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Africa Mining

Barrick Mining removes Mali gold complex from 2025 output forecast, sources say – by Divya Rajagopal and Portia Crowe (BNN Bloomberg/Reuters – June 12, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

TORONTO/DAKAR — Barrick Mining has removed its Mali gold complex from its overall output forecast for 2025, four sources told Reuters, adding to fallout from a two-year dispute over new mining legislation aimed at boosting the West African country’s revenue.

Operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex, one of the Canadian miner’s largest gold assets in Africa, have been suspended since January after the military-led government blocked gold exports by the world’s third-largest miner of the precious metal, detained staff and seized three metric tons of stock during separate negotiations over a new mining contract with Barrick.

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Endeavour Mining in ‘unique position’ to deliver both high yields and growth: CEO – by Jordan Fleguel (BNN Bloomberg – June 11, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

The head of Endeavour Mining says the gold producer, which operates mainly in West Africa, will continue to return significant capital to its shareholders while growing its portfolio of low-cost, high-yield mining assets in the region.

“We’re a big player in the world’s largest producer of gold,” Ian Cockerill, the U.K.-based company’s CEO, told BNN Bloomberg in a Wednesday interview. “In the last eight years, we’ve delivered five projects on time and on budget, much quicker than anywhere else, so in terms of a place to work and operate, it’s great.

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The Brilliance of Botswana Diamonds – by Shelley Brown (Natural Diamonds – May 29, 2025)

https://www.naturaldiamonds.com/

Discover how the natural diamond industry helped transform the now thriving Southern African country with brilliant Botswana diamonds.

Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, is both the birthplace of modern humans over 200,000 years ago and brilliant diamonds billions of years before that. The discovery of the first significant deposit of diamonds in Botswana happened in 1967, just one year after the country gained independence from Britain.

At that time, it was the third poorest country in the world, with minimal infrastructure and an almost total void of formal education. The country’s founding president, Sir Seretse Khama, made it his mission to build a government with an ambitious economic development program centered around the country’s resources.

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Nationalisation, Sovereignty and Geopolitical Realignment in African Mineral Extraction: The case of West Africa – by Elio Brando (Italian Institue for International Political Studies – June 5, 2025)

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The global resource market is experiencing a sustained surge in demand for crucial minerals, such as gold, lithium, silver, bauxite, uranium, and cobalt. Two key forces are driving this trend: rising geopolitical and economic uncertainties, which are channelling increased investment in hard commodities, and the accelerating technological transition, which demands a significant expansion of mineral production and refinery.

Africa is bound to be deeply affected by current developments. The continent holds approximately 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves, with individual nations possessing significant shares of specific resources. The global interest in precious minerals (such as gold, platinum, and silver) is paired by a rising demand for critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, manganese, and bauxite.

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Eramet’s shares slide as Gabon plans manganese ore export ban – by Geert De Clercq, Gus Trompiz and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila (Reuters – June 2, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

PARIS, June 2 (Reuters) – Shares in Eramet fell sharply on Monday after Gabon announced an export ban on unrefined manganese from 2029, potentially upending the French mining group’s massive export-orientated production of the steel ingredient in the West African country.

Gabon’s plan, announced by the government in a weekend statement, comes as several African countries – including Guinea, with bauxite, Zimbabwe, with lithium, and Mali, and Tanzania, with gold – seek to move from exporting raw material to local processing.

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Column: South Africa’s 2025 draft mineral bill requires revisions to attract investment – by Staff (Mining.com – June 2, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

The draft Mineral Resources Development Bill, 2025 has been released for public comment. Interested parties have until 13 August 2025 to submit written comments. The Draft Bill was approved by the Cabinet last week together with a Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy.

The statement by the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources on Cabinet’s approval of the Draft Bill indicated, among other things, that that the strategic objective of the Draft Bill includes ensuring policy and regulatory certainty and enhancing investor confidence; and reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies and improving turnaround times for mining rights, permits and regulatory approvals.

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Diamond mining industry cracks under pressure – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 28, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

The global diamond industry is undergoing a rapid and unprecedented collapse, according to tech entrepreneur and academic Leanne Kemp, though some industry analysts argue that while the downturn is severe, it is not terminal.

Plunging revenues, halted operations and growing doubts about diamonds’ cultural and economic relevance are just some of the symptoms cited by Kemp, who insists the industry isn’t just slumping. She said it’s “disassembling”.

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Flooded Mine in Congo Is Latest Threat to Global Copper Supply – by William Clowes, Thomas Biesheuvel and Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – May 29, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The status of one of the world’s most important copper mines remains clouded in uncertainty, more than a week after seismic activity caused widespread flooding deep below ground.

(Bloomberg) — The status of one of the world’s most important copper mines remains clouded in uncertainty, more than a week after seismic activity caused widespread flooding deep below ground. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the world’s top sources of copper and was on course to become the third-biggest supplier of the key energy-transition metal this year.

