This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Green hydrogen, which is generated with the benefit of the catalysis that platinum group metals (PGMs) provide, is being increasingly highlighted as a pillar of the global decarbonisation transition that is poised to save the world from ruinous climate change. News just out is that steps are being taken to locate a green hydrogen production facility in a location where the 2030 Winter Olympics are to be held in...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses Barrick's recently revealed first quarter results where discovery and development were punted as the true drivers of value creation in mining; South Africa’s struggling economy, which could benefit relatively quickly from getting exploration going at pace; and Harmony Gold’s key South African gold projects and its Australian copper project.

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Diversified mining major BHP, which has made a rejected proposal to combine with Anglo American by way of a scheme of arrangement, confirmed on Thursday that it intended maintaining its multi-decade listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). BHPalso emphasised that, under its Anglo proposal, South Africa would continue to benefit from Anglo American Platinum and Kumba Iron Ore operating as independently...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Discovery and development are the only true drivers of value creation in the mining industry, Barrick president and CEO Dr Mark Bristow highlighted on Wednesday, when this standout gold and copper mining company once again declared a dividend in reporting its first quarter results that position the company well to meet its full year targets. The year-on-year net earnings per share of the New York- and...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Pending an improved price and cost environment, Glencore said in its first-quarter 2024 production report on Tuesday that its Rustenburg ferrochrome smelter in South Africa's North West province would remain idled. The London- and Johannesburg-listed diversified mining and marketing company reported 26% lower attributable first quarter ferrochrome production of 297 000 t amid the European benchmark ferrochrome...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Platinum group metals (PGM) mining and marketing company Implats on Tuesday reported higher production in a period characterised by robust demand but lacklustre PGM prices. "Despite continued macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, demand from our contractual customers remains robust, with elevated additional volumes requested via spot sales during the third quarter. "PGM pricing remains lacklustre however,...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. South Africa views BHP Group's proposed bid for Anglo American as "normal market activity" and is following the process as it unfolds, President Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson said on Monday. BHP is considering making an improved offer for Anglo American after its $39 billion initial proposal was rejected by the London-listed miner, a source told Reuters last week. "It is still early days in terms of the proposal...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer unpacks Copper 360’s shares rising more than 26% after it shipped concentrates from the Northern Cape; Orion Minerals shares rocketing to 58% on the Australian Stock Exchange; and the new digital system that can be used to buy and sell green hydrogen.

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. South Africa's 30 years of democracy has changed the character of this country's mining industry profoundly, Minerals Council South Africa emphasised in a report that highlights the industry's significant advance since the dawning of democracy in 1994. Importantly, South Africa's highly regarded mine employees earn among the most competitive wages in the major job sectors, with tens of thousands of employees now...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Emerging copper producer Copper 360 has shipped copper concentrate from South Africa's Northern Cape province for the first time in 21 years. South Africa's only listed pure copper producer, which delivered record concentrate grades during plant commissioning, is performing way ahead of expectation as a producer of copper concentrate, as well as being the Northern Cape's only producer of copper cathode. "We...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Copper production increasing by 11% as Quellaveco achieved its highest plant throughput rate in Peru, while Collahuasi and El Soldado in Chile benefitting from higher copper grades were among the first-quarter performance aspects that pleased diversified mining company Anglo American in the three months ending March 31. "We're driving operational excellence across our assets, focusing on stability and effective...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Diversified mining company Anglo American is taking steps to help to restore an Amazon rainforest equivalent of which less than 10% remains intact. The Mata Atlántica carbon forest is located near Anglo's Minas-Rio iron-ore mine, in Brazil. Anglo intends playing a role in the recovery of the rich biome by reforestation amounting to more than 2 000 ha a year and the removal of 600 000 t of carbon-dioxide...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. The richness of South Africa's copper assets were emphasised on Monday when Northern Cape mine developer and explorer Orion Minerals published a standout intercept that sent its shares rocketing up 58% on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Orion, headed by CEO Errol Smart, is primarily listed on the ASX, where it has 1 300 shareholders, and secondarily listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), where it...

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discussing palladium and platinum playing a key role in battery electric vehicles; the opportunity around the market development aspect of the platinum group metals industry; and talk of South Africa being well placed to benefit from huge green hydrogen outlook.

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. The emerging use of electrofuel (eFuel) as an interchangeable substitute for petrol, diesel and aviation fuel has the potential to create important new demand for Southern Africa's platinum group metals (PGMs). This is because eFuel is a combination of green hydrogen and waste carbon dioxide (CO2) and demand for PGMs will arise when proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers are used to generate the green...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Minerals Council South Africa is focused on increasing the domestic demand for green hydrogen, which it sees as contributing to the kickstarting of the hydrogen economy in South Africa. "The applications that we're looking at are stationary as well as mobility applications of using hydrogen within the mining industry," Minerals Council modernisation and safety senior executive Sietse van der Woude outlined during...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. The sale by Southern African diamond mining company Petra Diamonds of an exceptional blue diamond in its fifth tender cycle lifted the average prices per carat received 22% higher than those of the prior Tender 4 sale. The London Stock Exchange-listed company, headed by CEO Richard Duffy, reported on Tuesday that the price upliftment was the result of a remarkable14.76 ct exceptional clarity diamond, recovered...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. New York- and Toronto-listed Platinum Group Metals, which is emerging in South Africa's Waterberg, on Tuesday provided an update on its new light battery technology that points to increasing potential of palladium and platinum playing a key energy density and weight-lowering role in cumbersome battery electric vehicles (BEVs), where they currently play no part. Amid the market development of platinum group metals...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. The market development aspect of the platinum group metals (PGM) industry is fundamentally key, it was repeatedly stated at last week's 2024 Resources for Africa Platinum Day. There is strong consensus that PGMs are amazing metals that are incredibly useful as future green metals across a broad range of applications. The PGM elements platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium possess far-reaching...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Platinum group metals (PGM) miner Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne firmly believes internal combustion engines (ICEs) are here to stay for the foreseeable future, which, in his view, will mean salvation for PGM miners that are struggling to remain profitable amid sustained low commodity prices. "The world is getting over the love affair with electric vehicles. There's no question about that. It certainly will not...

In this week's episode of Second Take, Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer discusses hydrogen’s role as a global energy solution; the market development of the full PGMs basket being essential; and about how South Africa’s underground mines could be used as batteries that store energy.

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has launched the first of three new government-led collaborative circular economy initiatives focusing on priority economic sectors that were identified by government in the science, technology and innovation (STI) 2022 to 2032 decadal plan. The first of the three initiatives, the South...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Green hydrogen has a massive potential future and South Africa is very well positioned to produce it, attendees of the Hydrogen Economy Discussion heard on Thursday. Most of the 90-million tonnes of hydrogen produced currently through the likes of South Africa's Sasol and others is grey. Not only must all of that become green, but it also needs to grow seven times bigger to allow green hydrogen to become a...

This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist. Representatives of the producers of 90% of the world's climate-vital platinum group metals (PGMs) heard during Wednesday's full-house PGM Industry Day that collective market development on the full PGM basket and not just platinum and palladium is absolutely crucial at this point of the global implementation of a cleaner and greener decarbonised planet. In advocating this, PGMs producer Sibanye-Stillwater CEO...