Mining

Secure on-site power will be critical to DRC mining growth (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Ivanhoe Energy is advancing its on-site power projects for the Kipushi and Kamoa-Kakula mine sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Kipushi is set to become the world’s fourth-largest zinc producer in 2026, the Canadian mining group said in a 4 June statement.

It achieved a monthly production record of 25,677 tonnes of zinc in concentrate during May.

Year-to-date zinc production totals approximately 110,000 tonnes of zinc, it added.

Annualised, this is equivalent to around the mid-point of the company’s 2026 production guidance range of 240,000 to 290,000 tonnes.

Kipushi is now tendering for a dedicated solar project with up to 200 megawatt hours (MWh) of battery energy storage (BESS).

The facility would provide 10MW of baseload power, reducing reliance on the backup diesel generators that are used intermittently.

The facility is to be located on a 70-hectare site near the mine, and it is expected to be operational by the end of 2027.

Construction of Kipushi’s second tailings storage facility expansion is now nearing completion as the mine site expands.

Separately, Ivanhoe Energy recently posted an update on its other major DRC energy project to expand the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex.

Construction of Kamoa-Kakula’s on-site solar (PV) facility, with battery storage, is advancing on schedule, the company reported on 6 May.

The two facilities are expected to be operational, delivering a total baseload of 60MW to the site, from early Q3 2026.

The solar facility is already the largest solar project with battery storage on the African continent.

Kamoa-Kakula is further planning to increase the total on-site solar power generation capacity, with battery storage, to 120MW by the end of 2027.

A tender was awarded, and a power purchase agreement (PPA) was signed in late April for an initial 30MW expansion of the existing on-site solar facilities.

A further 30MW facility is being tendered and is expected to be awarded imminently.

Preparations have also been made across the group to secure on-site diesel supplies in the event of continued global supply chain disruptions.

This includes Kamoa-Kakula securing five months’ worth of diesel supply.

The company reported that its use of backup diesel generators is to be curtailed to rationalise diesel consumption, amid higher fuel prices and supply chain challenges.

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Condra’s managing director, Marc Kleiner (Image source: Condra)

Crane and hoist manufacturer Condra has expanded its maintenance programme to include hands-on training for customers’ own service personnel

The company is also to introduce remote diagnostics for on-screen assistance at isolated sites, rolling out these improvements at installations in Saudi Arabia and in all African countries where Condra has a presence.

Over time, the diagnostics will combine with remote specialist oversight to aid repairs by the customer’s own technicians.

Electricians at Condra’s factories already add diagnostic chips to frequency drives during crane manufacture — the plan is to extend this capability to other crane components, delivering on-screen assistance to any site with an internet signal.

Until now, Condra’s maintenance programme has incorporated only selected agents and technical teams from its own factories.

In future, where customers have their own maintenance crews, it will be these personnel who will execute this type of work, helped either by visiting teams, or remotely by specialists at Condra’s technical centre in Johannesburg.

On-demand emergency repairs will continue to be managed by Condra technicians sent to site.

Marc Kleiner, Condra’s managing director, said the goal is to lower the customer’s service costs and to further improve machine uptime and productivity.

“We want to expand the capabilities of our customers’ maintenance personnel, who sometimes have difficulty repairing to OEM standard,” he said.

“We will work with them to identify the wrinkles, then let them get on with fixing those while our own people identify potential wear and take steps to correct it.”

Kleiner said that Condra teams would execute repairs only after quoting. Once accepted, support staff at Condra’s head office would then assemble spare parts and arrange all export documentation for shipping. Spares lists would normally include parts needed for the long term, based on predictions of likely wear.

“The idea is that a Condra team will oversee the mine’s own service personnel wherever possible, helping them carry out the repair themselves,” Kleiner said. “This will allow hands-on training under specialist direction.

“What we’re trying to overcome is the too-common practice of working a machine until it fails, then buying a new one, something often seen in mining applications.

“What we’re saying is this: If you buy the correct machine in the first place and look after it by carrying out scheduled maintenance, the life expectancy of your machine will increase along with your financial return. But if you wait until that machine breaks down, production will have to stop while you wait for the spares to arrive. This is not clever. With a little bit of support from our side, your machine will run more reliably and for much longer, and production can continue uninterrupted.”

Outlining the improved schedule, Kleiner said Condra will re-visit Ivory Coast and Angola during July and August, followed by Zambia and Namibia. After that will come Sierra Leone. Other countries appearing on the schedule include Liberia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Botswana, DRC, Mauritania, Ghana, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Senegal.