Yet its current condition is a mystery, with contrasting messages from its biggest shareholders. Some information has been disclosed: water levels have risen after pumping and electrical infrastructure in the Kakula underground mine was damaged.

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Barrick asks Mali to resume talks over mining dispute as court decision over control looms – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 27, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Mining Corp. ABX-T is asking Mali to resume talks to end a bitter dispute that threatens to wrest away control of its massive gold mining operations in the country. The Canadian miner was forced to shut down its Loulo-Gounkoto complex in January amid an escalating fracas with Mali over dividing the economic benefits.

On June 2, a Mali court is expected to rule on whether to grant the government the authority to take over the mine after hearing submissions last week from Barrick. “Barrick believes there is no basis – either in law or in practice – for the day-to-day operations at Loulo-Gounkoto to be handed over to a court-appointed interim administrator,” the company said in a release on Monday.

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Blood Batteries: How Congo’s Conflict Is Shaking the World’s Rare Earths Market – by Veer Puri (Oberver Research Foundation – May 26, 2025)

https://www.orfonline.org/

Global tech giants face a reckoning as Congo’s conflict exposes the dark side of ‘conflict-free’ minerals.

The recent bout of violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has translated into a systematic shock for rare earth and critical mineral markets globally. With the DRC supplying much of the world’s tantalum and cobalt—essential components in producing electric vehicles (EVs), smartphones, and modern weaponry—the ongoing violence in the region has triggered a major geopolitical and economic disruption.

Supported by Rwandan intelligence and benefitting from artisanal mining networks, the M23 rebel group’s resurgence exposes the “conflict-free” certification systems of the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) and the International Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI), and accelerates a worldwide search for substitutes. With tantalum prices surging heavily since late 2024, the crisis highlights how localised violence can set off domino effects across critical sectors such as renewable energy and defence.

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De Beers to Cut over 1,000 Jobs at Debswana Unit – by Leah Meirovich (Rapaport Magazine – May 26, 2025)

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Botswana President Duma Boko has announced plans for the termination of over 1,000 workers at Debswana, the government’s joint venture with De Beers.

Boko made the declaration at a recent address to civil servants. He said the ongoing downturn in the diamond market motivated the layoffs, a move the Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) condemned, according to a statement it released recently.

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Cobalt Crossroads: Why Indonesia Still Trails Behind the DRC in the Tech Supply Race? – by M. Ismail Anshari (Modern Diplomacy – May 26, 2025)

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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is widely recognized as the world’s largest producer of cobalt, accounting for around 70% of total global output.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is widely recognized as the world’s largest producer of cobalt, accounting for around 70% of total global output. Numerous foreign mining companies operate in the DRC, employing local miners and simultaneously contributing to the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

However, the country’s mining practices face significant challenges in meeting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards, challenges that risk disrupting the supply chains of global technology firms. Despite this, many major tech companies still prefer cobalt sourced from the DRC over exploring alternatives like Indonesia, another resource-rich nation.

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289 miners trapped in shaft at South African gold mine (NBC News – May 23, 2025)

https://www.nbcnews.com/

South Africa‘s Sibanye Stillwater said Friday that efforts were under way to rescue 289 mine workers trapped underground at one of its shafts at the Kloof gold mine near Johannesburg. The workers were safe and gathered at an assembly point in the underground gold mine, one of the company’s deepest located around 60 km (37 miles) west of Johannesburg, it said.

It did not provide details on the incident, though a Sibanye spokesperson confirmed it had occurred in the mine’s Kloof 7 shaft, adding that all the miners were accounted for and the company was providing them with food.

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Friedland’s Ivanhoe Atlantic urges US to list iron ore as critical mineral – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com -May 21, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Mining billionaire Robert Friedland’s latest venture, Ivanhoe Atlantic, is reportedly lobbying the US government to add high-grade iron ore to the country’s list of critical minerals. The move aims to align with Washington’s broader push to secure materials essential for military manufacturing, as part of a national strategy to boost defence capabilities.

The company’s flagship project, Nimba in Guinea, is expected to churn out 2 to 5 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore late this year. Production is set to scale up to 25 million tonnes annually within seven years.

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Expert-Speak:Riches Or Curses: Africa’s Critical Minerals Dilemma – by Letlhokwa George Mpedi (Forbes Africa – May 21, 2025)

https://www.forbesafrica.com/

Letlhokwa George Mpedi serves as Vice-Chancellor and Principal at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.

In 2024, a group of Australian researchers (Boafo et al.) asked a pertinent question: “The race for critical minerals in Africa: A blessing or another resource curse?” The continent is abundant with natural resources, but this has often been to our detriment. As the African Development Bank (AfDB) referred to it, Africa is faced with the paradox of plenty.

In other words, despite an abundance of natural resources, countries often contend with little to no economic growth, low GDP and worrying developmental metrics. Now, we are seeing greater demand for critical or rare minerals, particularly through the lens of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the just transition, and this paradox emerges once again. Studies suggest that there is a clear boom.

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