Southern Palladium executive chairperson Roger Baxter has reported that interest in investing in South African mining projects is re-emerging on North American bourses. He was talking to journalists at a lunch event, on the fringe of the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2025 conference, being held in Cape Town.

Despite its name, Southern Palladium is a full-spectrum platinum group metals (PGM) miner, developing the Bengwenyama project on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, in Limpopo. Baxter elucidated that the company had undertaken roadshows last year, to Australia, North America, and the UK. He reported that UK investors were “comfortable” in the “PGM space”, and Australian (Perth and Sydney) were interested. Investors in Toronto and New York had “switched off” South Africa but interest in both South Africa and PGMs was “coming back”. Reforms launched late during the previous South African administration, and the creation of the current Government of National Unity, had helped change North American attitudes.

As for the Bengwenyama project itself, this was 70%-owned by Southern Palladium and 30% by the Bengwenyama community, through their investment vehicle, Nurinox Investments. Nurinox also owned 9% of Southern Palladium, giving the community a 39% stake in the project being executed on their land. “We work very closely with the community. They see it as a game-changer for the Bengwenyama community.”

“We are right in the middle of prime PGM real estate,” he highlighted. “It’s a shallow deposit.”

The company completed its prefeasibility study last October. The definitive feasibility study is expected to be completed this year.

Bengwenyama was a Tier 1 project, with a measured and indicated mineral resource of 8.17-million ounces of UG2, at a high grade of 9.89 g/t, over a reef width of 73 cm. The UG2 ore can be accessed only 50 m below the ground. The company is targeting the UG2 ore, not Merensky reef ore, but if the Merensky ore is included, its total measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource reached 40.25-million ounces.

The project could end up producing platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium, iridium, ruthenium, chromium, nickel, copper and gold. It will certainly produce the full range of PGMs, chrome and some gold. The mine’s annual production is forecast to be 400 000 oz of PGMs and 350 000 t of chrome.

The ore will be accessed Australian style, with two twin declines, instead of following the usual South African practice of sinking shafts. The declines will allow the ore to be accessed from different direction. The area in which the project is located has good infrastructure, including roads, power and water (a major dam is located nearby).

Baxter stated that the company was working very closely with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and that the Department saw Bengwenyama as a “flagship project” for the revival of the country’s mining industry. The company expected to have its mining right issued during the second quarter of this year. Its environmental rights applications, including its water use licence and its mine waste licence, were being pursued in parallel with, but separately from, the mining right.