Modern Mining June 2023
Editor’s take: South Africans are fed-up of dealing with the challenges associated with persistent loadshedding, lack of clean water, corruption, high rates of unemployment, failing infrastructure and a poor performing economy. There is certainly a deep sense of despair permeating the South African landscape. As a result, a large number of wealthy countrymen and women have made their exit, with over 32 000 people said to have changed their residences in the period 2017 to 2021. This exodus of highly skilled people should have been a clear signal to our leadership that all has not been well for some time. Nevertheless, those who remain must be applauded for their staying power.
On the cover
Spearheading technology and innovation advances in mining explosives sector
Innovation and technological development have been an essential component of business strategy in every sector across the globe. Mining is no exception. Technological progression is yielding far-reaching improvements in safety, sustainability and operational efficiency throughout the value chain. In South Africa, and globally, AECI Mining Explosives is celebrated for being at the forefront of innovation. The company continues to invest significant money and resources into research and development (R&D) in its quest to assist the mining industry to achieve better blasting outcomes.
Leo Lithium’s Goulamina project targets 2024 production
The outlook for lithium, which is being driven by the global need for clean energy sources, remains extremely bullish. For Leo Lithium, the new kid on the mining block, its Goulamina Lithium Project in southern Mali underpins an extremely positive looking future. The project, which is targeting spodumene production at the end of the second quarter 2024, is close to 30% complete on the construction phase, MD Simon Hay, tells Modern Mining.
According to Hay, to meet demand for lithium-ion batteries for the electric vehicle industry more lithium producing mines need to come on-board sooner rather than later.
Giyani Metals finalises demonstration plant
Since taking the helm in April, Giyani Metals CEO, Danny Keating, has been busy looking to bring the company’s flagship K. Hill battery metal manganese project in Botswana into production in the next three years. The company is intent on becoming Africa's first low-carbon producer of high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM), a precursor material used by electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturers for the expanding EV market. According to Keating, the company is looking to become the next large-scale producer of HPMSM, a market expected to grow ten times by 2030.
DRDGOLD reduces mining’s environmental legacy
Can mining ever be ‘green’? By its very nature, minerals extraction disturbs the natural environment, makes use of a wide range of chemicals in the process and forever changes the composition of the area mined. While mining in South Africa has a history spanning over a hundred years, for the first 60-70 years environmental consciousness was not a priority, In the recent past, however, local miners have been inclined towards a model that is more sustainable and environmentally-friendly, says DRDGOLD’s CEO Niël Pretorius.
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