Southern Africa

Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad stated on Monday that the company is working hard to maximize its value in case a new M&A bidder comes along. He also expects significant progress on a much-anticipated spin-off of De Beers' diamond business this year. Anglo American, a London-listed company, rejected a hostile bid of $49 billion from BHP in May. BHP was focusing on Anglo’s copper assets. Anglo has since streamlined its operations by selling coal assets and agreeing on the separation of its platinum business. It still needs to find partners for the UK fertiliser project, which requires massive amounts of...

De Beers, the diamond division of Anglo American, said it had completed negotiations with Botswana for a new rough-diamond sales agreement as well as extended mining licenses for its joint enterprise beyond 2029. Debswana is a joint venture 50:50 between the top diamond producer Botswana (and De Beers) that currently sells 75% its output to De Beers. In 2023, Botswana signed a new 10-year diamond deal with De Beers, which will see the government share of diamonds sold by the Debswana joint venture increase from 30% to gradually 50% over the next decade. This agreement was not signed by the...

South Africa's Energy Regulator granted Eskom a 12.7% average increase in tariff for 2025/26. This is a third less than the company requested. Eskom's request for increases of 36% in April, 12% by 2026, and 9% by 2027 prompted opposition during public consultations. Political parties and consumers blamed the poor economy and cost-of-living crises. Eskom must be sustainable in the short-term and long-term. Thembani Bukula is the chairman of Nersa. He said that we must ensure that Eskom's electricity services are affordable. Eskom's request for tens or even hundreds of millions of rands to cover coal contracts, an increased carbon...

South Africa's mining market reported 42 deaths last year, the lowest number to date and a 24% improvement on the previous year, official stats showed on Thursday. The stats did not include deaths from prohibited mining. Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe repeated the government's. position that unlawful mining is a criminal activity and not part. of his department's remit. Recently the bodies of 78 miners were pulled from an. unlawful gold mine after a heavily-criticised authorities operation. lasting numerous months that attempted to require them to the surface. Of the deaths caught in last year's official stats,. 11 were in the...

There is a 59% possibility of La Nina emerging in the NovemberJanuary period, a U.S. federal government forecaster stated on Thursday, including that the ultimate start of La Nina conditions would be weak and shortlived. WHY IT is essential La Nina, a climatic phenomenon defined by cooler-than-average ocean temperature levels in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, is connected with both floods and droughts impacting international agriculture, and higher Caribbean hurricane activity. CONTEXT Weak La Nina conditions would be less most likely to lead to conventional winter effects, though foreseeable signals might still influence the projection assistance, the National Weather...

Anglo American said on Tuesday it will offer more shares in its South African platinum system, as it accelerates strategies to spin it off. Anglo offered 16 million shares for sale in Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), worth about $535 million, according to a bookrunner. An earlier sale of its 5.3% stake in the platinum system netted about $400 million. The placing will raise money for Anglo American, the moms and dad business of Amplats, as it presses forward with a larger reorganizing strategy that is aimed at focusing its operations on copper and iron ore mining and increasing value. Anglo...

South Africa's Eskom said on Monday that the 90 billion rand ($ 4.96 billion) and counting in debts it is owed by towns and cities threats erasing its government bailout, as it argued for tariff walkings. The government has actually insisted a three-year debt-relief bundle worth more than 250 billion rand assured by South Africa's. National Treasury in 2015 is the power energy's last. Eskom's primary financial officer made the remarks at the. first day of public hearings into the company's application for. electrical power tariff walkings over the next 3 years. Eskom has actually asked the energy regulator to...

Shares of Paladin Energy plunged on Tuesday and were on track for their worst session in more than seven years, after the Australian uranium producer cut its financial 2025 output forecast for the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. The stock decreased as much as 28.9% to A$ 6.880 by 0126 GMT, posting its biggest intraday percentage loss considering that May 2017. It strike its least expensive level because June 28, 2023. Paladin slashed its annual production forecast to 3.0-- 3.6. million pounds from 4.0-4.5 Mlb, mentioning operational obstacles. and delays in increase production. Australia's biggest pure-play uranium miner in regards...

