Miningmx
Independent news/analysis on the African mining sector.
DRDGold Upbeat on Dividend After Third Quarter Cash Boost
DRDGOLD boosted cash to about $121 million in Q3, staying debt‑free while ramping up a R2.3 billion ($121 million) capital expansion focused on the Far West Gold Recoveries project. Gold output rose 6% to 1,219 kg and operating profit hit R1.85 billion ($97 million) as gold prices climbed 13% and AISC fell 5%. The company paid a $23 million interim dividend and signaled a likely final dividend in August 2026, supported by strong cash and no debt. With R1.5 billion ($79 million) of bank facilities available, DRDGOLD is positioned to fund its growth without borrowing.
Soaring Metal Prices Give Sibanye-Stillwater Stellar Start to 2026
Sibanye-Stillwater’s March‑quarter adjusted EBITDA surged 371% to R19.4bn (~$1.0bn) driven by record‑high gold and platinum prices, despite flat production and higher costs. Platinum output rose 2% to 11,920 kg at an AISC of R24,629/oz (~$1,300/oz), generating R12.4bn EBITDA, while gold output...
Omnia Says It Is Built to Absorb Hormuz Shock
Omnia, South Africa’s key supplier of fertiliser and mining explosives, says its supply chain can weather the current disruption of ammonia shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The company has six to eight weeks of on‑site chemical storage and has...
China’s KDG Completes Takeover of JSE’s MC Mining
Hong Kong‑listed Kinetic Development Group (KDG) completed its takeover of ASX and JSE‑listed MC Mining, securing a 51% stake after the $90 million second‑tranche payment on April 22. MC Mining is moving forward with the Makhado metallurgical coal project in Limpopo, targeting...
Coal Miner Thungela Digs in over Shareholder Rights
South African coal miner Thungela is fighting a Gauteng High Court case brought by Aeon Investment Management, Fossil Free SA and activist group Just Share, who seek to file a climate‑related shareholder resolution under Section 65 of the Companies Act. The...
Why Alphamin Has Been Shooting the Lights Out
Alphamin is set to post a record‑quarter profit of roughly $158 million as tin prices, which have nearly doubled since early 2025, remain elevated around $48,000 per tonne. The South‑African‑listed miner produces about 5,000 tons per quarter and expects a generous dividend...
MC Mining Advances Makhado but Shuts Uitkomst
MC Mining is moving ahead with the Makhado hard‑coking coal mine in Limpopo, targeting hot‑commissioning and plant start‑up in May 2026. Backed by Hong Kong‑listed Kinetic Development Group, the project aims for 800,000 tonnes annual output and a 28‑year mine life,...
Endeavour on Track to Double Forecast Payouts to Shareholders
Endeavour Mining reported record Q1 results, delivering $880 m EBITDA and $631 m free cash flow, positioning it to more than double its minimum dividend commitments. The West African gold producer now expects to return at least $2 bn to shareholders through a...
Southern Palladium Doubles Expected Chrome Recoveries From the Bengwenyama Mine
Southern Palladium announced that recent metallurgical testing at its proposed Bengwenyama PGM mine has doubled projected chromite recoveries, raising the estimate from 30% to 65%. Executive Chairman Roger Baxter said the results underscore the orebody’s high grade and the project’s...
Sylvania Platinum Rakes in Profits From Higher Pgm Prices in the March Quarter
Sylvania Platinum posted a strong March‑quarter performance, driven by a 28% rise in PGM basket prices and higher chrome sales. The company exceeded operational plans and expects to meet the upper‑end of its 90,000‑93,000 oz PGM production guidance for the year....
South32 and Eskom in Talks over Hillside Smelter Power Supply Following Closure of Mozal
South32 and Eskom have launched a joint working group to negotiate a long‑term electricity supply for the Hillside aluminium smelter after the Mozal plant in Mozambique was placed on care and maintenance on March 15. The Mozal shutdown eliminated roughly...
