Lotus’ US shares upgraded to OTCQX Best Market

Africa-focused uranium company Lotus Resources’ shares have started trading on the US-based OTCQX Best Market, an upgrade from the OTCQB Venture Market. The company’s OTC ticker symbol remains LTSRF. 

Power Metal, ACAM propose uranium-focused JV

Aim-listed Power Metal Resources has entered into a legally binding subscription agreement with ACAM for the latter to invest £2-million in Power Metal by way of a loan note with attaching... 

Fairvest weathers challenges to deliver strong interim performance

Real estate investment trust Fairvest has posted an interim distribution of 67.83c per A share and 21.24c per B share for the six months ended March 31. “Fairvest is operationally strong and agile... 

South Africa achieves trade balance surplus of R10.5bn in April

South Africa recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R10.5-billion in April, the South African Revenue Services (Sars) reports. This surplus is attributed to exports of R169.5-billion and... 

Coega achieves R1bn SMME procurement spend for 2023/24

The Coega Development Corporation’s (CDC’s) Small, Medium-Sized and Microenterprises (SMME) Development Programme has achieved procurement spend of over R1-billion for the 2023/24 financial year.... 

Automotive PGM demand growing owing to extended-range EVs, says WPIC

The continuing growth in automotive platinum demand is being achieved despite rising battery electric vehicle (BEV) market share and a reduction in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle... 

Perseus progressing work streams at Nyanzaga project after buyout

ASX- and TSX-listed Perseus Mining has completed the acquisition of the Nyanzaga gold project, in Tanzania, through the takeover of OreCorp, chairperson and CEO Jeff Quartermaine informs. The... 

Katoro prioritised Tanzania project development in 2023

Aim-listed Katoro Gold prioritised resource development at its Haneti project, in Tanzania, during the year ended December 31, 2023, owing to it being mindful of funding constraints. Early in the... 

Gemfields earns $35m from May auction of higher-quality emeralds

Miner and coloured gemstones marketer Gemfields Group earned total revenue of $35-million from an auction of higher-quality rough emeralds held from May 13 to 30. The rough emeralds sold were... 

Nedbank launches R10m Indalo Fund

Finance institution Nedbank on May 15 announced the launch of the R10-million Indalo Fund at the Indalo Inclusive Symposium at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Pretoria. The... 

Santam acquires home services marketplace Kandua

Short-term insurer Santam has acquired Kandua, an online marketplace company for home services. Kandua will merge with Santam’s existing home service offering, Home+, forming a wholly owned,... 

SABS publishes voluntary national standard for plain language

The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) in March adopted and published the South African National Standard (SANS) 24495 – Plain Language. South Africa has been implementing the principles of... 

Endeavour’s Côte d’Ivoire project ahead of schedule

London- and Toronto-listed Endeavour Mining announces that wet commissioning activities are now under way at the Lafigué project, in Côte d’Ivoire. The project is on budget, with construction now... 

Mpact appoints new CFO, executive director

JSE-listed Mpact has appointed Hannes Snyman group CFO and executive director of Mpact and Mpact Operations with effect from June 1. He will succeed Brett Clark, who is retiring on May 31. 

Johannesburg one of 3 cities to benefit from Suncasa project tackling climate threats

The Scaling Urban Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (Suncasa), a new three-year project, will undertake watershed restoration and adaptation actions in Dire Dawa,... 

Nedbank, Transnet mediation over swaps terminated

Mediation between financial services group Nedbank and State-owned Transnet, in respect of interest rate swap transactions (swaps) between the parties that took place in December 2015 and March... 

Ivanhoe completes Phase 3 concentrator construction at DRC project ahead of schedule

TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines announced that, on May 26, first ore was fed into the Phase 3 concentrator at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). First ore marks the... 

Firebird receives safety permit for Chinese project

ASX-listed Firebird Metals’ subsidiary Hunan Firebird Battery Technologies has received a safety permit for Stage 1 of a proposed battery-grade manganese sulphate plant in China. The plant will use... 

Lucapa, partners recover 195 ct diamond from Lulo

ASX-listed Lucapa Diamond Company and its Lulo alluvial mine partners Endiama and Rosas and Petalas have announced the recovery of a 195 ct Type IIa diamond from the Lulo mine, in Angola. The... 

