THE MINING WRAP

Komatsu has reached a major global milestone in its autonomous mining programme by commissioning its 1,000th ultra-class autonomous haul truck under its FrontRunner system. The truck is a Komatsu 930E-5AT, deployed at Barrick’s Nevada Gold Mines in the United States. The deployment marks one of the most significant scaling points in mining automation.

Booi Industries Tests Underground Robotics

Booi Industries is advancing pilot deployments of its robotics systems for underground mining and tunnelling. Recent developments include field testing automation tools designed to improve safety and reduce human exposure in high-risk mining environments. The startup company is part of the emerging mine automation and zero-harm technology wave in South Africa’s deep-level mining sector.

AeroTech Drones Expands LiDAR Services

AeroTech Drones has recently expanded its drone-based LiDAR and thermal imaging services across mining operations in Southern Africa. The startup’s latest deployments focus on predictive maintenance, infrastructure inspection, and slope stability monitoring. The company is positioning itself as a key enabler of AI-driven mining surveillance and remote site intelligence systems.

OEM Developments And Electrification

Aramine Epiroc Roll Out Automation

Aramine and Epiroc completed automation rollout at a South African gold mine. The deployment targets mechanised extraction and material handling in narrow-vein conditions.

ABB Deploys Refinery Controller

ABB has deployed a refinery controller at MMC in South Africa, introducing upgraded automation into base metal refining operations. The system is designed to improve process stability by tightening control over key refining variables such as temperature, flow rates and chemical dosing within processing circuits. By linking these parameters into a single control platform, the technology allows operators to optimise energy use while maintaining consistent output quality.

Wirtgen Launches Mining Equipment In Africa

Wirtgen launched new mining equipment targeting African operations. The launch focuses on surface mining applications with improved uptime and payload efficiency.

AVEVA Expands Digital Twin Mining

AVEVA expanded digital twin mining deployments across regional sites. The platform enables real-time simulation of mine and plant performance to optimise throughput.

Haver & Boecker Rolls Out AI Screening

Haver & Boecker rolled out AI screening technology for mineral processing plants. The system uses real-time analytics to improve separation efficiency and reduce downtime.

ESG, Safety And Energy Transition

Sabi Pivots To TRACE Platform

Scaling startup Sabi has fully moved away from its original FMCG retail model and is now almost entirely focused on its TRACE mineral traceability platform. TRACE is now the company’s main revenue-driving system. It digitises and verifies mineral flows from mine to export, creating a digital chain of custody that improves transparency and compliance across African mineral supply chains. What began as an adjacent product has now become the company’s core operating system.

XCAL Scales Tailings Reprocessing

Startup XCAL Mining Waste Recovery is currently scaling its tailings reprocessing operations in South Africa. Recent activity focuses on improving physical separation technology to extract remaining value from mine waste streams. The company is increasingly linked to ESG-aligned projects aimed at converting legacy waste into commercially viable mineral outputs, strengthening its position in the circular mining economy.

BME Hypex Bio Advances Green Explosives

BME and Hypex Bio advanced hydrogen peroxide explosive innovation. The partners target lower greenhouse gas emissions from blasting and support mines pursuing lower-carbon production.

Heraeus Sibanye Eye Palladium Hydrogen Uses

Heraeus and Sibanye-Stillwater launched a hydrogen partnership exploring new palladium applications. The partnership links PGM producers directly to energy transition demand in hydrogen technologies.

Adisyn Secures Stealth Drone IP

Adisyn was granted rights to “stealth drone” intellectual property involving radar-absorbing graphene technology through a licensing agreement with the original IP holder (as disclosed in its corporate announcement). The company plans to commercialise the technology for mining infrastructure security and perimeter surveillance applications. The system is designed to reduce detectability while improving monitoring of high-value and restricted sites. Adisyn is targeting remote and high-risk mining environments where security breaches can directly affect production. The IP adds a layer of low-signature aerial surveillance to existing mine security systems.