SubSaharan African nations that depend upon product exports need to reform their economies to tackle irregular regional financial development, International Monetary Fund Africa Director Abebe Aemro Selassie stated. The region is expected to grow by 3.6% this year, unchanged from in 2015 and down from an April projection of 3.8%, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook released today, with product economies lagging their varied equivalents. The product intensive countries are growing at about half the rate of the rest of the area, the IMF stated in the report, with oil exporters struggling one of the most in...

Mozambique's ruling party Frelimo has maintained power in this month's national election, extending its fivedecade guideline in the Southern African state as the opposition sobbed fraud. Frelimo's Daniel Chapo, 47, will prosper President Filipe Nyusi to end up being Mozambique's 5th president since its independence from Portugal in 1975. Nyusi is stepping down after serving the optimum two terms. Chapo won over 70% of votes, the electoral commission stated on Thursday. Venancio Mondlane, backed by the Podemos party, came second with 20% of votes, displacing previous rebel motion Renamo, which had been the main opposition party but whose candidate came...

Saipem will start work on deep water drilling in Namibia for Portugal's Galp Energia, the president of the Italian energy specialist said on Thursday. In early 2024 Galp performed tests at its Mopane-1X and Mopane-2X wells and estimated in April that the Mopane field could hold at least 10 billion barrels of oil following an initially phase of exploration. The find at Mopane appears to be among the largest made in the Orange Basin following effective expedition projects by TotalEnergies and Shell in recent years. The agreement granted by Galp to drill a deep-water well is the very first in...

As Russian forces grind their way towards the tactical supply hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, they are also approaching a coking coal mine that fires the nation's essential steel market. Russian troops have actually relocated to within around 12 km of Pokrovsk, overwhelming Ukraine's extended defences with greatly exceptional numbers and equipment. Countless locals have gotten away and key road and rail links to other cities run the risk of being severed. Around 10 km west of the town centre lies a mine that produces a special kind of coal required to produce coke, an essential element in steelmaking...

The leaders of the Eastern and Southern African region met on Saturday for an unprecedented summit to find a resolution to a conflict in east Congo. Rapid advances by Rwandan-backed rebellions since January have sparked fears of a larger war. M23 rebels captured Goma last week, the largest town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This was the worst fighting in over a decade and thousands of people were killed. They have marched southwards towards Bukavu despite announcing an unilateral ceasefire. Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and other presidents gathered on the stage to begin the talks in Dar es Salaam....

Anglo American Platinum anticipates that its headline earnings will drop as much as 46 percent in the year 2024 due to persistently low metals and costs associated with a demerger and restructuring. The top producer of platinum-group metals, used to reduce emissions from motor vehicles, said that it expected headline earnings of between 7,6 billion rand (US$408.8 million and $484.11 million) for the year ending December 31. This is down from 14 billion in 2023. Amplats reported that the dollar price of palladium, rhodium, and platinum fell by 24 and 30 percent, respectively, over the last year. Craig Miller, the...

Anglo American, a global miner, announced on Wednesday a 6% drop in its copper production for the year of 773,000 metric tonnes and lowered its rough diamonds output forecasts for 2025-2026 due to lower demand. The London-listed company expects copper production to reach 690,000-750,000 tonnes in 2025 and 760,000-820,000 tonnes in 2026. Metal is used in electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure. The rough diamond production for 2024 fell 22%, to 24.7 millions carats. This is the lower end in its guidance. Anglo has reduced its production forecast to 20 million to 23 millions carats from 30 million-33 million carats...

ArcelorMittal South Africa announced on Thursday that it would delay the closing of its long steel plant operations by one month. The steelmaker is in discussions with the government about salvaging the business. The company had planned to start winding down the loss-making long-steel business by the end of last month, but has delayed it due "continuing discussions with the South African government" as well as higher-than-anticipated orders. The steelmaker announced in a press release that the outcome of the negotiations will be revealed before the end this month. The company said that a loan of 380 million rands ($20.44m)...

