Modern Mining April 2022

Thungela delivers value for stakeholders

Barrick expands global footprint in hunt for high-quality assets

Coal miner Thungela Resources recently delivered a strong set of results transition ing to a profitable, highly cash-generative pure-play thermal coal business, the com pany said. Thungela delivered adjusted EBITDA of R10bn (2021: R286 million); while net profit was R6.9bn vs a loss of R362 million in 2021. Favourable coal prices combined with a strong operational focus, resulted in a net cash position of R8.7bn at year end, the company said. Demand for SA coal Thungela exports most of its coal, and its revenue was positively impacted by the benchmark thermal coal price, which strengthened by 90% to $124 per tonne although the stronger Rand did offset some gains. The demand for high quality South African coal underpinned Thungela’s per formance. Developing economies in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are on a

path of recovery, post Covid 19, and are experiencing an increased demand for energy, the company said. Thungela reported export equity sales of 15mt, which reflected a decrease of 16% in 2021. Export sales and production were severely impacted by Transnet freight rail (TFR) constraints, and the company was forced to curtail lower margin production from late in the third quarter as stockpiles reached capacity. “We remain committed to working with TFR, government and the industry to resolve the issues experienced in 2021 and at the start of 2022. We believe the challenges are transient and have planned our operational performance on a gradual, rather than an immediate recovery in rail performance. This is of national concern given that coal exports constitute one of the primary sources of foreign currency generation for South Africa,” said July Ndlovu, CEO of Thungela Resources. 

Gold miner, Barrick Gold continues to invest in its future through the development of capital projects to expand and enhance an operat ing platform which already holds some of the industry’s best assets, said CEO Mark Bristow. Barrick is also expanding its presence into new prospective areas in its hunt for high quality assets. “A specialist Asia-Pacific team, set up to look at opportunities in the region, has acquired exploration permits in Japan and is hunting for additional opportunities in that region. We are also investigating projects across the Nubian and Arabian Shields in North Africa and the Middle East. We have put a particularly strong focus on exploration in Latin America, where our teams are testing a portfolio of targets on the El Indio belt along the border between Argentina and Chile. We have also added ground in Peru and started fieldwork on new projects in Guyana and Suriname. “We are working on a well-defined strat egy to grow our business in Canada where I believe we are under-invested. A significant exploration portfolio has been secured in the country’s Uchi Belt and the team is also looking at other opportunities in the country,” concluded Bristow. 

Thungela exports most of its coal.

April 2022  MODERN MINING  7