TotalEnergies JV, Austrian firm join forces on proposed Tunisian green hydrogen project

TE H2, a joint venture between TotalEnergies and EREN Groupe, together with Austrian electric company VERBUND, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tunisia to study the... 

Multimodal Inland Port Association launched

The Multimodal Inland Port Association (MIPA), which seeks to address a critical need in South Africa’s logistics landscape, was launched in South Africa last week. The association aims to act as... 

Labour department, IDC launch round two of the Innovation Fund

The Department of Employment and Labour, in partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), has announced the launch of the second round of the National Pathway Management Network’s... 

bp, Shell agree to sell Sapref land, associated assets to the CEF

Following successful negotiations, bp Southern Africa and Shell Downstream South Africa (SDSA) have reached an agreement for the sale of their respective 50% ownership of assets located at the... 

ALPLA, Re-Purpose partner to strengthen plastics cycle in South Africa

Plastic packaging manufacturer and recycler the ALPLA Group and waste repurposing company Re-Purpose have announced a strategic partnership that is expected to advance sustainable packaging... 

Tiger Brands’ interim results impacted by trading conditions, leadership transition

JSE-listed Tiger Brands says it results for the six months ended March 31 reflect a tough trading environment, with negative volume growth across retail and wholesale channels, as well as the... 

Patel to leave Cabinet after elections

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel has announced that he will conclude his service in Cabinet after next week's election. “I wish to thank the President [Cyril Ramaphosa] and... 

Speakers highlight focus areas to tackle mine water challenges

South Africa has made considerable strides in addressing mine water challenges; however, it is imperative that these efforts are bolstered and improved upon, through aligning research with... 

West Coast diamonds events, excursion a success

The West Coast Diamond Event and Excursion, held on May 17 and 18 in Port Nolloth, in the Northern Cape, and hosted by the Geological Society of South Africa’s (GSSA's) Northern Cape branch, has... 

CSIR simulation assisting in truck flow improvement on the N4 corridor

A simulation model developed by a team at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in Pretoria, is being used as a tool to improve the flow of trucks on the N4 road corridor.... 

Edison increases its valuation of Pan African despite lower production forecast

Analyst Edison Investment Research has increased its valuation of South African gold miner Pan African Resources to $0.48 a share, from $0.41 previously. London- and Johannesburg-listed Pan African... 

Summit emphasises imperativeness of supporting SMMEs

Small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) in the country are grappling with various challenges, including a lack of coordination between the public and private sectors, insufficient... 

Speakers explore process heat supply alternatives

With South Africa facing an imminent gas supply cliff, and the need to decarbonise becoming increasingly imperative, industrial gas users are facing considerable challenges and may need to explore... 

Implats concludes a new empowerment transaction at Impala Rustenburg, Impala Bafokeng

JSE-listed Impala Platinum (Implats) has concluded a series of agreements, facilitating the implementation of a broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) transaction at its Impala Rustenburg... 

Employment environment bleak, but there are opportunities for improvement

The 2024 ‘UASA South African Employment Report’ and second UASA/Bureau of Market Research (BMR) Employment Index paints a bleak picture of the country’s employment situation; however, there are... 

Petra weathers lower diamond prices in latest tender

Independent diamond miner Petra Diamonds’ sixth tender cycle for the 2024 financial year yielded $44-million from the sale of 371 000 ct.   CEO Richard Duffy says like-for-like prices were... 

Thumbs up to newly passed Climate Change Bill

Industry organisation the Energy Council of South Africa has welcomed the passing of the Climate Change Bill by Parliament on April 25. “The Climate Change Bill is a critical piece of legislation... 

Afrimat delivers strong full-year results, continuing growth

During its financial year to February 29, midtier mining and materials company Afrimat invested considerably in projects that are expected to yield fruitful returns and further strengthen diversity... 

RMB provides bespoke $100m funding package to Powerfleet

Financial services provider Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) acted as the sole mandated lead arranger and funder of a $100-million funding package for global telematics business Powerfleet. The entity was... 

Mantashe engages with stakeholders over Lily, Barbrook mines’ reopening

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe on May 15 held a stakeholder engagement session that deliberated on the plans to reopen the Lily and Barbrook gold mines in Mpumalanga. Attended... 

Lotus bolsters its management team

ASX-listed Lotus Resources has appointed four experienced resource executives to provide the company with additional experience in project development, operations, technical and corporate...