By Sharyn Macnamara
MTE is making its ‘orange and yellow’ mark in the South African mining and industrial sectors – in the power industry and across all major mining commodities – in a big way in its thirtieth year of business.
©Andrew Macnamara, Mining and Technical Exhibitions
Mining and Technical Exhibitions (MTE) has hit the middle of its financial year with an historical milestone met in the North West, its port of call with a difference in KZN, a visit to both Limpopo and Mpumalanga, and landing, full force, in the Northern Cape this month where industrial developments are heating up too.
PGMs – metals of the future
The famous MTE combo shows in the in the western limb chrome and platinum belt on 18 and 20 April 2023, in Mooinooi and Rustenburg respectively, saw MTE host the largest number of suppliers and visitors over a three-day period that the company has ever hosted in the history of its thirty years in business. A total of over 700 mining professionals were engaged by over 58 and 134 suppliers, at the two shows respectively, showcasing the latest in mining and industrial tech and solutions.1
Free-standing area of the MTE expo at Rustenburg, officially the biggest show in the company’s history (138 suppliers networked with over 500 visitors on the day). Image credit: ©Andrew Macnamara, Mining and Technical Exhibitions
The company’s single expos at Royal Bafokeng (attracting major acquisition attention at the time of writing) and Zondereinde (the deepest PGMs mine in the world, currently sinking No3 shaft)2 ran in the same vein with similar results. A total of over 68 suppliers networked with over 372 mining decision makers.
Commenting on MTE’s recent milestone, Andrew Macnamara, MTE operations director said, “The numbers of professionals reached and the numbers of experts showcasing their products and services to the PGMs operations in the area have almost doubled in a year. This bares testament to the growth and development in this commodity sector in South Africa currently, with its importance in the energy transition driving global demand, and the country’s critical role in supplying this demand.”
Roger Baxter, outgoing CEO of the Minerals Council SA, summed ‘the unlocking of South Africa’s long-term PGM potential’ up at the annual PGM’s Industry Day on 6 April too saying, “The focus is to realise the world’s largest PGM resource [located in South Africa] through developing markets, that enable the growth of the PGM mining sector. This would add about R8-trillion to South Africa’s economy by 2050, and around another 1 million direct and indirect jobs.’’3
South Africa is the key source of PGMs. Image credit: Source Johnson Matthey
A snapshot of South Africa’s PGM mining industry. Image credit: DMRE and Minerals Council SA
On 24 May MTE hosted its famous annual Emalahleni (Witbank) Expo speaking to 355 mining and power industry players through 88 suppliers. Image credit: ©Andrew Macnamara, Mining and Technical Exhibitions
On the coal front
MTE also dug deep in Mpumalanga with its Emalahleni (Witbank) expo which delivered on the 24 May to the coal and power sector, speaking to 355 visitors through 88 suppliers.
Visiting the expo were teams from Thungela and Seriti – big mining players in the Mpumalanga area. Coal is the lifeline of this province and ~ 80% of all coal in SA is produced here. This is the reason MTE targets this area for this major commodity annually.
Steve Teke, CEO of Seriti, made it clear at the Joburg Indaba in October last year that coal is still expected to play a major role in South Africa’s energy mix during the transition period to greener energy, saying that there is no doubt that the commodity is still relevant for South Africa – and the world.
He pointed out that on the global front: coal has been the largest single source of the global energy supply blanket over the past 30 years (40% – 50%). Even as the world decarbonises, coal is still expected to play a major role – especially in developing nations; a large proportion of energy demand will also remain underdressed as many parts of the developing world, particularly in Africa, remain without stable and affordable electricity.4
Teke noted then that the coal mining industry provides ~ 93 000 direct and a further ~ 107 000 indirect jobs (including power stations); coal is the third largest single employer by commodity in the South African mining sector and one of the largest employing sectors in the country; ~ 2% of the South African population are directly reliant on coal mining in host communities; mining (mainly coal) directly contributes more than 25% to the Mpumalanga province’s economy/GDP. 5
Richards Bay Industrial Expo and Phalaborwa
June saw MTE dock in Richards Bay where its ability to create expos tailored to the specific needs of operations in the area is showcased annually, with this target market including the mining industry and smelters; the agricultural sector and sugar milling in Empangeni in particular; the Richards Bay harbour and coal terminal (the largest coal export facility in Africa); and the paper and pulp sector. 6
MTE moved to Phalaborwa on 22 June in Limpopo, which is home to numerous open pit and underground mines, and again – MTE customised its travelling exhibition to cater to the iron, copper and phosphate ore needs of the area.
