De Beers’ Voorspoed mine initiates Kroonstad entrepreneur scheme

Diamond miner De Beers’ Voorspoed mine on Friday officially unveiled its Incubation Support Programme for small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) at the miner’s Zimele business hub in... 

Mine tailings recovery can be value generator, says Council for Geoscience

Mine tailings have been identified as a major source of environmental impact for many mining operations and more stringent requirements have been placed on the management of these tailings. An... 

New platform launched to connect professionals with industry experts

Mining consultancy Core Consultants has launched its Core Connect business platform. Core MD Lara Smith explains that the platform will serve to provide professional learning and is the company’s... 

Operating environment remains challenging, despite 2016 improvement for top 40 miners – PwC

The world’s top 40 miners recovered from a “race to the bottom”, with bolstered balance sheets and a return to profitability in 2016, giving them much-needed space to pause and take a breath. This... 

Despite a gloomy outlook, Baxter highlights opportunities for emerging miners

While the South African mining sector still faces significant challenges, Chamber of Mines (CoM) CEO Roger Baxter believes that great opportunities still exist in the sector, particularly for... 

Operation Phakisa pushes for improved capability in subsurface research

Operation Phakisa’s oil and gas group has identified the need to develop localised capability in this sphere and consequently tasked the D2 working group with initiatives aimed at developing South... 

Africa’s overreliance on extractive industries hampering sustainable development

Economic history has shown that without diversification into manufacturing and services and away from simple resource extraction, the long term development prospects of countries are always bleak.... 

Research firm sees Montepuez ruby field becoming consistent, stable source of rubies

Australian and US investment research firm Independent Investment Research (IIR) has completed a valuation for ASX-listed junior miner Mustang Resources resulting in a base case 12-month price... 

Pembridge sells Botswana copper assets for £150 000

Aim-listed natural resource exploration and development company Pembridge Resources – which was known as China Africa Resources up to April 10 – has announced that a share purchase agreement has... 

Junior miners seek to regain investor confidence in efforts to relive glory days

Junior mining companies have certainly been through a tough time of late. Some of the pain has been self-inflicted, some has been a long time coming and some of it has been pure bad luck, says... 

Scopa welcomes SIU investigation into Eskom coal deals

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has welcomed the decision by Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown to refer Eskom’s procurement contracts, including those signed with the Gupta... 

Ghana, Mauritania and Sao Tome make ‘meaningful progress’, Malawi publishes first EITI report

At a recent meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) board agreed to assess the performance of its 51 implementing countries against the EITI standard... 

Digital fixed gas monitoring system launched

Australian mining-refuge chamber manufacturer MineArc Systems has released its new Aura-FX digital fixed gas monitoring system, which it says provides a “more convenient” solution to internal... 

Silver prices seen improving steadily in coming years amid renewed investor demand

Silver prices are likely to continue to rise in 2017 and to do so over the next several years. This is according to New York-based research and consulting firm CPM Group’s recently released ‘2017... 

Council for Geoscience launches near-shore mapping programme

Mineral resources are important to the economy and capacity building of South Africa and are being extensively exploited on land and there will likely be a shift towards the offshore environment,... 

Platinum market expected to be ‘broadly balanced’ this year

The platinum market is expected to be broadly balanced over the year with a deficit of 65 000 oz forecast for this year. Above ground stocks are expected to end the year at 1.89-million ounces,... 

Andrew Main

This week we feature Andrew Main, General Manager Business Development Southern Africa of Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, a supplier of mining equipment, consumables and services to the mining... 

KZN coal mine supplying communities’ water needs and more, mulls output expansion

The Zululand region of KwaZulu-Natal was afflicted by what the Department of Water and Sanitation described as the “worst drought in a century” in 2016 and is still one of the water-scarce areas of... 

Molybdenum demand to be subdued until at least 2025?

In the forecast period between 2016 and 2025 molybdenum demand growth is projected to be slower than the compound annual demand growth recorded from 2009 through 2015. This is according to New... 

AMCU to continue pressuring mining houses to pay ‘living wages’

Workers Day is a time when South African workers come together in solidarity with workers worldwide to celebrate the gains made, while also calling for more improvements to the livelihoods and... 

