JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum group metals (PGM) mining company Valterra Platinum, which experienced severe flooding in the first half of this year at its Amandelbult mine owing to extremely abnormal rainfall, is continuing to improve its flood defences across all of its operations.

“We're getting more used to these events, but I think it's incumbent on us as a business to really respond to these and be prepared, because I think they're going to happen all the more frequently into the future,” Valterra Platinum CEO Craig Miller told Mining Weekly in an interview after the company’s presentation of dividend-yielding maiden half-year results. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Also provided was more insight into the bulk mechanised mining that is expected to be introduced at the emerging Sandsloot underground mining project at Mogalakwena. Going underground will enable Valterra to access high-grade ore that it will be able to blend with the existing opencast ore, which could ultimately potentially increase the output of Mogalakwena, which already produces round about a million ounces, by 10%, 20% or even up to 50%. Importantly, this would also reduce its all-in sustained cost and render Mogalakwena, which is already the pre-eminent asset in the PGM space, even more value attractive and more value creative for all stakeholders.

Why certification in terms of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) is regarded as a being so important was also outlined by Valterra, which beneficiates the ore that it mines all the way through to refining and final PGM product sale to its customers.

Mining Weekly: Amandelbult suffered severe flooding in the first half of this year, abnormal flooding that causes one to ask will this be more frequent given the state of our planet. Tell us about the flooding defences that are being put up and whether these will also apply at your other operations in general and your new Sandsloot underground project, should that be given the green light to go ahead?

Miller: That was an extreme weather event that we had on 19 February. By way of context regarding Amandelbult, average rainfall in the month of February is around 300 mm of rain. On 19 February, we had 300 mm of rain in just a 24-hour period. An extensive rain system moved in over the area. It then caused the spruit to burst its banks. It also caused the upstream dam wall to collapse. As a consequence, a deluge of water came down the river system and then went into some old working places at Amandelbult. As a result, Tumela Lower was flooded. I'm pleased to say that we successfully dewatered Tumela Lower. We probably dewatered about 550-million litres of water, which I think is equivalent to about 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools. We've learnt our lesson. We've certainly continued to improve our flood defences at Amandelbult and across all our operations. By way of reference, Mogalakwena, for example, had double the amount of rainfall in the month of January than what we've had on average for the past ten years. But because of the work that we've done and the way that we've been able to move water within the openpit, we were successfully able to mitigate a large portion of that water that we saw fall. So, yes, we do see much more intense weather systems moving in across our assets and, as a consequence, we need to be prepared from a flood perspective. You talk about Sandsloot, which is an underground development opportunity that we are exploring and looking to develop at Mogalakwena. It is a decline shaft that we will look to develop and going off the high wall and, absolutely, given the quality of the orebody, from a safety perspective for our employees and our contractors, we will look to make sure that we've got the appropriate mechanisms in place to protect everybody, exactly how we were successfully able to do it at Amandelbult, where we evacuated all 10 000 employees to safety on 19 February as a result of the weather system that moved in.

You say you’re contemplating a trucking solution at Sandsloot. It seems to have a lot of space for trucks when I look at the 45 m height there. We saw a lot of inventive fuel cell and green hydrogen mobility activity on the very site there when Anglo American was testing clean energy and clean mobility initiatives along with the elaborate solar power plans prior to Valterra going it alone. Could Valterra not learn from those and initiate cleaner and greener trucking at Sandsloot?

Certainly, from our perspective, as Valterra Platinum, we do see a positive outlook for hydrogen, and particularly its uses in mobility and specifically as it relates to heavy-duty trucks that are used quite extensively in the transportation of certain goods and equipment across borders and various other jurisdictions. As it relates to Sandsloot, for the moment we're not necessarily thinking of utilising hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles the underground at Sandsloot. I think we've got some other testing that we need to do, because this will be a new form of mining for Valterra Platinum, and for the PGM industry, although it's not unique to the gold mining sector or other parts of the world where they mine copper, for example. But the Sandsloot underground mining, as bulk mechanised mining, will be quite unique to us. Therefore, I think we need to try and test it with some proven technology for the moment but who knows what the future holds. Certainly, we are very excited about the Sandsloot underground. It enables us to be able to mine high-grade ore, to be able to blend that with the openpit ore, and ultimately potentially increase the output of Mogalakwena, which already produces round about a million ounces today, by 10%, 20% or even up to 50%, and importantly reduce its all-in sustained cost, thereby making Mogalakwena, which is already the pre-eminent asset in the PGM space, even more value attractive and more value creative for all of our stakeholders.

What is so special about IRMA certification that has been bestowed on all of Valterra’s mines?

IRMA is incredibly important for us. To start with, it is an independent assessment of how we are running our operations from an environmental perspective, how we're running our operations from an employee perspective, from a community and a community engagement perspective, and how we're creating sustainable value at our operations. The benefit of having a third party have a look at that and taking a much more comprehensive and objective view, and giving us the output of that, is what IRMA provides. As a consequence, we can use IRMA to make things better. We absolutely recognise the important contribution that our mining operations have on the communities that surround our operations, and we can use IRMA to really then help us step up that performance. The other benefit of IRMA is that it is also used by our customers, and particularly our automotive customers, who look to IRMA to give them the assurance that the metals that we produce are produced sustainably, that we produce them using the highest environmental standards, and that we don't compromise human rights or anything like that. As a consequence, therefore, IRMA is really, really important for us. I'm incredibly proud and very, very pleased that every single one of our mining operations has been IRMA certified, and we'll look to continue to progress that and increase our certification over the years to come.

Finally, Craig, what’s the big takeaway from today’s presentation?

The big takeaway is that we're really excited as Valterra Platinum in terms of what the future holds for us as an independent company, but one of the largest global PGM producers. We produce PGMs from the ore that we mine all the way through to refining it into its final product and selling it on to our customers. And the key takeaway from today is that we’re well established to be able to leverage the quality assets that we have in our business. We've got the quality and capabilities of our teams to be able to execute against the strategy and for us, therefore, to create the value to better our world, which is really our purpose, and really distribute that value, then back to our employees, back to our communities, our host governments, as well as our shareholders. I think that’s been a little bit reflected in the fact that for the sixteenth consecutive period we've now declared a dividend. Today, we declared a dividend of R2 per share and that's in addition to the R16.5-billion that we paid out in the first half of the year as part of our final dividend for 2024.