Page 25 - Mining Weekly News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

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 project.

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 than it already is.

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.