Iron-ore and manganese in the Northern Cape
Next up, this month, will be the Beeshoek, Hotazel and Kathu combo shows – an impact-filled experience for suppliers to the booming iron-ore and manganese operations. These combo shows prove to be particularly cost effective to suppliers as these areas are located a great distance from the Johannesburg hub, where many of their headquarters are stationed. Macnamara noted that this year Beeshoek was added to the combo to cater to the growth in the area and the requirements of the operations there, who are very happy to engage with MTE and send their ‘troops’ to absorb all the tech innovation that has transpired over the last two years.
A big player in this area is Kumba Iron Ore Limited, a member of the Anglo American plc group and a leading value-adding supplier of high-quality iron ore to the global steel industry. Producing iron ore at its Sishen and Kolomela mines in the Northern Cape Province, Kumba exports iron ore to customers including China, Japan, South Korea and a number of countries in Europe and the Middle East.
The iron ore industry is currently booming. Commenting on the Kumba production and sales report for the first quarter ended 31 March 2023, Kumba’s chief executive, Mpumi Zikalala, said, “Operationally, Kumba delivered a solid production performance with volumes increasing by 14% to 9.4 million tonnes, largely driven by a strong recovery from our Kolomela mine. Sales volumes were maintained at 9.5Mt.7
Zikalala explained at the time, “On the marketing front, economic activity in China strengthened on the back of pro-growth policy decisions with improved demand from China expected to offset the slowdown in other markets. The demand outlook for our high-quality iron ore product continues to be positive given the steel intensity of the global energy transition. We continue to collaborate with several of our steel producing customers on the advancement of low carbon steelmaking processes.”
Innovation in this sector abounds – in addition to partnering with Salzgitter, Nippon Steel and Thyssenkrupp Steel, Anglo American plc recently announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with H2 Green Steel, a Swedish hydrogen and steel producer, to study and trial the use of premium quality iron ore products, including from Kumba, as feedstock for H2 Green Steel’s direct reduced iron production process.
Kumba’s finished stock increased in the period to 8Mt from 7.8Mt on 31 December 2022, with 7Mt stockpiled at the mines. Average realised free on board (FOB) export iron ore price of USD121 per wet metric tonne equivalent to USD123 per dry metric tonne (dmt), compared to the average benchmark price of USD110/wmt or USD112/dmt.
Mining and production total waste stripping increased by 9% to 50.9Mt (Q1 2022: 46.7Mt), driven by a strong recovery at Kolomela. Compared to Q1 2022 (comparative period) which was hampered by extremely high rainfall, Kolomela’s waste stripping increased by 43% to 15.9Mt (Q1 2022: 11.1Mt), due to improved rain readiness capability and equipment reliability. At Sishen, waste stripping decreased by 2% to 35.0Mt (Q1 2022: 35.7Mt). Improved feedstock availability at Kolomela underpinned a 25% increase in production at the mine to 3.1Mt (Q1 2022: 2.5Mt). However, Kolomela’s feedstock quality was impacted by the waste mining challenges experienced in 2022, which depleted buffer stockpiles, resulting in a lower overall average product Fe quality of 63.1%. This is expected to improve in the second half of 2023. Sishen has continued to perform well, with production increasing by 9% to 6.3Mt (Q1 2022: 5.8Mt). Overall, production volumes increased by 14% to 9.4Mt (Q1 2022: 8.3Mt).
“If Kumba’s performance is anything to go by, the Northern Cape MTE combo shows promise to be an exciting hub of activity. If you are a mining player in the area, remember entrance to the show is free of charge and our suppliers are ready to share their latest technical advances and solutions,” concludes Macnamara.
References:
- Visit the MTE website https://mteexpos.co.za/ and the African Mining LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7055118124592865280 to see some of the highlights at the Rustenburg expo 2023.
- For more information go to: https://www.africanmining.co.za/2023/05/03/refrigeration-plant-for-northam-platinums-zondereinde-western-extension-project/
- PGMS –METALS OF THE FUTURE 2023, a presentation by Roger Baxter, CEO, Minerals Council South Africa at Resources 4 Africa PGMs INDUSTRY DAY
- Teke Joburg Indaba presentation: The Joburg Indaba, “Setting the record straight – there’s more than meets the eye” – Mike Teke, CEO Seriti presentation, 5 October 2022
- For more information go to the February issue of African Mining: The next chapter in Seriti’s energy story, p16 https://joom.ag/Ir9d
- For more information on the MTE Richards Bay Expo article go to ‘A port of call with a difference’ African Mining June 2023 (joomag.com) https://viewer.joomag.com/african-mining-june-2023/0352606001685003805?short&
- Subject to Transnet logistics performance, guidance for the full year 2023 is unchanged.