Strategic Projects, Exploration And Operations

Luanshya Copper Mine Restarts In August

Zambia’s Luanshya Copper Mine is scheduled to restart in August after sitting idle for nearly two decades, returning a notable source of copper output to the Copperbelt. The restart brings previously suspended production capacity back into the national supply base at a time when copper demand remains firm, particularly from industrial and energy transition markets. It also points to a shift in approach within Zambia’s mining sector, where long-closed assets are being reassessed and brought back into production rather than left dormant, reinforcing the Copperbelt’s continuing role in the country’s mining economy.

Ivanhoe Completes Shaft #3 At Kamoa-Kakula

Ivanhoe Mines completed Shaft #3 at Kamoa-Kakula in the DRC on 23 April 2026. The new shaft increases underground hoisting capacity and opens access to high-grade zones. The completion supports Phase 3 concentrator ramp-up and expands world-class copper output.

BHP Resumes Zambia Copper Exploration

BHP resumed large-scale copper exploration in Zambia. The move signals renewed African entry strategy and reflects intensifying global competition for copper as electrification demand accelerates.

Kemcore Shifts To Botswana Chemical Production

Kemcore has recently accelerated its shift from a trading/import model to local chemical production in Botswana, anchored by its planned 55,000-ton-per-year sodium metabisulfite (SMBS) facility. The latest developments point to stronger integration into mining supply chains, with the company positioning itself as a regional production and distribution hub for reagents rather than just an importer.

SMM (Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine): Commenced construction of its new monazite processing plant in the Western Cape, South Africa. This facility aims to produce high-grade monazite concentrate for rare-earth element extraction.

Mining Finance, Investment And Capital Deployment

USA Rare Earth Buys Serra Verde For $2.8B

USA Rare Earth acquired Serra Verde for $2.8B in April 2026. The deal drives global critical minerals consolidation and secures Brazil’s only operating ionic-clay heavy rare earth mine with dysprosium and terbium output.

Virtus Minerals Takes Chemaf Assets

U.S.-backed Virtus Minerals acquired Chemaf copper and cobalt assets in the DRC. The acquisition marks a major strategic acquisition in Africa’s critical minerals sector and a U.S. re-entry into Central African battery metals.

Sow Good Enters Tanzania Graphite

US-based Sow Good has entered Tanzania’s graphite sector through an agreement with Ryzon, a local graphite project developer, on 23 April 2026. The deal gives Sow Good exposure to high-grade, large-flake graphite assets in Tanzania as part of its strategy to expand into East Africa’s battery minerals supply chains. The transaction focuses on strengthening upstream supply integration for critical minerals used in battery production and energy storage technologies.

IDC Revives Prisca Mine With Orion

The Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa converted its loan facility into equity for Orion Minerals to revive the Prisca Copper Zinc Mine in the Northern Cape. The deal finalized around April 2026 and supports base-metals development.

Policy, Regulation And Sovereign Control

Ghana Directs Miners To Localise Ops

Ghana directed Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti, and Zijin Mining to shift their operational stakes to local firms by December 2026, as reported on April 23, 2026. The government of Ghana introduced a major regulatory shift impacting African mining supply chains and ownership structures.

Burkina Faso Takes 25% Kiaka Stake

The government of Burkina Faso published a decree on April 21, 2026, to formally acquire a 25% stake in the Kiaka gold mine. This move forms part of a broader state plan to take control of five gold mining projects via state-owned company SOPAMIB.

Botswana Expands Into Uranium Mining

Botswana has expanded its entry into uranium mining following the registration of a subsidiary linked to Orano, a major nuclear fuel company. The move opens the country further to uranium exploration and development activity, positioning it within emerging nuclear fuel supply interests in Southern Africa. It also reflects growing attention to uranium as countries reconsider nuclear energy in their long-term power mix. The registration signals early-stage positioning in a sector that could support future exploration, production, and export activity if projects advance beyond planning and licensing phases.

Copper Market Faces Acid Supply Crunch

Copper king Chile faces an acid supply crunch as China exports dry up. The shortage threatens smelter feed and cathode output, adding pressure to global copper supply chains. The squeeze is being driven by tighter sulphuric acid availability, a key input used in copper leaching and refining processes, particularly in cathode production. With reduced export volumes from China, Chile’s processing plants are adjusting to constrained supply conditions that risk slowing downstream output.

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