ARM Makes Strategic Marketing Step Towards Re-Opening Nkomati Nickel
South African miner African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) has moved toward restarting its mothballed Nkomati nickel mine by signing a conditional off‑take agreement with Boliden Commercial AB. The deal secures a multi‑year supply of nickel concentrate to Boliden’s Harjavalta smelter, the...
Still No Firm Date for the Divestment of De Beers by Anglo American
Anglo American said it will sign off on a sale of its steel‑making coal assets in the second quarter of 2026, but it still has not set a firm deadline for divesting its flagship diamond business, De Beers. Rough‑diamond prices slipped...
Steady Output in March Will See Implats Meet Full-Year Targets
Implats said its March‑quarter output keeps the company on track to hit its 2026 full‑year guidance of 3.4‑3.6 million ounces of refined and saleable platinum‑group metals (PGM). Own‑mine production slipped 0.5% to 762,000 oz, but total gross sales rose 9% to 847,000 oz...
Perseus Buys Into Neighbour Aurum’s Exploration Activities
Perseus Mining bought a 9.9% stake in Aurum Resources for A$23.7 million (≈$15.6 million) to tap exploration assets near its Bagoé operation in Côte d’Ivoire. The investment follows a 21% rise in quarterly gold output to 107,144 oz, keeping Perseus on track for its...
Valterra Normalizes Quarterly Production After Last Year’s Flooding
Valterra Platinum reported Q1 2026 production normalizing after last year’s flood, with total PGM output up 7% to 743,500 oz and sales 60% higher at 791,400 oz, driven by a five‑year‑high basket price of $2,911 per ounce. The company deferred first‑quarter maintenance to...
South32 Pumps Aluminium Output to Seize High Prices
South32 is ramping up aluminium production to profit from a four‑year high LME price of $3,557 per tonne, driven by Middle East‑related supply disruptions. Its Hillside smelter in South Africa is operating near technical limits but still posted a 3%...
Burkina Faso Compels West African to Give up More of Kiaka
Burkina Faso has issued a decree allowing its state‑owned arm SOPAMIB to increase its ownership of the Kiaka gold mine to 40%, paying roughly $115 million USD. The move follows an earlier decision to boost its free‑carry to 15% and comes...
Rio Tinto Considers Options to Exit RBM
Rio Tinto announced it is evaluating options to exit its Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) titanium operation while also testing the market for its borates business. Production of titanium‑dioxide slag fell 2% to 218,000 tonnes in Q1, and the company now...
Sibanye-Stillwater Starts Talks with EU on Ensuring Keliber’s Viability
Sibanye‑Stillwater said a decision on the €763 million (≈$832 million) Keliber refinery will be made in Q4, once sustainable lithium‑hydroxide pricing is clear. The open‑pit mine in Finland is finished and mining has begun, while the concentrator is in hot commissioning. The...
Implats Weighs Platinum Growth Projects in Zimbabwe
Implats is weighing three platinum growth options in Zimbabwe: reopening the Hartley brownfield to leverage existing processing assets, investing in a $50 million open‑pit Darwendale mine now owned by Great Dyke Investments, and potentially taking equity in Tharisa’s $545 million Karo platinum...
Africa Has Turned the Screw on Its Gold Miners. Just Ask Gold Fields
Ghana has introduced a sliding‑scale royalty that will take gold earnings from 5% up to 12% as prices rise, and it is renegotiating mining licences on a case‑by‑case basis. Gold Fields, which relies on the Tarkwa mine for about 17%...
Alphamin Says Tin Price Sustainable as Stars Align
Alphamin, a DRC‑based tin miner listed on the JSE and TSX, is on track to post a record quarter with earnings of about $158 million, thanks to tin prices climbing from $30,000 to a peak near $60,000 per tonne and now...
Motsepe’s ARC Ruled Not Liable for Breach in Pula Dispute
African Rainbow Capital (ARC) secured a declaratory judgment from the Johannesburg High Court, confirming it bears no liability under a 2019 confidentiality agreement central to a $195 million damages claim filed in Tanzania. The claim, brought by Pula Group and Pula...
