Western Areas produces strong quarter, not deterred by volatile nickel market

ASX-listed Western Areas has completed the first half of the year on track to meet all full-year guidance metrics, the base metals producer said on Wednesday. An increase in production, steady cash... 

Geopacific to deliver Woodlark DFS in Q3

ASX-listed Geopacific Resources on Wednesday said it was on track to deliver a gold reserve estimate at its Woodlark project, in Papua New Guinea, in March, following the completion of a 30 000 m... 

Universal Coal targeting sales of 4.6Mt in FY18

Building on the record deliveries it achieved across its operations in the first half of 2018 financial year, ASX-listed Universal Coal is on track to deliver higher-than-projected sales tonnes for... 

Stonewall working to establish maiden resource at Pilgrim's Rest project

Preliminary metallurgical testwork on reverse circulation (RC) drill samples from gold development company Stonewall Resources' Theta Hill prospect has shown an average recovery from bottle-roll... 

Investment demand for gold on the rise - WGC

New ways to access the gold market, such as physical gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), have resulted in the investment demand for gold growing 18% each year since 2001, indicating that the... 

CompCom suspends advisory opinion services pending outcome of court case

The Competition Commission has suspended its advisory opinion services pending the finalisation of the case against Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI). This follows a Competition Appeal Court... 

MEIBC changes welcome, but should take employer into consideration

Although the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) main agreement negotiation process, that took place from June to August last year, was riddled with technical issues and... 

Poseidon drills for lithium in Western Australia

ASX-listed Poseidon Nickel has started a 4 000 m drilling programme at its Medusa lithium project, near its Lake Johnston operations, which would fast-track the company's geological understanding... 

Bass Metals moves closer to commissioning graphite mine

ASX-listed Bass Metals, which is developing the Graphmada large flake graphite mine, in Madagascar, has completed a major component of the recommissioning process at the project. The mine is now... 

Carbine expects Mt Morgan revised environmental approval by May

ASX-listed Carbine Resources on Tuesday said it expected the completion of a revised environmental authority (EA) for its Mount Morgan gold and copper project, located in central Queensland, in... 

Po Valley sells Italy operations subsidiary to Saffron Energy

Perth-based Po Valley on Tuesday signed a binding share sale and purchase agreement with Aim-listed Saffron Energy, under which the latter would acquire onshore and offshore oil and gas production,... 

Wine industry sees positives despite expected R700m shortfall

The smaller wine grape harvest anticipated by industry body Vinpro for this year is expected to result in a R700-million shortfall at farm gate, at a time when production costs have doubled in the... 

Stenprop appoints broker to assist with London listing

To assist in implementing its proposed LSE listing, JSE-listed Stenprop has appointed Numis Securities to act as its broker. Numis Securities will be acting as financial adviser on the proposed... 

Industry confident Eskom board changes will help save utility

The appointment of a new Eskom board with “credibility, business acumen and experience” has given South African businesses hope that the embattled State-owned entity (SOE) can be salvaged, with a... 

South32 makes management shifts as SAEC becomes standalone business

As part of setting up its South African Energy Coal (SAEC) operations as a standalone business, triple-listed South32 will make changes to the operational accountabilities of its two COOs, Mike... 

Bushveld Minerals upbeat about year ahead

Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals made “tremendous strides” during the fourth quarter of 2017, which was marked by a strong financial performance from its Bushveld Vametco operations. Supported by a... 

Gem Diamonds makes fourth 100-ct-plus discovery at Letšeng this year

LSE-listed Gem Diamonds on Monday reported that it has the recovered a 149 ct, D-colour Type IIa diamond, with excellent shape, from its 70%-owned Letšeng mine, in Lesotho. This is the fourth... 

Strike testing suitability of Burke graphite for lithium-ion batteries

Flotation tests conducted by Perth-based Independent Metallurgical Operations at Strike Resources’ high-grade Burke graphite project, in Queensland, have confirmed that a concentrate of purity in... 

Sundance inches closer to developing Mbalam-Nabeba project

Iron-ore developer Sundance Resources has signed a binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with private Chinese company Tidfore Heavy Equipment Group and Cam Iron – a subsidiary of Sundance that... 

Strandline signs offtake deal for Tanzania mineral sands project

ASX-listed Strandline Resources has secured a binding offtake agreement for 100% of the zircon/monazite product to be produced at its Fungoni mineral sands project, in Tanzania. Marking it as a... 

