Mining

Energy and efficiency are key for the province’s miners.

largest coal exporting region in the world. Although renewable energy is catching on in South Africa, there is no prospect of Mpumalanga’s coal-fired power stations being mothballed soon.

Gold miner Pan African Resources has secured financing for the development of its new assets in Gauteng province and remains on course to ramp up mining at the Fairview and Royal Sheba operations, which form part of the Barberton complex.

The acquisition of the liquidated Mintails operations in 2022 will increase Pan African’s production by about 50 000oz once steady production is reached at the end of 2024. The company currently has production capacity in excess of 200 000oz of gold per annum. R400-million of a R2.5-billion funding arrangement was released by Rand Merchant Bank in March 2023.

Loadshedding in 2023 slowed the process of getting the Barberton operations running at optimum levels. The company reported in May that it had lost 10 000oz worth of production because of power cuts. Tests are proving that the decision to extend deep mining at Barberton was correct. Pan African reports “potential high-grade extensions to the orebodies at Fairview, Royal Sheba and Consort mines”.

Mining contributes 25.9% of the province’s gross domestic product and employs more than 53 000 people. Mpumalanga accounts for 83% of South Africa’s coal production and is the third-

The CEO of the World Coal Association, Michelle Manook, told the 2022 Mining Indaba that coal still has an important role to play in the world’s mineral mix. Despite the country’s plan to reduce coal’s contribution to electricity generation to 43% in 2030 (from the current percentage around 70%), Manook argued that a just transition would pay greater attention to the number of jobs that the coal industry supplies. She said that coal-fired power plants employ 130 000 people and implied that the renewable sector would not easily replace those.

South Africa still has many billions of tons of coal in the ground. Council for Geoscience CEO Mosa Mabuza reports that research is ongoing into finding ways to capture carbon produced at coal-burning power stations.

A major problem facing South Africa’s mining, according to Minerals Council South Africa, is the inability of state utility Transnet to transport bulk minerals to the country’s ports in sufficient quantities to meet demand. If the Richards Bay Coal

Terminal had operated at full capacity in 2021, an additional R47billion would have been generated in exports.

Afrimat, previously listed on the JSE in the “Construction and Building Materials” section, has changed its classification to “General Mining”, a recognition of the company’s ambitious buying programme in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. With construction and building now contributing just 20% to operating profit, Afrimat is active in anthracite and iron ore and will further expand into phosphates, rare earth elements and vermiculite.

Among its new acquisitions, Afrimat now controls the Nkomati Anthracite mine in Mpumalanga. The mine, which is in the southeastern corner of the province, has proven resources of 8.7-million tons and upwards of 400 jobs were created over the last two years. Local communities have a 16.1% stake in the relaunched mine and the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) holds 34%.

Platinum

Platinum is an important mineral for the modern economy. Two Rivers is a joint venture between Implats (46%) and African Rainbow Minerals which is located on the southern part of the eastern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, 35km south-west of Burgersfort in Mpumalanga. Northam Platinum, which has assets on both limbs of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, has purchased the Everest mine from Aquarius Platinum. Everest is adjacent to Northam’s existing Booysendal mine.

Jubilee Platinum has sold its Smelting and Refining business in Middelburg to Siyanda Resources. Sylvania Platinum now has seven PGM recovery plants that extract chrome from tailings on both sides of the Bushveld Igneous Complex.

Lydenburg is home to the Lion ferrochrome smelter that is a joint venture between Glencore and Merafe Resources. Assmang, the joint venture between ARM Ferrous and the JSE-listed Assore, operates a chrome mine (Dwarsrivier) and a ferrochrome plant where chrome alloys are made.

Energy and transition plans

Another part of Pan African Resources’ plan to improve efficiencies was to build a renewable energy plant at Elikhulu. A 10MW solar plant, which produces 30% of the facility’s needs, started operating in 2021.

Online Resources

Council for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.za

Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za

National Department of Mineral Resources and Energy: www.dmre.gov.za

South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: www.saimm.co.za

By mid-2022, the company reported a monthly saving of $145 000 per month. Exxaro, one of the biggest mining companies in Mpumalanga, has a subsidiary, Cennergi, that builds and manages renewable energy plants. Two wind farms have been built in the Eastern Cape and the plan is now to build plants near Exxaro mining sites.

The ambitious renewable energy plans of Seriti Green, subsidiary of coal-miner Seriti Resources, are outlined in a Special Feature elsewhere in this journal.

Impact Catalyst Mpumalanga has been launched in Mpumalanga, having previously operated in two of South Africa’s other big mining provinces, Limpopo and the Northern Cape. Impact Catalyst aims to drive large-scale socioeconomic development initiatives through publicprivate partnerships and a big focus in Mpumalanga is going to be the transition to green energy. An initiative of Anglo American and Exxaro, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and World Vision, Impact Catalyst will assist with mine and power station closures, ensuring that they are done in a way that protects the environment and, where possible, setting up manufacturing or agricultural opportunities for local communities. ■