The shift to electric vehicles has spurred a global rush for lithium. This scramble was demonstrated during a recent auction for a controlling stake in a Chinese lithium mine, which garnered 3 448... 

French utility Engie will begin using an Artificial Intelligence-based technology from Google Cloud to optimise the value of its wind portfolio in Germany. The key objective of the pilot project is... 

Recent incidents of sabotage at Eskom power stations, including Tutuka pictured here, have exacerbated the country’s load-shedding crisis. CEO André de Ruyter has alleged that some of the... 

COPPER COMEBACK: Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema says he wants to triple copper output in the next decade, an ambitious target that would require $30-billion of investment, according to... 

A prototype zero-emission hydrogen-powered mine haul truck was unveiled by Anglo American at the Mogalakwena platinum mine, in Limpopo, this month. The truck is capable of carrying a 290 t payload... 

Egypt’s Suez Canal recorded its highest monthly revenue to date in April, when ship-transit fees surged to $629-million as traffic rebounded from the impact of Covid. The total number of ships... 

After a break of more than three years for maintenance and upgrading, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) began operating again late last month, when two beams of protons circulated in opposite... 

DARK DAYS: South Africa’s electricity crisis has its roots in poor policy decisions that span nearly three decades, starting with the failure to implement the 1998 White Paper. Administration after... 

Serious questions are being asked about the design of Transnet’s slot-sale process. The State-owned utility recently launched a bidding process for 16 rail slots, which will be sold ‘voetstoots’ to... 

he Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Bank of England are undertaking reviews into the governance, market oversight and risk management of the London Metal Exchange (LME), following recent... 

Sandton was definitely another country when the great and the good of corporate South Africa met with top ranking government officials and Ministers for the fourth South Africa Investment... 

While several South African coal exporters have been unable to take advantage of strong demand and prices as a result of Transnet’s operational problems, an Australian producer has warned that it,... 

At the time of writing, Europe had refrained from declaring an outright ban on Russian gas imports. Nevertheless, it is taking concerted steps to taper its imports in the short-term and wean itself... 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created yet another devastating refugee crisis as people flee brutal aggression. Pictured here, mostly women and children queue under a Ukraine flag to board a... 

African countries are already spending billions of dollars yearly to deal with the impact of climate change, a report by Power Shift Africa shows. Spending is projected to be particularly high in... 

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana insisted that South Africa’s fiscal sustainability tide was finally turning last week when he delivered his maiden Budget address in the Good Hope Chamber, after... 

The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill released for public comment this month signals the official beginning of the end of South Africa’s long-standing vertically integrated electricity supply... 

The Zambezi River Authority reports that it is progressing with work on the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project (KDRP), which comprises projects to reshape the plunge pool and refurbish the spillway... 

The seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 57.1 points in January from 54.1 points in December, remaining above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from... 

During recent hearings into its R293-billion allowable revenue application for 2022/23, Eskom dramatically lowered the energy availability factor assumptions for its coal fleet from 72% to 62%.... 

The world’s largest hydropower company, China Three Gorges Corporation, is adding wind and solar capacity under plans to diversify its business as the era of mega-dam projects fades, Bloomberg has... 

Chile's mining sector is preparing for what could be some significant changes that could include tighter environmental rules and higher taxes. Newly elected President Gabriel Boric (35) supports... 

While South Africa has not yet broadened booster shots beyond healthcare workers and certain categories of immunocompromised individuals, vaccine booster shots are likely to become an important... 

As the fourth Covid wave approaches, Pfizer and BioNTech have applied to have their coronavirus vaccine approved by the South African Health Regulatory Products Authority for use as a booster. The... 

Three civil society groups have taken the South African government to court over its plan to build 1 500 MW of new coal capacity in line with the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019. In September,... 

Royal Bafokeng Holdings accepted an unsolicited offer this month from Northam Platinum for up to a third of Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) in a R17-billion transaction. RBPlat’s mines – one of... 

British naturalist Sir David Attenborough has emerged as the voice of conscience – and hope – as humanity hurtles towards a self-induced climate crisis, with existential consequences. Delivering an... 

HEAT, DUST & POWER CUTS: As the late and great Johnny Clegg and Savuka sang in their song titled ‘In My African Dream’, which features on the ‘Heat, Dust & Dreams’ album: ‘Something stole the... 

The failure of rich countries to honour their $100-billion-a-year climate-finance commitments is likely to be a key theme as world leaders converge on Glasgow, Scotland, for the COP26 climate... 

Earlier this month, the Austrian Space Forum set up a simulated Martian base together with the Israel Space Agency at Makhtesh Ramon, a 500-m deep, 40-km wide crater, in Israel’s Negev desert.... 

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has raised its projections for global trade growth in 2021 and 2022 to 10.8% and 4.7%, respectively, citing the resurgence of economic activity in the first half... 

Bloomberg reports that a coalition of financial firms overseeing a combined $29.3-trillion of assets, is calling on some of the world’s biggest corporate emitters to urgently set science-based...