Amplats CEO Craig Miller stated on Wednesday that Anglo American Platinum has a lot of interest from investors as it prepares for its spin-off as a separate entity. The spin-off is part the group's restructuring plan, which aims to fight off a $49 Billion takeover bid by bigger rival BHP and focus on more lucrative copper and iron ore properties. Miller, without providing details, said that Amplats will be separated mid-year and the company's name will change. Amplats, the only PGMs producer in London will have a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, which could attract new investors. Miller...

Gold companies will have to loosen up the new Mali mining law that raises taxes, and aims to give large stakes of assets to local investors and the state. The new rules require companies in Africa's 2nd largest gold producer to give a 35% stake of their new projects to Malian Investors - an increase from the previous 20% - and to raise royalty tax to 10% from around 6%. Three gold mining CEOs from West Africa spoke on the sidelines at the African Mining Indaba, which was held in Cape Town. They said that the new rules made it...

The world is likely to be splitting in two over the long-term, despite the volatility and uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump's tariffs. After removing Trump's bluster, and his often contradictory behavior, the message appears to be pretty clear. Trump's worldview is that the United States are the only ones who can be trusted. This presents a problem for the mineral-rich countries of Africa, who want to maximize their benefits from their resources but also remain neutral. It's becoming more likely that African countries will be forced to choose whether they want to work with China-led BRICS or the Trump...

Harmony Gold, a South African company, said Monday that it expected to surpass its 1.5 million-ounce production target in the entire year up to June 2025 even though the output was lower during the first half. Harmony, South Africa's top gold producer by volume, announced in a trading report that gold production was expected to range between 790,000.0 ounces to 805,000.0 ounces for the six-month period ending December 2024. The decline in production from 832,349 ounces Harmony during the same reporting period a year ago was mainly due a planned lower output at its South African underground mining operations and...

Duduzile Zuma Sambudla, the daughter of former South African President Jacob Zuma, was charged on Thursday with inciting violence in riots that took place in 2021, during which over 300 people died. Zuma-Sambudla's lawyer said that she will plead not guilt. The prosecution alleges that Zuma-Sambudla prompted others to commit violent acts in social media posts in July 2021 when unrest broke after her father's arrest for refusing to comply with a court order. The anger that began over Zuma’s imprisonment turned into rage against poverty and inequality. This led to looting thousands of stores, extensive damage to infrastructure, and...

Lead and zinc might be geological sibling metals however their market fortunes have actually been very various in recent months. London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month zinc rallied to a 20-month high of $3,284 per metric heap in October on the back of an acutely tight raw materials market. LME lead, by contrast, headed in the opposite direction, weighed down by a mountain of exchange stocks. Zinc's premium to lead extended to over $1,000 per heap during the 4th quarter of 2024, the widest gap considering that February 2023. Although the 2 metals primarily come from the same mines, divergent narratives...

Zambia is pinning its hopes on the mining sector for an economic revival after the worst drought in living memory triggered a sharp downturn in growth this year, its financing minister said on Tuesday. Situmbeko Musokotwane informed an event on the economic outlook that new mines were opening imminently and old mines were re-investing to raise output. If all goes according to plan, 2025 must be the start of this revival and it will be getting stronger and stronger each year moving forward, he stated. The federal government approximates in 2015's copper production was over 770,000 loads, a boost on...

South African authorities are hunting a gang leader from Lesotho believed to have regulated operations at an unlawful cash cow where 78 bodies were recovered last week after months of authorities siege. Tiger is believed to have actually emerged from the deep mine in Stilfontein while it was under authorities monitoring and escaped with the aid of authorities, the South African Police Service said on Monday. Comprehensive investigations and tracing operations are under method to discover those authorities who aided his escape in between shaft 11 and the Stilfontein authorities holding cells, their statement said. Cops were extensively condemned for...