Why SA Coal Export Prices Haven’t Shot the Lights Out
Thungela Resources’ shares surged 80% in six months after the US‑Israel strike on Iran sparked energy‑security concerns, but export coal prices have risen only modestly. Analysts note that while oil and gas benchmarks jumped 50‑80%, South African coal benchmarks are...
Tharisa Navigates Tricky Quarter Thanks to Resilient PGMs
Tharisa ended Q2 with $54.7 million in net cash, up from $47 million, thanks to an $800‑per‑ounce lift in average PGM prices. Despite a grade decline and heavy rains that reduced PGM output to 34,300 oz, chrome production rose to 404,000 t and fetched...
Uncertainty Clouds Jubilee’s Copper Ambitions
Jubilee Metals posted strong interim numbers driven by its Roan processing plant, which delivered 1,246 t of copper and pushed revenue up 70 % to $14.1 million, but the business remains dominated by low‑margin third‑party feedstock. The company’s 72 % stake in the Molefe...
SA Platinum Exports Surge but Miners Face War Inflation
South Africa’s platinum‑group‑metal (PGM) exports jumped 13% in the first two months of 2026, driven by strong demand in China and Europe, according to UBS. At the same time, the ongoing Middle‑East conflict is raising diesel prices, adding roughly 80...
US Minerals Deal Helps Congo Raise $1.25bn in Maiden Bond
The Democratic Republic of Congo completed its inaugural sovereign Eurobond, raising $1.25 bn. The issue comprised $600 m of 2032 notes at an 8.75% yield and $650 m of 2037 notes at 9.50%, with order books reaching $2 bn and $2.8 bn respectively, allowing tighter...
Tin Surge Helps Alphamin to Record Earnings but Fuel Hike Looms
Alphamin posted record earnings for the March quarter, driven by a 30% quarter‑on‑quarter rise in tin prices that lifted EBITDA 48% to $158 million and generated $128 million of cash. All‑in sustaining costs climbed 7% to $17,968 per ton due to higher...
Iron Ore Slips on Signs of BHP-China Thaw
Iron ore prices fell to a one‑month low after Bloomberg reported that BHP’s incoming CEO, Brandon Craig, visited Beijing. The visit sparked speculation that the long‑running pricing dispute between BHP and China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG) may be easing. Futures...
AngloGold, Gold Fields Make Ground on North American Rivals
North America’s three biggest gold miners—Newmont, Agnico Eagle and Barrick—reported lower output in 2025 and project further declines in 2026, while rivals such as China’s Zijin, AngloGold Ashanti and Uzbekistan’s NMMC posted production gains. The gap reflects divergent strategies: North...
Zambia Copper Rail Link to Cost up to $5bn
A new 830‑kilometre railway will connect Zambia’s copper belt to Angola’s deep‑water port of Lobito, with construction slated to start this year and finish by 2030. The project’s cost is estimated between $3 billion and $5 billion, covering tracks, stations and rolling...
Ghana Picks E&P to Run Damang Gold Mine
Ghana’s Minerals Commission has awarded the Damang gold mine to local services firm Engineers & Planners Ltd (E&P) after a competitive tender. The decision follows the government’s refusal to extend Gold Fields’ lease, opening a potential $1 billion asset revival. E&P...
Eskom Granted Two More Days to Land High Stakes Power Deal
Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture has agreed to extend Eskom’s deadline for a new five‑year power tariff to 9 April 2026, marking the fifth postponement of the deal. The proposed tariff of 62 cents per kilowatt‑hour, a steep discount from an earlier 87 cents, is intended...
Kenya Opens Bidding for Prized Rare Earths Deposit
Kenya has opened a competitive tender for the Mrima Hill rare‑earths and niobium deposit, seeking bids from US, Chinese and Australian firms. More than ten companies have already signaled interest, and the government insists any award must include in‑country processing....
CATL Taps Zijin Mining Founder as Mining Advisor
China's CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker, has hired Chen Jinghe, the founder and former chairman of Zijin Mining, as an advisor to its mining division. Chen, who grew Zijin into a $120 billion mining group, stepped down last year...
