Editor’s take: If you’re a Swiftie, you would have heard that Taylor Swift has become the first artist in history to claim every slot in the top 10 of the US singles charts, overtaking Drake and the Beatles. This is thanks to her latest album, Midnights.
I guess if you are at the top of your game, as South African’s are at mining, you are bound to be breaking barriers and pioneering some industry firsts too. On the subject of pioneering, South Africa’s power workhorse, the Komati coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, which has served South Africa since 1961, reached its end of life in October and is set to play a key role in the country’s Just Energy Transition (JET) Strategy. “The Komati Repowering and Repurposing project is one of the largest coal-fired power plant decommissioning, repowering and repurposing projects globally and will serve as a global reference on how to transition fossil-fuel assets,” Eskom said.
On the cover
Astec Industries Telestack increases its growth and support in the region
Though the world economy continues to be impacted by the after-effects of the pandemic, Telestack, a division of global equipment manufacturer, Astec Industries, reports that demand for its product range has defied the norm to track exponential growth. According to Astec Industries regional product and sales manager, André Kruger, Telestack, a leading supplier of mobile conveying solutions has, over the past three to four years, been posting growth of between 10 and 15% per annum.
Tirupati Graphite eyes the big league
London-listed graphite producer, Tirupati Graphite, which recently began production from its Madagascar assets, is finalising agreements that will see it expand its Africa footprint into key graphite producing regions and enable the miner to realise its strategy of becoming a producer of 8% of the global graphite market by 2030, CEO Shishir Poddar tells Modern Mining in an exclusive interview.
Power play: Bannerman weighs its options
Geopolitical tensions have put a spoke in the energy wheel, forcing countries to re-evaluate their energy plans as European nations, who turned away from nuclear energy to gas following the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, battle an unprecedented energy crisis, as they bear the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Uranium mine developer, Bannerman Energy, which has its Etango-8 uranium project in Namibia lined up and ready, is watching and waiting to see how this clean energy enigma plays out.
CESA calls for greater mining sector collaboration
Against the backdrop of robust commodity prices, South Africa’s mining sector continues to deliver a sterling performance and recently exceeded expectations, doubling distributions to shareholders to R190 billion, with taxes paid increasing by 14% and capital expenditure growing by 36%. But has this bounty trickled down to an integral component of the mining sector – consulting engineers – and what has been the overall impact on this segment of business? Modern Mining spoke to Consulting Engineers South Africa CEO, Chris Campbell, to find out just how consulting engineers have been faring.
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