Whereas Exxaro doesn’t at the moment personal manganese mines, it’s informed different gamers that it’s enthusiastic about buying tasks, in line with the CEO. South32 Ltd., Anglo American Plc and African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. are among the many shareholders in manganese mining joint ventures, that are discovered primarily in Northern Cape province.
“We consider that the manganese trade requires a South African champion,” Tsengwa mentioned. Exxaro is aiming to purchase “an excellent asset or two,” in addition to undertake exploration, she mentioned.
The metal trade accounts for 93% of manganese demand and can stay the dominant shopper of the metallic, in line with Tanisha Schultz, a Cape City-based senior analysis analyst at Venture Blue, which supplies market intelligence on essential minerals. Batteries – together with these utilized in electrical automobiles – will triple their share of consumption to greater than 7% by 2040, she mentioned.
Exxaro, based in 2006 on coal, zinc and titanium property cut up from a unit of Anglo American, has beforehand diversified into clear energy tasks, together with wind farms.
Like many different mining corporations, Exxaro can be eager so as to add copper to its portfolio in anticipation of spiking demand pushed by EVs, synthetic intelligence and renewable vitality. The agency reached a shortlist to amass the Khoemacau copper mine in Botswana, earlier than China’s MMG Ltd. got here out on prime final November, agreeing to pay $1.9 billion.
Exxaro stays enthusiastic about working copper mines, “however with companions,” Tsengwa mentioned. “They’re not reasonably priced on their very own.”
The agency would additionally prefer to develop a copper exploration program, in line with the CEO, who highlighted Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
Exxaro stays one of many prime suppliers of coal to South Africa’s state-owned energy utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.
The corporate offered virtually 41 million tons of coal final 12 months, of which about 13% was exported. It might ship as much as 10 million tons a 12 months to abroad markets, however that’s hampered by the poor efficiency of state-owned rail and freight operator Transnet SOC Ltd, Tsengwa mentioned.
(By William Clowes)