WhyAfrica

♻️ Tailings Reprocessing: The Holy Grail or a Fool’s Errand? Mines naturally handle a complex set of factors like resource allocation, capital efficiency, opportunity costs, and depletion. What works for one mine at one time may be completely different for another. This makes decisions like cut-off grades incredibly tricky to get right. Recovering every possible mineral might seem ideal, but it’s often not practical—at least not today. As cut-off grades drop, tailings themselves start to look more like assets. The idea of tailings reprocessing becomes increasingly compelling, not just for the economics but for the environmental opportunities it presents. Vale, for example, expects 10% (7 million tonnes) of its iron ore production to come from tailings by 2030. As reserves deplete, there’s a clear case for revisiting tailings, improving handling, and rethinking closure plans. But, as with most things in mining, it’s never that simple. 1) Random Distribution: "Nuggety" Nature of Tailings Grades in tailings depend heavily on when and where the material was discharged. They’re shaped by the ore being processed, recovery rates, and even whether it was a bad operating month. This variability creates a distribution that can shift dramatically and often feels, for lack of a better word, nuggety. Tailings reprocessing is far from predictable, and that inconsistency can complicate both planning and operations. 2) The Bias: Preferential Liberation and Extraction Tailings grades may look great on paper, especially when compared to today’s ore. But they’re not directly comparable. When ore is processed, the easiest minerals are recovered first. What’s left behind requires significantly more energy and effort to extract. A tailings grade of 1 g/t Au might seem impressive, but metallurgical recoveries, and feed variability, I would argue should have a discount to account for the difficulty of recovering the remnant mineralization. ▪️Lessons from the Carlin Trend A century ago, mining sub 1 g/t Au material would have been unimaginable. Today, projects targeting 1 g/t Au open pitiable are common. The same shift could happen with tailings, but success depends on understanding the metallurgy, the inherent variability, and the cost of recovery. So, are tailings reprocessing the holy grail? Maybe. It depends on timing, economics, and a willingness, technology of the day. But what is for certian is they repersent a chance to reduce existing footprints and bring past standards up to current ones. It is a beautiful thing - economics and how changing markets open up pathways. #Mining #Exploration #Metallurgy #MiningInnovation #ResourceManagement #FutureOfMining #TechInMining #Gold #Zinc #Copper #MiningIndustry

#Mining #Operations #Liberia

The white ghost elephant of Etosha National Park, Namibia. 🇳🇦 Elephants use clay from the Etosha Pan – a 120 km lakebed of salt – to protect themselves from the fierce Namibian sun and this is what they look like when the clay dries. [📹 jaqueline.mszt]

During our annual WhyAfrica Road Trip we visit a range of project sites in different sectors. One of WhyAfrica’s favourite activities during the 45-day-long trip is to visit greenfields mineral exploration sites. During the month and a half on the road we do research, assess and report about natural resources in diverse sectors and how local and external factors might affect our clients’ business and investments in Africa. Our clients include a wide range of investors, associations, business chambers, governments, consultants, suppliers, service providers, and companies interested in expanding their African footprint.     To get accurate information and gather meaningful intelligence, we travel overland to African countries, visit project sites, speak to a range of people (including CEOs, operational managers, project managers, procurement managers, local communities, local authorities and national government) and literally get your boots dirty to get a real feel for that country. You cannot do it any other way. Apart from having our boots on the ground as often as possible, WhyAfrica publishes information about some of the most interesting mining and mineral exploration projects in our column “Pick Of The Week” which appears online and in our newsletter for subscribers and investors every two weeks. We visit a lot of these project sites during our annual WhyAfrica Road Trips which provides us with substantial insight and background information to make balanced assessments and share honest opinions.      In addition to mining and mineral exploration we also look at projects in energy, agriculture, infrastructure (ports, rail and roads), quarrying, forestry, fisheries, tourism, conservation, environmental management, ESG, biodiversity management and water management.   Below is a list of five interesting mining projects we featured in 2024 (we feature 30 exploration and mining sites). If you want more information about other exploration or mining projects in Africa that we visited or researched in 2024 contact WhyAfrica (leon@whyafrica.co.za) or visit our website at www.whyafrica.co.za. If you want to be part of the 2025 WhyAfrica Road Trip, please contact us as soon as you can. You can find more information about our annual WhyAfrica Road Trips on the WhyAfrica website.   ·        Akobo Minerals’ Segele gold mine in Ethiopia ·        Aterian’s HCK lithium project in Rwanda ·        Sovereign Metals’ Kasiya Rutile and Graphite Project in Malawi ·       Giyani Metals’ K.Hill manganese project in Botswana ·        Prospect Resources’ Mumbezhi in Zambia To read the full article click on the link below or visit the WhyAfrica website, your one-stop-shop for on-the-ground information and business intelligence about Africa. Image: Getting our boots dirty in Malawi during the 2024 WhyAfrica Road Trip. Image credit: Leon Louw for WhyAfrica         https://lnkd.in/e53H46sw

