JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Anglo American is on track to exceed its original investment commitment to South Africa, despite Covid-19 impacts, Mining Weekly can report.

At this year’s South African Investment Conference, the London- and Johannesburg-listed diamond, platinum-group metals (PGMs) and iron-ore mining company increased its total investment commitment to R100-billion, for the current five-year period to 2025.

That is R15-billion up on its previous investment commitment of R85-billion to the sustaining, expanding and extending all of its South African businesses and implementing green technologies. 

Headed by CEO Mark Cutifani, Anglo will already have met two-thirds of its previous R85-billion commitment, R57-billion worth, by the end of this year.

More than R30-billion is being invested in the conversion and expansion of the Venetia diamond mine in Limpopo to an underground mine.

With the Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, it has created a R2.6-billion global venture fund to help stimulate existing and new sources of demand for South Africa’s PGMs.

The new mine pit being developed at Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela mine, in Northern Cape, will increase the production of high-quality shipping ore. The project’s total capital cost of R7-billion includes pre-stripping and the approval of this project secures the continuation of the Kolomela mine until 2032.

Making South African mining safer, more innovative, productive and sustainable includes the introduction of step-change technologies that offer environmental and productivity benefits, such as:

• developing the world’s first hydrogen-powered fuel cell mine haul truck at the Mogalakwena PGMs mine in Limpopo; and
• introducing bulk-ore sorting, which leverages new sensor technology in real-time to process a greater proportion of ore and less waste rock, along with energy-saving and water-conserving.

Anglo has sustained more than 50 000 additional jobs through the Zimele enterprise development programme, which supports more than 2 300 small- and medium-sized businesses in South Africa.

By 2030, Anglo aims to create five non-mining job for every mining job as part of a collaborative regional development programme and sustainable mining plan,