, using the ecosystem approach," a reference by Smith to the combination of Valterra with PGMs, Sasol with hydrogen, Air Products with hydrogen transport and refuelling, Toyota and BMW with FCEVs, Bosch with accomplished global implementation, and Bambili and potentially more local companies with contributing manufacture. "For us, the ecosystem is important. With this type of mobile refueller, you can have a mobile system very quickly on the ground," Smith remarked while standing alongside the mobile hydrogen dispenser provided by Air Products. "As utilisation of the system increases, the price point decreases, and you can get to economies of scale a lot faster, eventually reaching the point of needing bulk infrastructure. You move away from the chicken-and-egg discussion and actively and innovatively drive ...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The platinum market is expected to move to being in balance in 2026 - but this is contingent on a lessening of the trade tensions that have accentuated this year's substantial platinum market deficit of close to 700 000 oz. Also to be noted is that a balanced market does not rebuild above ground stocks, which makes it very difficult to envisage a fundamental loosening of the tight market conditions that are likely to persist in 2026. Meanwhile, on the way for 2025 is the third big consecutive annual deficit of 692 000 oz, which is a downward adjustment of 158 000 oz from the previous forecast thanks mainly to higher mining and recycling supply but with total 2025 supply still projected to be a five-year-low 7 129 000 oz and mining supply falling to a 5%-lower 5 510 000 oz, also its lowest level in five years. On the demand side, total 2025 uptake of 7 821 000 oz is forecast, which is a 422 000 oz reduction on 2024, largely owing to the absence of expansions in the glass business. On the 2026 supply side, a 4%-higher 7 404 000 oz is forecast owing to more recycling and 2%-higher mining production to 5 622 000 oz, while total demand is expected to contract by 6% (-436 000 oz) year-on-year to 7 385 000 oz. This fall is driven chiefly by an aggregated 540 000 oz swing in non-bar and coin investment demand, as warehouse stocks are drawn down from elevated levels on easing tariff-related uncertainty, with some profit taking by exchange traded fund (ETF) investors. The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) has put forward a following year outlook in a current year Platinum Quarterly against the backdrop of trade tension-linked investment flows having accentuated the 2025 platinum market deficit in a big way. "We've put forward our 2026 expectation of a broadly balanced market, going from a deficit this year of almost 700 000 oz to a 20 000 oz surplus, which is basically a balanced market for next year," WPIC research director Edward Sterck told Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview following WPIC's release of its Platinum Quarterly on platinum supply and demand movements for the third quarter of 2025, an updated forecast for 2025 and a first outlook for 2026. While the expectation of a balanced market may be a bit of a surprise to many, it is heavily contingent upon an easing of trade tensions as well as ETF profit taking. "In aggregate, those two segments contribute about 300 000 oz in change to the overall balance. Remove them, and we have a 300 000 oz deficit for next year, so the forecast of a balanced market is very contingent upon some fundamental changes in the way the world is operating right now. "Trade tensions have persisted throughout the majority of this year. They've allowed the US to build up a significant strategic stockpile of critical minerals without the government having to fund anything. It's all been funded privately. This isn't just platinum, it's other metals as well. "Then, in terms of ETF holdings, at one point we were up more than $700/oz in price terms, yet we still didn't see anyone selling their holdings on a net basis, so it's contingent upon things changing in that regard next year. "Why did the price move this year? Well, one possible reason, and there are a few others we could discuss as well, is that above ground stocks fell to unsustainably low levels, approximately from May of this year. "A balanced market doesn't solve that. Above ground stocks would need to be replenished for us to see the tightness come out of the market, and that would require a substantial surplus in 2026," Sterck explained. Ongoing trade tensions would turn 2026 into another year of supply falling short of demand. Platinum tightness remains, which is reflected by extremely high lease rates and deep backwar...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved the launch of platinum and palladium futures and options contracts on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange, Heraeus reports. The contracts will accept both sponge and ingot forms of the metals for physical delivery, a world-first among major futures exchanges, Heraeus states in its latest precious appraisal publication. The derivatives are expected to strengthen domestic hedging capability and improve price discovery, the Hanau-based precious metals company reports. Over time, the development should broaden market participation, increase liquidity and establish an onshore pricing reference for platinum group metals (PGMs). This comes amid a period of significant structural adjustment in China's platinum market, following the removal of VAT exemption on platinum imports on November 1. The policy changes triggered a surge in trading activity on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, with volumes hitting a four- month high and averaging 982 