In times of drought, there are always fears that the major maize producers may not have sufficient supplies for the Southern African region or that exports may be limited. During this season, Southern African countries have lost most of their harvest which have forced them to import. For example, Zambia lost 50% of its maize crop while Zimbabwe lost 60%. There were also significant crop losses in Malawi and Lesotho. According to Wandile Sihlobo, Chief Economist at Agbiz, South Africa is not insulated from this drought although crop losses were not as devastating. This is mainly because of the improved seed varieties used in South Africa and the better input application. “Still, South Africa’s maize production is down 22% from last season’s expected harvest of 12,8 million tonnes,” writes Wandile in an article published online by WhyAfrica this morning. “But this decline in harvest doesn’t mean South Africa will suddenly trim exports. The country maintains an open market policy. “We believe the expected harvest and carryover stocks from last season will meet South Africa’s annual maize consumption of just under 12,00 million tonnes. This will still leave the country with a sizable volume for export markets. “Thus, South Africa continues to export maize. The country exported 57k tonnes of maize on October 11, 2024. Of this volume, 47% was exported to Zimbabwe and the balance to the neighbouring African countries,” writes Wandile. To read the full article click on the link below or visit the WhyAfrica website, your one-stop-shop for on-the-ground information and business intelligence about Africa. WhyAfrica specialises in the conservation, sustainable use and responsible extraction of Africa’s natural resources. We focus on mining and mineral exploration, critical minerals, biodiversity conservation, environmental management, natural resource management, the wildlife economy and rural development.   We also look at the impact extreme weather events, climate change, technology, the African Continental Free Trade Area, African politics, geopolitics and ESG considerations have on your business and investments in Africa.         WhyAfrica supports the empowerment of African communities, especially women and the youth, through sustainable development projects. Drought in Southern Africa has affected the production of maize, a staple food in this region. Image credit: Zuyet Awarmatik from Unsplash.     #whyafrica #whyafricaroadtrips #africa #mining #exploration #quarrying #equipment #agriculture #farming #forestry #ESG #infrastructure #watermanagement #energy #tourism #sustainability #carbonemissions #naturalresources #environment #naturalresourcemangement #environmentalmanagent #biodiversity #conservation #travel #climatechange #extremeweatherevents     https://lnkd.in/dKy4CQNr 

Khwelamet, a subsidiary of Khwela Capital, jointly owned by Menar Capital and Ntiso Investment Holdings, recently signed a binding agreement to fully acquire Samancor’s Metalloys manganese alloy smelter complex based in South Africa’s Gauteng Province. According to Vuslat Bayoglu, Managing Director of Menar Capital, this acquisition is an important stepping stone for reindustrialisation in South Africa. Bayoglu explains more in an exclusive WhyAfrica interview published on the WhyAfrica website this morning. You can click on the link below or visit the WhyAfrica website to read the full interview. Metalloys was a massive ferromanganese producer before its closure, with a yield of about one million tonnes per annum of ferromanganese. China's entire ferromanganese output is about 1.8 million tonnes. “One operation that produces one million tonnes is direct competition with the Chinese. We would like to bring at least two furnaces back online, which is 50% of the capacity. That would mean approximately 500,000 tonnes of ferromanganese a year,” says Bayoglu. “And that would mean one million tonnes of manganese ore from South African mines to be consumed by this ferromanganese operation. If you think about the 16 or 17 million tonne export capacity from South African manganese mines, a million tonnes is a sizable amount for the mines to supply for ferromanganese production.” Assmang closed its operation in Cato Ridge in KwaZulu Natal not too long ago. Without it there is no ferromanganese production capacity in South Africa. So reviving Metalloys will be great for South Africa to ensure that the country still has capacity. It will also be great for beneficiation, and for employment and opportunities within the Vereeniging and Meyerton area of Gauteng. Leon Louw Menar Social MENAR Vuslat Bayoglu #whyafricaroadtrips #whyafrica #africa #investment #investinafrica https://lnkd.in/dAmnKVjd

