Mining stalwart Bernard Swanepoel has been appointed chairman of Steenkampskraal Holdings Limited (SHL), which owns the Steenkampskraal rare earths project in the Western Cape.
Yesterday it announced two other appointments.
The group said it had appointed Mitford Mundell as CEO and Clinton Halsey as a non-executive director.
Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine, one of the world’s highest grade rare earths mines and a subsidiary of Steenkampskraal Holdings, has all the regulatory approvals required to commence mining and to produce monazite concentrate, mixed rare earth concentrate and separated rare earth oxides.
Swanepoel said: “Steenkampskraal is one of South Africa’s most valuable strategic mining resources. The potential is enormous, and once in production, will place South Africa as one of the alternate sources to China for the supply of the rare earths used in electric motors and green technology, mainly neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium. These rare earths are experiencing significant growth in demand and resultant high prices.”
Steenkampskraal is an active mine that was previously mined by Anglo American from 1952 to 1963, during which 126 280 tons of ore produced 59 555 tons of monazite concentrate, containing 26 201 tons of rare earths at an average grade of 20.75%.
The group said Steenkampskraal had a well-developed infrastructure and NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource of 605 000 tons at 14.4% (86 900 tons of Total Rare Earth Oxides or Treo) and a mineral reserve of 799 700 tons at 8.68% (69 400 tons of Treo), which were sufficient to operate the mine at a production rate of at least 2 700 tons of total rare earth oxides (Treo) per annum for more than 20 years. The resource is open at depth and a brownfield exploration programme is expected to increase it further.
Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium are vital to combat global warming and climate change.
“These four rare earths are used to make magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines. The total grade at Steenkampskraal of these four rare earths is 3.49%, which is higher than the total rare earth grades of most other rare earth projects, and represents about 92% of the value of Steenkampskraal’s rare earths basket,” the group said.
The prices of these four rare earths more than doubled in 2021, as demand for electric motor magnets to make electric vehicles grew.
According to the group, the Steenkampskraal mining and processing project will be developed in three phases: Phase 1: the production and sale of monazite concentrate; Phase 2: the production and sale of mixed rare earth concentrate; and Phase 3: the production and sale of separated rare earth oxides.
Mundell said: “Steenkampskraal promises significant value for investors, host communities, and other stakeholders, and is a strategic asset for South Africa. I am delighted to be joined by Bernard and Clinton on the Board and, as significant new investors, they not only bring a wealth of experience, but also a clear message to investors that Steenkampskraal’s time has come.”
Due to the extent and excellent condition of the historic mine development, the project had a relatively low capital requirement. All regulatory approvals were also in place, the group said.
"SHL plans to raise initial equity finance of $2 million (R35m) to cover the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and updated Competent Persons Report (CPR), as well as working capital for the next six to eight months.
"Thereafter, the company will raise project capital for execution of Phase 1, at which stage an appropriate debt/equity ratio will be considered. The combination of very high grades, shallow mining depths, and existing underground development will enable Steenkampskraal to be one of the lowest-cost rare earth producers in the world," it said.
BUSINESS REPORT