Bushveld completes Vametco acquisition, progresses towards integrated vanadium platform

Diversified mineral development company Bushveld Minerals has completed the acquisition of a 78.8% shareholding in Strategic Minerals Corporation (SMC), the ultimate holding company of Vametco... 

Online platform developed to provide easy access to African countries’ mining laws

The African Mining Legislation Atlas (AMLA) – a free, online platform and project developed by the World Bank – will be handed over to the African Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) African Legal Support... 

New toolkit to help govts manage small-scale mining sector

Governments struggling to manage the complex and sometimes chaotic artisanal and small-scale mining sector have a new toolkit, which was developed by the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining,... 

KZN coal mine supplying communities’ water needs and more, mulls output expansion

The Zululand region of KwaZulu-Natal was afflicted by what the Department of Water and Sanitation described as the “worst drought in a century” in 2016 and is still a water scarce area of the... 

Evenly balanced year for platinum in 2017, supply deficits to continue

The platinum market is expected to be broadly balanced over the year with a deficit of 65 000 oz forecast for this year. Above ground stocks are expected to end the year at 1.89-million ounces,... 

South Africa’s newest iron-ore mine comes on stream

Junior iron-ore miner Manngwe Mining plans to expand its asset base and increase production at its existing operation over the next five years to provide integrated steel and mining company... 

AMCU calls for greater local mineral beneficiation, nationalisation of mines

The African National Congress- (ANC-) led government has failed to deliver meaningful economic empowerment for the oppressed working class majority and has instead given away South Africa’s... 

Former petrol attendant to probe perceptions of Mining Charter in PhD thesis

Gold mining company Pan African Resources Evander Gold Mines human resources manager Mzwandile Anthony Maki outlined the early stage development of his PhD thesis entitled ‘Testing the Perceptions... 

Simon Andrews

This week we feature Simon Andrews, Vice President Sales Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology Southern Africa, a 2 000-employee business with assets worth R1-billion  

Ten-times-stronger-than-steel lightweight graphene material developed

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the US, says it has designed one of the “strongest lightweight materials” ever known, by compressing and fusing flakes... 

Suricate Minerals seeks to unlock Mauritania’s untapped minerals potential

Privately owned Mauritanian mining exploration company Suricate Minerals is making good progress on the exploration development of its quartz, barite, iron-ore and gold projects, in Mauritania,... 

Aim-listed explorer and developer changes name as it refocuses vision

Aim-listed natural resource exploration and development company Pembridge Resources – which was known as China Africa Resources up to April 10 – is shifting its focus from being only a developer of... 

Caledonia declares dividend, increases gold output 18% year-on-year

Caledonia Mining Corporation, in line with its dividend policy, has declared a dividend of  $0.01375 on each of the company’s common shares. Caledonia CEO Steve Curtis points out that... 

Ex-prof says new rock mechanics book will deal with ‘incompleteness’ of existing texts

The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) has published a new rock mechanics textbook, which is entitled ‘Theoretical Rock Mechanics for Professional Practice’. Speaking at an... 

Modular plant assists remote mine in accelerating gold production

The first two gold pours were successfully completed in February by Canada-based emerging gold producer TMAC Resources, at its Doris mine and mill complex at the Hope Bay gold project, which is... 

Mission urges ‘imminent action’ to curb contamination from old Kyrgyzstan mine

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on a former lead and zinc mine in the Sumsar industrial area, in Kyrgyzstan, which was undertaken jointly by international nongovernmental mine... 

Master Blaster CEO takes issue with Frost & Sullivan findings on explosives

The findings of a recent report by market research company Frost & Sullivan entitled ‘The Mining Explosives Market in South Africa for Coal, Iron Ore, Gold and PGMs, Forecast to 2020’ are... 

AMCU celebrates Workers Day, sends signal to rivals saying politics not unions’ business

Workers Day is a time when South African workers come together in solidarity with workers worldwide to celebrate the gains made, while also calling for more improvements to the livelihoods and... 

AMCU decries government’s ‘failures’, calls for South Africa First approach

The African National Congress- (ANC-) led government has failed to deliver meaningful economic empowerment for the oppressed working class majority and has instead given away South Africa’s... 

Analysts paint sparkling picture of coloured gemstone market

The shift from small-scale artisanal mining to larger mechanised mining, owing to the increasing involvement of larger mining companies and greater formalisation of the sector, is expected to...