kg a day in the week of 20 October and driving one-month platinum lease rates to 25%. However, since the VAT exemption took effect, turnover has retreated sharply, averaging just 30 kg a day since November 1. Mining Weekly can report that China, the single largest consumer of platinum globally, accounted for close to 30% of global platinum demand in 2024. The breakdown for 2024 was automotive demand 17%; jewellery demand 20%; industrial demand 31%; investment demand 32%, which accounts for 64% of total bar and coin demand, including investment bars equal to or above 500 g. China is also increasingly globally dominant in several PGM-consuming industries. As reported by Mining Weekly earlier this year, the availability of platinum and palladium in ingot and sponge form is seen as a central point of the exchange trading of Guangzhou Futures Exchange, which has a focus on green commodities essential for the energy transition. The ability to take delivery of sponge is seen as being transformative for industrial users of PGMs as well as automakers, as this is the main form typically used for their manufacturing purposes. No other exchange in the world allows delivery of sponge. Other benefits of Guangzhou Futures Exchange's futures are viewed as potentially including provision of a mechanism for businesses to hedge price risk and better manage their operations, something which is currently not freely accessible in China. For example, the removal of price risk will allow platinum jewellery and investment product fabricators to reduce the premium charged for platinum products as well as the discount on buyback. On the rhodium, ruthenium and iridium PGMs front, Heraeus quotes DigiTimes as reporting that hardware and semiconductor makers are struggling to keep pace with surging artificial intelligence-related demand, with reports indicating delivery lead times of more than two years for hard disk drives. In response, major cloud service providers are ramping up orders of solid-state drives to offset supply shortages, despite solid-state drives being a more expensive option. Hard disk drive production capacity remains severely constrained, unable to meet near-term demand and reflected in the rising average selling price of the drives. Heraeus reports that the situation has been compounded by the industry's post-Covid shift to a build-to-order strategy, which limits inventory buffers and flexibility in scaling output. Despite market conditions, leading manufacturers have not drastically increased capital expenditures. If robust demand extends into 2026, disk manufacturers may ramp up production, which would translate into higher demand for ruthenium. Prices for all three small PGMs remained stable last week. On the palladium and rhodium front, Her...

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. West Wits Mining on Monday issued a drawdown notice for the first tranche of a $12.5-million loan facility to advance the development of Qala Shallows, the promising project that is bringing gold mining back to within 15 km of the central business district of Johannesburg, the Golden City. The ASX-listed West Wits has satisfied all conditions precedent for the first tranche from Nebari Natural Resources Credit Fund II LP and the initial drawdown expected on Tuesday, November 18. The $12.5-million represents the first of up to three Nebari tranches, from which West Wits will be able to absorb a further $22.5-million. Once received, the funds will be used to secure Qala Shallows' first gold pour in March. This first development funding serviced by debt provides the capital to continue progressing Qala Shallows while reinforcing the quality of this asset and the ability of West Wits to transition from developer to producer. Quite remarkably, this gold ore is arising from an untouched block of virgin Qala Shallows' reef. Qala, which is Zulu for 'start', is signalling that there is still much more to come and 'shallows' points to the project's relatively shallow 800 m depth. A 30 000 t ore stockpile by the end of the first quarter of 2026 will ensure a consistent supply of ore to the Ezulwini processing plant 40 km away, which is part of a toll treatment agreement already done and dusted with precious metals major Sibanye-Stillwater, Ezulwini's owner. "The facility's flexible structure provides a strong funding base as we continue to advance this project to first gold pour and production ramp-up in early 2026 and beyond," West Wits CEO Rudi Deysel pointed out in a release to Mining Weekly. Nebari MD Justin Anderson described the first tranche as representing "an important milestone in advancing the Qala Shallows development", while adding that Nebari was "looking forward to continuing our support as West Wits progresses towards production". As part of South Africa's Central Rand Goldfield, West Wits' Witwatersrand Basin project is gifted with 5.025-million ounces of gold at 4.66 g/t, within an endowment that has given the world more than a fifth of its gold. Qala Shallows is the first phase of the larger Witwatersrand Basin project that is sequentially targeting the Kimberley, Main and Bird reef outcrops, and which is poised to turn West Wits into a long-term gold producer, with average steady state annual run-of-mine production of 65 000 oz for 25 years. West Wits has prepared all operational procedures and health and safety standards across all disciplines to ensure safe, productive, and efficient mining operations. A credit-approved term sheet for a senior debt syndicated loan facility of up to R902.5-million ($50-million) has also been secured from South Africa's Absa bank and the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa.

