Every Friday, SAfm’s radio anchor Udo Carelse speaks to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News & Mining Weekly. Reported here is this Friday’s At the Coalface transcript:

Carelse: A strong thumbs up was given this week for the building of a new platinum mine in Limpopo.

Creamer: Yes, North American finance, South African finance, Asian finance, has been directed at this mine for some time. It is in Limpopo in the Waterberg. It is called Waterberg Platinum and the idea is to now turn this to account. It was discovered in 2011 so it has been a long time in the waiting and they have done studies on it, which have been positive, but the latest study is compelling.

We can see that there could be good wealth creation, good job creation and good project creation for South Africa, because we are seen as the producers of platinum group metals, which are becoming very vital to clean up the world and protect it against climate change. So, they are saying, perhaps they will go ahead with a new mine there and invest R18-billion starting in December 2025, which could be very good for South Africa, even though the platinum group metals prices at the moment are not that good.

Carelse: New ways of using South Africa’s platinum group metals to protect Mother Earth are on the horizon.

Creamer: For decades, platinum group metals have gone into car exhausts around the world, not in South Africa, but around the world, to make sure that those fumes that come out of those car exhausts do not pollute those big cities and create bad health in those cities. Then there was a disruption. Along came battery electric vehicles and the battery electric vehicles did not include platinum group metals and this has created a bit of a disruption. But, of course, the research has got going and America is now researching and trying to make sure that platinum group metals also go into battery electric vehicles.

The indications now are that platinum group metals will really increase the performance of these battery electric vehicles. But even before then, we note that for green hydrogen, which is going to protect the Earth, platinum group metals are essential. So, they are going into the electrolysers, which create the green hydrogen. Then they go into the fuel cells, which create the green electricity to drive the ships, planes, trains, everything else. On top of that now, the Germans have come out and said there is a vastly bigger decarbonisation opportunity for South Africa's platinum group metals and that is in biomass, the carbon dioxide that comes from the burning of biomass, and also for platinum to be used to decarbonise polymer waste. So, great strides are being made to create ongoing demand for South Africa’s platinum group metals.

Carelse: The very valuable way South Africa recovers gold from its old mine dumps was this week shared with the world.

Creamer: For decades now we have been driving past these tailings dumps and mine dumps and we see that there is gold in them and this has been recovered, which hasn't been happening elsewhere in the world. South Africa has have been recovering the gold out of these dumps very successfully, depleting those dumps and creating a new use for that land beneath those dumps. Now, this is being seen as something that can be spread around the world.

We see DRDGOLD, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, really giving a great performance at the Gold Forum America's 2024 this week in Colorado Springs and creating a lot of interest in what can restore the environment, uplift communities, and pay consistent dividends. I mean, DRDGOLD has paid consistent, regular dividends for the last 17 consecutive years. So, gold recovery from dumps is interesting the world and not only gold recovery, the DRDGOLD is now also going into the possibility of recovering platinum group metals from the platinum group metals tailings dumps, and recovering copper from the copper dumps. So, this could really be spread around the world and it is a well-proven ability that South Africa has.

Carelse: Thanks very much. Martin Creamer, who is publishing editor of Engineering News & Mining Weekly, will be back with another At the Coalface, at the same time next Friday.