Page 13 - Mining Weekly News Today

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the state of play in the electricity sector as winter approaches, with growing fears of a grid collapse and uncertainty about the role of the Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and South Africa's approach to the energy transition. On a more positive note, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has promised to release an updated Integrated Resource Plan for public comment soon.  

Construction of the Msikaba Bridge project, which is valued at R1.72-billion, is now firmly under way after being disrupted by the Covid-19 lockdowns. The 580-m span, 195-m high, cable-stay bridge is anticipated to be completed at the end of February 2025, and will be the longest cable-stay bridge in Africa. The bridge is being built near Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape, over the Msikaba gorge. The bridge forms part of the R20-billion South African National Roads Agency’s N2 Wild Coast pro...

The appointment of a dedicated Minister of Electricity was meant to ensure there was an individual to focus full-time on ending loadshedding and ensuring that the widely consulted Energy Action Plan (EAP) was implemented without delay. Since the appointment, however, there have been power struggles over Ministerial powers, mixed messages over the EAP and general confusion over who is actually in charge of what. If it doesn’t settle soon, the loadshedding outlook will become even more dire ...

A video round up of this week’s magazine, highlighting our cover story, features and Business Leader.

Mining Weekly Editor Martin Creamer notes that Glencore will study the feasibility of the creation of a hydrometallurgical facility in Italy; Sibanye-Stillwater is pushing on with its own generation of energy; and exploration investment in South Africa needs to be made more attractive.  

The automotive market will remain the biggest demand segment for platinum for the foreseeable future, comprising between 31% and 46% of total demand, as it has for the last five years, reports the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC). The industrial segment comprises between 26% and 36% of total platinum demand, while the jewellery segment makes up between 23% and 30% of platinum demand. The balance of demand is driven by investment, in platinum exchange traded funds for example, and remains...

Latest news on protests in Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, a country in western South America and the third largest in that continent.

JPMorgan in a research note on Friday said it now forecast a 0.2% decline in South Africa's 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) versus a previous forecast for 0.3% growth, citing expectations for deeper power cuts. The bank added that prolonged power cuts above the current record level referred to as "Stage 6" would worsen its current account projection beyond an already pessimistic 3% forecast for this year.

Gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti is targeting September as the month in which it will invert its stock exchange listings. Its primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange will become a secondary listing, its American Depository Receipt (ADR) listing in New York will be uplifted to become a fully fledged primary listing, and the company's domicile will be UK to keep tax constant for South African shareholders, who hold 40% of the stock.

State-owned Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is operating its North Corridor on reduced load, after a train, enroute to Richards Bay, derailed on Thursday. TFR said in a statement on Friday that 49 loaded wagons on Train 6605 had derailed on Line 1 at the Mqwabe bypass, between Dumbe and Vryheid, in KwaZulu-Natal. Trains continue to run on Line 2.