Kibaran board approves spherical graphite pilot plant

The board of ASX-listed Kibaran Resources has approved the spherical graphite pilot plant programme at a plant in Germany, using feedstock from the Epanko graphite project, in Tanzania. Funded... 

Coca-Cola increases recycling efforts to contribute to waste-free world

To battle the increasing number of plastic items on landfills and in the world’s oceans, beverage giant Coco-Cola plans to take one can or bottle “back”, for every bottle or can sold globally, by... 

GoldStone investigates potential to restart Ghana underground mine

Africa-focused miner GoldStone Resources has initiated a project to potentially revitalise the old Akrokeri underground mine, in Ghana. The mine is situated within the Akrokeri prospecting licence,... 

Mkango shareholders approve Talaxis investment transaction

Shareholders of Aim- and TSX-V-listed Mkango Resources have approved an investment transaction with Noble Group subsidiary Talaxis. In November, the company secured a direct investment from... 

Signing of power purchase agreements with IPPs imminent – SAWEA

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) expects the conclusion of 26 outstanding power purchase agreements (PPAs) with independent power producers (IPPs) to occur during the first quarter... 

PPC reschedules DRC cement plant debt

Construction materials provider PPC has further improved its liquidity position by finalising a capital repayment moratorium with funders of the group’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)... 

Sawis warns wine grape crop may be smallest since 2005

Continuing drought and low water supplies in the Western Cape may lead to South Africa’s smallest wine grape harvest since 2005, when 1.15-million tonnes were harvested owing to drought and... 

Asanko achieves solid quarter at Ghana mine

A solid quarterly performance was recorded at NYSE-listed Asanko Gold’s eponymous mine in Ghana, which produced 51 550 oz in the fourth quarter of 2017. Asanko CEO Peter Breese on Thursday noted... 

Po Valley makes significant commercial gas discovery in Italy

Shares in Australia’s Po Valley Energy (PVE) surged on Friday, reaching an intraday high of 10c each, up from the previous day’s closing price of 4c each, following the news of significant... 

African Energy to delist from Botswana exchange

ASX-lsited African Energy Resources (AER) on Friday said it would delist from the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), as it currently encompassed only 22 shareholders with less than 0.3% of its shares... 

Confidence returning to Western Australia’s exploration industry

The Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) reports that the number of Programme of Works (PoW) received in 2017 has increased by 40% from 2016. This totaled... 

Offtake agreements now cover 60% of Montepuez production – Battery Minerals

ASX-listed Battery Minerals has signed a binding offtake agreement with Qingdao Black Dragon Graphite for 10 000 t/y of graphite concentrate from its Montepuez project, in Mozambique, for an... 

Ivanhoe’s DRC copper mines connected to national grid

TSX-listed miner Ivanhoe Mines on Monday said its Kakula mine development site, 10 km south of Kamoa’s initial Kansoko mine site, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), started receiving power... 

AfDB to support Mozambique rail project

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is taking the lead in facilitating the takeoff of one of Africa’s largest infrastructure project − the $5-billion Nacala corridor rail and port project,... 

Ethiopia signs $4bn deal to build geothermal power plants

Ethiopia has signed an agreement to build two geothermal power plants at a combined cost of $4-billion, to be run by the country's first privately-owned utility. The Corbetti and Tulu Moye plants... 

Building efficiency improvements needed to meet Paris target

The energy intensity per square metre of buildings need to improve by 30% by 2030 to keep the Paris Agreement on track, the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction’s ‘Global Status Report... 

Mining equipment maker in bid to raise $20m as it seeks to increase production capacity

Mining equipment and machinery supplier CMTI Group, which started operations at its Gauteng-based factory last year, aims to raise $20-million before the close of the first quarter of this year to... 

Winds of change have landed, bringing economic growth – BLSA CEO

Business in South Africa has not been this hopeful about the future of the country in years, Business Leadership CEO Bonang Mohale said at a pre-World Economic Forum (WEF) briefing on Thursday. He... 

Kefi approves final model for Tulu Kapi project

The final project models for Kefi Minerals’ Tulu Kapi project have now been agreed to by the government of Ethiopia, contractors Lycopodium and Ausdrill/African Mining Services and preferred... 

Employee dies in accident at Harmony’s Tshepong mine

Harmony Gold on Thursday said an employee at its Tshepong mine, near Welkom, in the Free State, had been killed in a mining equipment related incident on Wednesday afternoon. An investigation into...