This topic is my favourite; I live in Zimbabwe. 1. We must decentralise everything…no more CBDs. 2. Give title deeds to rural land & people will migrate there. In Zimbabwe 50% of the middle class locally & diaspora want to move back into rural areas. 3. Africa has bad planning absolutely bad & the worst is Nairobi. 4. Africa is not for communit shared living in apartments. Apartments are not good for Africa because of bad by laws & we are not good of running Residents Association. So the place becomes a ghetto with each house hanging their own Satellite Dish & Every balcony with washing drying. The flats get run down. Some people either cannot afford levies or refuse to pay. Lifts smell of Urine. 5. Another thing is in the high density urban areas a house with 2 bedrooms houses 4 generations (Parents, their kids, grandchildren & great grandchildren). 6. Sanitation is a big problem

South Africa is home to some remarkable geoheritage. 💻 Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University #ScienceAndTech

What Starlink means for WhyAfrica While a handful of African countries have already joined the Starlink network, more are getting ready to sign up in 2025. So, what does it mean for WhyAfrica and why are we super excited? Well, it means that we can travel more often to even more African countries and provide you with more on- the-ground, relevant information about the countries that we visit. It also means we can travel to more project sites and more remote locations across Africa. Best of all is that we will be able to livestream our WhyAfrica Road Trips through Africa to all our WhyAfrica partners, members, sponsors and advertisers! Remember, you can only access our livestream channel if you are a WhyAfrica partner, member, sponsor or advertiser. In the future, thanks to Starlink and new technology, you’ll be able to join us on a virtual WhyAfrica Road Trip and best of all, if you are a member, you might be able to join us virtually on our site visits, sit in on our interviews and even ask questions during our interviews. What did Starlink mean for us on our 45-day-long 2024 WhyAfrica overland Road Trip through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya? It made it possible to put together our newsletters and magazines even in the most remote locations on earth. Best of all is that we could do all our work at night while sitting in our office next to the campfire under the stars (an Elon’s satellites). During our road trip in August and September WhyAfrica published its 98th newsletter. To subscribe to our free bi-weekly newsletters and magazines, head to the WhyAfrica website, your one-stop shop for on the ground information and business intelligence about Africa. Remember to view images, reels and video clips of what we do during WhyAfrica’s Road Trips through Africa, and to virtually join us on our site visits and interviews with decision makers in industry follow us on our Instagram account @why.africa or on our YouYube channel @whyafrica4709 The below video was taken in our office under the stars while putting together WhyAfrica’s 98th newsletter. Location: Extremely remote Africa. Leon Louw STARLINK #whyafricaroadtrips #roadtrips #whyafrica #africa #investinafrica    

Africa’s urban population will triple in the next 25 years and African countries will need to invest up to 5.5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in urban development if they are to avoid rapid growth of shanty towns.   According to Eric Gumbo, Associate Director of law firm G&A Advocates LLP in Kenya, the problem is a failure of planning, which leads to a lack of housing infrastructure and the emergence of shanty towns.   Gumbo was speaking at a round-table discussion, “Mobilising finance for urban development and planning” which took place at the Africa Investment Forum, held from 4-6 December in Rabat, Morocco. All panellists at the event agreed that the key challenge is to multiply sources of investment by greater use of the private sector, development finance institutions, investment funds and pension funds, in addition to state and municipal resources.   Diversification of investment needs to go hand in hand with appropriate measures and provisions put in place by national governments and urban authorities: better governance of cities, better planning, capacity-building to enable the design of bankable projects, better planning of municipal investments, and modernisation of revenue collection.   Mohan Vivekanandan, Executive Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), a founding partner of the Africa Investment Forum, said that cities must have a well-thought-out plan in order to attract investors: “Major projects must be led by cities, and they must be designed so that the private sector will find it profitable to invest in your city,” he said. Thierno Habib-Hann, Managing Director of Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), says that Africa needs 53 million more homes, and that USD1000-billion are required to create them.   His institution, which covers 44 African countries, works in the urban housing value chain and Habib-Hann emphasised that low-cost houses (up to USD10,000) are a viable solution thanks to appropriate construction technologies. He called on investors to come to Africa, where the housing market alone is worth USD700 to USD800-billion.   To read the full article click on the link below or visit the WhyAfrica website, your one-stop-shop for on-the-ground information and business intelligence about Africa.   Africa’s urban population will triple in the next 25 years and African countries will need to invest up to 5.5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in urban development if they are to avoid rapid growth of shanty towns. Nicholas Gray from Unsplash.   #whyafricaroadtrips #whyafrica #africa #cities #infrastructure #investment #investinafrica #africaninvestment   https://lnkd.in/dMAkMJpz