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. Leading Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 voices this week unpacked how regional integration promotion, pan-African partnerships and policy alignment are accelerating Africa's mining transformation, which is in turn promising to catalyse energy and transport infrastructure development, industrial and manufacturing activity, skills demand, and employment creation on the continent. As Africa's biggest mining platform, the Mining Indaba is helping to build momentum towards the realisation of a timely new Africa partnership era. The influential voices promoting continental and regional integration as the engine of Africa's mining transformation ahead of next year's major mining event include Mining Indaba executive advisory board chairperson Frans Baleni, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa economic affairs officer Dr Marit Kitaw, Mining Indaba head of government partnerships Zeinab El-Sayed, and Mining Indaba product director Laura Nicholson, who took the opportunity to announce partnership with ICMM, which has chosen Mining Indaba to premiere a documentary on the world's deepest underground marathon, the world first that took place in a zinc mine Sweden last month 1 120 m below sea level. "Yes, it's exciting to see what happened in an underground mine in the world's deepest marathon ever, but it stands for so much more," Nicholson remarked during the media briefing, where Baleni emphasised the alignment of next year's Mining Indaba theme to this year's G20, Kitaw spoke of the crucial importance of the development of African skills and institutional capacity, and El-Sayed pointed out that regional integration also requires trust and thrives on the positive relationships that are developed around it. "Just after we, as a continent, will have hosted the G20, we'll also be finding solutions at Mining Indaba that are about partnership, working together, integrating the region, and inclusive involvement," Baleni said in response to Mining Weekly. "We really need to invest in skills and technology, because at the end of the day, if you don't have the appropriate skills or the technology, it just becomes a pipedream," Kitaw cautioned. "When we talk about regional integration, we often think about big infrastructure or trade corridors, which are critical. "But integration is also about something that's a bit less tangible. It's about trust between governments, between regions, between policy makers and private sector, because the resources under the soil aren't the real engine of the kind of mining transformation that we all want to see on the continent. It's the relationships that we build around it," El-Sayed remarked. "Africa needs action," said Baleni. "Regional integration emphasises regional mineral corridors, putting our voices together, having an African agency," Kitaw stated. "Regional integration links mining to energy, energy to infrastructure, infrastructure to manufacturing, and ultimately, all of that to jobs growth," El-Sayed pointed out. "We need to break down the silos of how we work and come together," Nicholson noted. The journalists present also heard from Kitaw that "critical minerals have now become a currency. We talk about cobalt in the DRC, manganese in South Africa, graphite in Mozambique, platinum and gold in South Africa, and I can go on, so we have the endowments, but to have economies of scale and bargaining, you need to have regional integration." Making these conversations much less about what divides everybody and much more about what connects everybody was urged by El-Sayed, while Nicholson urged that Africa also begins to celebrate the many successes that have already taken place on continent. INCLUSIVE GROWTH Leveraging minerals for sustainable development and inclus...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer the Phalaborwa project in Limpopo, which is turning out to be very rewarding; the study which shows that the South Africa iron-ore trade route to Europe could go green as soon as 2029; the African region being a gold mine for Barrick Mining Cor

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The South Africa-Europe iron-ore trade route could go green as soon as 2029 and scale toward full decarbonisation by 2035, according to a study released by the Global Maritime Forum. The feasibility study, produced in collaboration with a consortium created in 2023 - which includes Anglo American, CMB.TECH, Freeport Saldanha, VUKA Marine, and ENGIE - said the corridor linking Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape to the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands would be one of the first Global South-to-North green shipping routes. South African iron-ore mining major Kumba Iron Ore, which operates two mines in the Northern Cape province and exports through Saldanha Bay, is an Anglo American group company and ENGIE is carrying out a major solar project in South Africa. South Africa's primary iron-ore export terminal located at Saldanha Bay is already planning the development of green hydrogen-linked green ammonia production, alongside port upgrades to handle bunkering operations. In the green corridor's initial years, ammonia-fuelled vessels will likely bunker in Rotterdam, which is one of the most mature ports in terms of its ammonia bunkering and safety frameworks. Meanwhile, Saldanha Bay will have the opportunity to build the infrastructure to become the long-term green ammonia production and bunkering hub for the corridor. By 2035, the port could supply bunkering services to all corridor vessels locally, creating a dual-purpose facility that continues mineral exports while serving international shipping. "This phased approach gives shipowners and fuel producers a clear timeline to work toward, and we now need coordinated action from policymakers and industry to make