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Electricity to supply Syrah Resources’ Twigg/Balama graphite project in Mozambique has been provided by 15.4MW of diesel generation capacity, but in December 2020 the Australian company signed a memorandum of understanding with Solarcentury to develop an 11.25MWp solar PV and 8.5MW/MWh battery storage facility.

Copper miners have called on the government to delay a planned reintroduction of import duties on fuel, saying it would increase costs at a time when the industry is already grappling with disruptions in the global supply chain caused by the Ukraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)-listed Aya Gold & Silver said on 25 October that it had secured $100m of debt finance to expand its Zgounder mine project, some 100km south of Marrakesh.

A 30-year concession has been signed for rail services and logistical support for the 1,290km Lobito corridor, which connects Lobito port to Luau in Angola’s east, close to the DR Congo border. The corridor offers the shortest route for mined copper and cobalt from DRC and Zambia to reach a deep-water port. It also offers increased capacity for the transit of liquids and gases.

Construction has begun on Endeavour Mining’s $448m Lafigué gold project in Côte d'Ivoire’s Hambol region. The London-and-Toronto listed miner owns 80% of the project, with the remaining 20% split equally between the state and the parastatal Société pour le Développement Minier de la Côte d'Ivoire (Sodemi).

London Stock Exchange-listed Kavango Resources on 12 October announced “encouraging” results from its PL082/2018 licence in the Kalahari Copper Belt. The Botswana-focused metals explorer used controlled-source audio magnetotelluric surveys, hitherto unused in the Kalahari, to provide detailed data to a 4km depth

Increased jihadist activity has displaced populations and affected business across the region, as armed groups seek to generate income by attacking mines and other revenue generators. The failure of the Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba regime in Burkina Faso to protect artisanal gold miners in the north was one of many security concerns that served as a pretext for his overthrow; mines are being attacked by the same insurgent groups in Mali.

London AIM and Australian Stock Exchange-listed explorer Atlantic Lithium said on 13 October that it had submitted its licence application for the Ewoyaa project on the Cape Coast, which is expected to be Ghana’s first lithium mine.

State-owned China Baowu Steel Group has signed an agreement with Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) to help develop blocks 1 and 2 of the giant iron ore project. WCS said Baowu would work “as a potential investor in close collaboration with its partners”.

Diamonds have served Botswana well in over five decades since independence, helping it to move from poverty to upper middle-income status, but Gaborone has grown dependent on gemstones and accelerated economic diversification is needed to exploit other potential resources – including coal and transition minerals. At the same time, moves to end state domination of a coal-based energy sector have moved only slowly.

Japan’s pledge to invest some $30bn in Africa over the next three years has underlined the Asian economic giant’s commitment to rapidly advance its relations, as well as to expand its presence, on a continent where Tokyo’s involvement has too often lagged behind other big nations.

The Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (Bitri) is partnering with Canada’s Process Research Ortech (Pro) to set up a $80m plant to produce 30,000 t/yr of high-grade nickel and cobalt salts to be used for electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage batteries.

Dublin-based Kenmare Resources has appointed former Tullow Oil chief financial officer Tom Hickey as its new financial director and executive director. London Stock Exchange- and Euronext Dublin-listed Kenmare’s main focus is its titanium and zircon operation at the Moma mine in northern Mozambique.

Morocco plans to promote a project to develop an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant, to be integrated with the kingdom’s existing vehicle manufacturing industry including Renault and Citroen manufacturing plants.

Long-term supply agreements have, to some extent, insulated the biggest battery manufacturers from commodity price inflation. However, price increases have been so extreme that some suppliers have threatened to pay termination penalties to get out of contracts if costs can’t be renegotiated.