Kenmare’s Year of Prices, Politics and Pain
Kenmare Resources is locked in a dispute with the Mozambican government over a new fiscal deal for its Moma mineral sands mine. The tax authority imposed a 2.5% royalty and stripped the mine’s free‑zone status, eliminating $25‑40 million in annual tax...
Secretive Eskom Gets Walloped in Court by AfriForum
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a high‑court order compelling state utility Eskom to disclose all coal and diesel supply contracts after a four‑year legal battle by civil‑rights group AfriForum. The court rejected Eskom’s blanket claim that the agreements...
Exxaro Concludes 9.3mt Coal Sale with Eskom
Exxaro Resources signed a long‑term agreement with South Africa's power utility Eskom to supply 9.3 million tonnes of coal each year to the Matla power station. The coal will come from Exxaro's Matla Colliery, which recently completed a R5.2 bn (≈ $275 m) expansion...
Gold Fields in $740m Fight with Ghana President’s Brother
Gold Fields is embroiled in a $740 million legal dispute with its contractor E&P, which is owned by Ghana President John Mahama’s brother. E&P has filed two claims—$474.9 million over the Tarkwa mine and $264.7 million over the Damang asset—as Gold Fields seeks...
US, European Funders in Mix for Tharisa’s Karo Project
Tharisa is seeking $300 million of financing for its $545 million Karo platinum‑group‑metals project in Zimbabwe, courting North American and European government‑backed lenders alongside offtake partners. The mine is designed to produce about 226,000 ounces of PGMs per year in its first...
Gold’s Haven Role Intact Despite Sharp Price Fall
Gold prices dropped about 12% after the Middle East conflict, but Standard Chartered’s global head of commodities research Suki Cooper says the metal’s safe‑haven status remains solid. The decline is attributed to short‑term liquidity pressure rather than a structural shift,...
Barrick Names Leadership Team for North America IPO
Barrick Mining has formed a seven‑person executive team to run its Nevada and Dominican Republic operations as it prepares a North American IPO later this year. Tim Cribb will serve as chief operating officer, Wessel Hamman as chief financial officer,...
Ghana Limits Damang Mine Bids to Local Firms
Ghana has limited the tender for the Damang gold mine to firms that are 100% owned by Ghanaian citizens, as Gold Fields prepares to hand over the asset on April 18 after a 12‑month extension. Prospective bidders must demonstrate open‑pit...
Master Drilling Defers Dividend as Iran Crisis Looms Large
Master Drilling reported record US‑dollar revenue of $292 million, a stable $371.4 million order book and a $997.8 million pipeline for the year ending December. Despite these strong fundamentals, the company has postponed its annual dividend, citing uncertainty over the escalating Iran conflict...
Canada Moves to Save Glencore’s Quebec Copper Smelter
The Canadian and Quebec governments are negotiating to keep Glencore's Horne copper smelter open after the miner threatened closure over new arsenic‑emission rules. Quebec proposed delaying the 15 ng/m³ limit until 2029, while Ottawa is reviewing a roughly C$150 million ($111 million USD)...
Congo Deepens China Mining Ties Amid US Rivalry
The Democratic Republic of Congo signed a new agreement with China to deepen cooperation in its mining sector, covering geological data sharing, investment protection, and promotion of local processing. The deal gives Chinese firms priority on the MIFOR iron‑ore project...
There’s More to Exxaro Price Surge than Energy Security
Exxaro Resources’ shares surged to a three‑year high after global coal prices spiked following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. CEO Ben Magara attributes the rally to three drivers: the completion of a R10.6bn (~$558 million) manganese acquisition, a higher dividend of R10...
US Takes Stake in Graphite Miner Syrah Resources
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is converting a $31 million loan into roughly a 20 percent equity stake in Australian graphite miner Syrah Resources, making it the agency’s second‑largest shareholder. An additional $15 million will be disbursed to Syrah’s Balama mine in...