Name of the Project
Bengwenyama platinum group metals (PGMs) project.

Location
Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, in Limpopo, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Southern Palladium.

Project Description
A scoping study has shown the project to have very attractive economics, with results justifying a prefeasibility study (PFS) already under way.

The project aims to extract PGMs from the upper group two (UG2) and Merensky reefs, which constitute one of the very few remaining areas within the Bushveld Complex where economically viable PGMs deposits remain unexploited.

The scoping study proposes a two-million-tonne-a-year UG2 reef underground mining operation using hybrid mining, with conventional stoping supported by on-reef mechanised development and ore clearance.

The life-of-mine for only the UG2 reef is estimated at 36 years, with a total of about 52-million tonnes mined – about 10.9-million ounces platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, osmium and gold (7E or 6E+gold), for an average production rate of 330 000 oz/y platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and gold (6E or 5E+gold) basis. This ignores residual value beyond modelled life or any exploration upside. 

The project includes:

• construction of a flotation and spiral plant to deliver PGM and chrome concentrates from a conventional plant, with an estimated 200 000-t-a-month ore feed design capacity. A 75 µm grind size is envisaged.
• construction of a dry-stack tailings storage facility conforming to Global Industry Standards on Tailings Management requirements.
• connection to the nearby national grid power substation and construction of a 132 kV overhead powerline to supply (based on initial indications) of about 43 MVA peak demand.
• connection to an existing licensed, bulk water supply pipeline, located at the entrance road to the project. Water supply will be supplemented with available ground- and surface water.
• comprehensive integration of all on-site infrastructure, encompassing site access roads, office and administrative buildings, engineering workshops, stores, a guardhouse, surface-water storage facilities and other supporting facilities.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate of, $1.04-billion and an internal rate of return of 24%, with a payback of from the start of plant production of 4.5 years.

Capital Expenditure
$408-million.

The project is fully funded.

Planned Start/End Date
The completion of the PFS and associated resource drilling is planned to be completed during the second half of 2024.

Latest Developments
Southern Palladium has submitted the environmental-impact assessment (EIA) report to the Department of Mineral Resource and Energy (DMRE).

“These studies ensure that our project adheres to legal standards and best practices, reflecting our commitment to sustainable and responsible mining,” Southern Palladium MD Johan Odendaal has said.

The EIA studies, along with the consultation process, were finalised and the report submitted on July 10. Southern Palladium received an acknowledgment letter from the DMRE on July 22.

The letter acts as an acknowledgement by the DMRE that the core parameters of the EIA submission have been met by the company and that the detailed review can start for the issuance of environmental authorisation.

In turn, the environmental authorisation permit will form part of Southern Palladium's forthcoming mining right application (MRA), following the completion of a prefeasibility study. 

“We remain confident that the MRA process will be successfully concluded by the end of the first quarter of 2025, with the formal granting of the mining right by the DMRE expected shortly thereafter,” Odendaal has said.

The additional permit applications are also in progress. These include a waste management licence (WML) application and a water-use licence (WUL) application, which will be submitted for water uses associated with the Bengwenyama project.

The EIA submission, along with the WML and WUL submissions, form part of the comprehensive review process for Southern Palladium’s MRA. The WML and WUL applications are scheduled to be completed and submitted by December.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
SRK Consulting (PFS review).

Contact Details for Project Information
Southern Palladium, email info@southernpalladium.com.