this a reality by 2029," Freeport Saldanha investment facilitation associate Shanon Neumann stated in a media release to Mining Weekly. "However, to help Saldanha Bay transition quickly, blending public and private funding can unlock investment in infrastructure and reduce the risks of early projects," Neumann added. The World Bank and World Economic Forum have both previously identified South Africa as a prospective participant in fuelling shipping's decarbonisation. The green corridor could contribute towards turning this notion into a reality. Announced green hydrogen projects near the ports of Boegoebaai, Saldanha, and Walvis Bay could meet the corridor's fuel needs, including its high-demand scenario of 22 bulk carriers per annum by 2035. The possibility of such strong demand levels could mean a stronger business case for green hydrogen producers looking to secure enough offtake volumes to finalise investment decisions and accelerate new projects. Add in the necessary financing, potential tax incentives, and port tariff discounts for fuel production and bunkering build-out at Freeport Saldanha, and South Africa could gain a competitive edge as an international bunker supplier. The country's hydrogen sector may be able to contribute 3.6% to the country's GDP by 2030, with shipping and steel well-positioned to become early offtakers of the gas and its derivatives. This green shipping corridor offers the opportunity to strengthen South Africa's export competitiveness, future-proof a strategic port, and support the country's Just Energy Transition through local value chains, skills development, and community benefits. Regional and global regulations could materially improve the business case for the corridor. Europe's FuelEU Maritime greenhouse-gas intensity targets and Emissions Trading System levy, the latter to be fully phased in by 2026, narrow the cost gap between green ammonia and conventional fuels by more than 60% in modelled scenarios. The International Maritime Organisation's net-zero framework, which will be revisited next year following the...

This This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. AngloGold Ashanti is constantly coming up with the same answer during its continual assessment of where this 40 000-employee gold-mining major can generate the most value. "The answer is clear," AngloGold Ashanti CEO Alberto Calderon emphasised during this week's third-quarter results presentation. "The best opportunities remain within." Firstly, AngloGold Ashanti is committed to lifting performance from its core assets, driving margin growth through cost discipline, which is continuing to do what it has done well since beginning its new journey under Calderon in 2021. The Full Asset Potential initiative he put in place has been valuable in keeping the cost-per-ounce measure in real terms. The site-led programme sets out to improve operational performance and ensure that assets operate at their full potential through step-change improvements in mine planning, productivity, and costs. It involves detailed analysis, benchmarking, and advanced analytics to identify opportunities, reduce dilution, increase ore tonnes mined, and lower costs. It has helped to improve AngloGold's position of the cost curve and to deliver on its guidance as well as to unearth the organic growth options. Having helped the Obuasi mine in Ghana to begin to develop a consistent operating cadence as it ramps up, it has also spotlighted the scalability and life-extension potential of other assets amenable to relatively low-risk, low-capital leverage within the framework of existing footprints, infrastructure and knowledge. "The returns, as you can imagine, are more than competitive," Calderon commented during his elevation into the spotlight of the Geita mine in northwestern Tanzania, near the shores of Lake Victoria, which impressed visiting media, including Mining Weekly, during our visit there several years ago. "We're committed to bringing some of our most exciting internal opportunities to life and we'll start today with Geita, our tier-one asset," Calderon reported. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) "For years, Geita has been viewed as a world-class mine with a relatively short reserve life. That's completely changing. This is a tier-one operation by every measure - consistent delivery, strong margins and exceptional operational stability. What's often overlooked is the geological quality. Geita is located in the Lake Victoria greenstone belt on the Tanzanian carton, part of the same gold province that holds Kibali and North Mara. "After two decades of mining, large parts of the concession remain under-explored with compelling structural and geotechnical targets pointing to significant potential," Calderon pointed out. Geita, with opencast and underground mines producing around 500 000 oz/y, is underpinned by 3.5-million reserve ounces and seven-million-plus resource ounces. "We're now showcasing the next chapter for Geita, a mine positioned to remain a tier-one asset for at least the next 20 years, but in reality, it going to be much longer than that," Calderon forecast, while displaying a slide depicting the plan to unlock further value. "We're allocating a total $50-million, an additional $15-million a year, to exploration. With that investment, we expect to grow reserves by about 60%, to increase life from around 7.5 years today to about 10 years or more." One opencast and three underground production fronts will be maintained as a conceptual study proceeds to evaluate increasing processing capacity by one-million tons a year through upgrading and maintain a tailings storage facility (TSF) capacity by incremental extension. This will be followed by the construction of a new TSF in mid-2030s. The focus is on near-mine drilling, with the mill expansion conservatively forecast to require capital expenditure of about ...