Twelve service teams will carry out these visits (up from two teams five years ago), each one comprising either an electrical specialist accompanied by mechanical assistant, or vice versa.

Expanding on Condra’s plans for remote diagnostics, Kleiner said the company would work in conjunction with specialists in England and Australia to allow customers to receive prompt assistance in most of the world’s time zones, combining a phone call with on-screen visuals presented to the customer’s technicians at the installation site.

“We want to develop a library of repair videos to complement this diagnostic service,” he said.

“The idea is that, long term, Condra teams will be present for critical support only. We will achieve this through proactive maintenance schedules supported by remote fault diagnosis, and complemented by instructional repair videos.”

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Navigating mining decarbonisation (Image source: Adobe Stock)

As global scrutiny intensifies, mining companies are faced with a seemingly insurmountable task; ensuring their environmental, social and governance (ESG) pledges translate into measurable and sustainable impact

The above is also echoed by the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) which emphasises: “ESG is not only a responsible approach to business but a strategic imperative for long-term success.”

Cecil Maartens, account manager, MMM Segment for SSA at Schneider Electric, notes this urgency is being driven by a convergence of forces: “Mining companies are facing simultaneous pressure from investors, regulators and customers to reduce carbon emissions while improving operational resilience.

“Scope 1 & 2 emissions, direct from the source we own and indirect from energy we buy are increasingly tied to financing, permitting and even market access,” he says.

This move is fundamentally reshaping how mining organisations operate. Decarbonisation is strategic, evolving beyond its former compliance tick-box status. “Companies that can demonstrate lower emissions and stronger sustainability credentials are the ones that will attract capital and partnerships,” says Maartens.

The real differentiator lies in execution and, encouragingly, many mining houses are moving beyond ambition, actively embedding decarbonisation into their operational strategies.

Maartens cites examples within the sector where dedicated sustainability teams are aligning decarbonisation roadmaps with enterprise asset management and operational KPIs. “ESG roadmaps are now integrated into core business performance metrics, with accountability at senior levels.”

A similar transition is also underway in energy-intensive industries such as steel and other materials processing.

Sibongile Thobakgale, KAM Strategic, MMM for SSA at Schneider Electric highlights that sectors like steel, cement and glass are experiencing comparable pressures. “These industries are among the most carbon-intensive globally, and decarbonisation is being driven by regulatory requirements, market expectations and rapid technological advancements,” she says.

Technology enables low-carbon mining

Across mining and heavy industry, technology is playing a central role in enabling low-carbon operations.

However, as the adage goes “start at the very beginning, a very good place to start”, it is also important to understand the current state of operation. Here, Maartens reckons, digital maturity assessments and energy baselining allow organisations to identify inefficiencies and prioritise interventions.

From there, integrated platforms can bring together energy management, automation and real-time operational data to drive continuous improvement.

“Digitalisation is critical as it enables mining companies to model energy consumption, simulate different electrification scenarios and quantify the impact of renewable integration before making large-scale investment,” says Maartens.

On the ground, this translates into a range of practical interventions. Hybrid microgrids, supported by battery energy storage systems, are helping mines integrate renewable energy while maintaining reliability.

Also, electrification initiatives and more energy-efficient equipment, such as advanced variable speed drives (low harmonic-enabled VSDs), are also contributing to reduced consumption.

At the same time, asset lifecycle management engagement processes and approaches, intelligent IB (Installed Base) audits and assessments and understanding asset and reliability management including retrofits and eco-fits are extending asset lifecycle while lowering environmental impact.

Thobakgale adds that in broader industrial contexts, automation is also evolving to support decarbonisation. “Software-defined automation is improving process efficiency and reliability, particularly in energy-intensive operations. This is essential forvmaintaining productivity while reducing emissions,’’ she notes.

The growing role of advisory services

While technology is a critical enabler, both Maartens and Thobakgale emphasise that successful decarbonisation requires a structured, strategic approach, an area where advisory services are becoming increasingly important.

“Sustainability assessments and services like Schneider Electric SE Electrification Advisory Services help companies quantify their emissions, benchmark performance and identify the most effective pathways forward,” says Thobakgale. “It also plays an important role in unlocking capital and ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.”

These services go beyond one-off evaluations. Instead, they form part of an ongoing process of monitoring, optimisation and alignment with long-term ESG goals. “Decarbonisation is not a once-off project. It’s a journey that requires ongoing measurement, adaptation and improvement across the entire value chain creating and ensuring long-term strategic partnership” adds Maartens.

Looking ahead, ESG considerations are set to play an even more decisive role in shaping the future of mining. Both Maartens and Thobakgale agree that sustainability will increasingly influence investment decisions, operational strategies and industry dynamics.

“Capital will flow towards companies that can demonstrate credible decarbonisation pathways,” says Thobakgale. “Those that delay ESG integration risk losing competitiveness and access to funding.”

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Tharisa Minerals and Datacentrix deploy Africa’s first RADWIN FiberinMotion solution for connected mining operations. (Image source: Tharisa)

As mining companies across Africa intensify their digital transformation efforts, dependable wireless connectivity is emerging as a critical requirement for enabling real-time operations, telemetry and safer, more productive mining environments

In response to these demands, Tharisa Minerals and Datacentrix have partnered to deploy Africa’s first RADWIN FiberinMotion wireless network solution, establishing a scalable digital platform for connected mining operations.

The deployment has transformed Tharisa Minerals’ open-pit mining operation in South Africa into a more connected and data-driven environment. Tharisa, an integrated resource group supporting the global energy transition and decarbonisation agenda, operates the Tharisa Mine in South Africa’s North West province. The open-pit platinum group metals (PGM) and chrome mine is situated on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex, an area containing more than 70% of the world’s platinum and chrome resources.

The project began when Tharisa’s chief information officer, Paul Collins, approached Datacentrix to address a growing operational challenge faced by many modern mining companies: maintaining reliable wireless connectivity across an open-pit mine with constantly changing terrain and infrastructure layouts.

Previously, the operation relied largely on conventional 3G connectivity through SIM-enabled fleet vehicles. However, this setup was insufficient to support the company’s long-term strategy of enabling “Connected Machines and Connected People”, where operational data from mining equipment, systems and personnel can move seamlessly across the site in real time. Reliable connectivity is essential for applications such as fleet management, telemetry and safety monitoring across haul trucks, drill rigs and excavators.

“From our perspective, the driver wasn’t the technology itself, but the operational use case,” said Collins. “We needed to ensure that our maintenance teams in the pit could remain connected at all times. Without reliable connectivity, their mobility and efficiency were limited.”

The changing conditions within an open-pit mine created additional challenges for maintaining stable wireless coverage. As benches shift and haul roads evolve, line-of-sight conditions frequently change, often creating coverage gaps across the operation.

“The simplest way to describe it is that the hotspots are always moving,” Collins explained. “You don’t want to constantly rebuild your network infrastructure to accommodate this. It needs to adapt automatically as the operational environment evolves.”

Alternative technologies, including private LTE, 5G and mesh networks, were evaluated but did not meet the mine’s operational requirements due to concerns around complexity, adaptability and cost efficiency.

“We did consider LTE and 5G, but the cost simply didn’t justify the value for our use case,” Collins noted. “We’re a low-cost producer, so we actively look for solutions that support this strategy.”

“The key consideration was finding an alternative to LTE and 5G that could deliver similar functionality, but without the associated cost and complexity,” said Gys Malan, Solutions Architect at Datacentrix. “Tharisa also needed something easy to manage, without the overhead typically associated with traditional mesh networks.”

To address these challenges, the two companies selected RADWIN’s FiberinMotion technology, which offers low-latency, high-throughput wireless connectivity capable of supporting mobility in demanding mining environments.

Before full implementation, Tharisa and Datacentrix conducted a proof of concept (POC) within a live mining environment to validate the system’s performance. The POC combined fixed high sites for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connectivity with two temporary six-metre mobile towers designed to simulate trailer-mounted high sites.

Testing was carried out across several fleet assets, including excavators, dump trucks and light-duty vehicles, to evaluate roaming performance, network stability and handover capabilities.

“The POC phase involved multiple iterations, with repeated testing and validation under real-world conditions until we were confident in the solution and the results were very encouraging,” said Collins. “We achieved broad coverage, and even where there were minor gaps, they aligned with our expectations based on tower positioning. It gave us confidence that we could meet our operational requirements.”

Following the successful trial phase, Datacentrix implemented the permanent network infrastructure, which included ruggedised trailer-mounted towers capable of moving alongside the evolving mine pit. The system has now been operating successfully for approximately a year.

“The key outcome for us was enabling telemetry across our fleet and improving visibility into performance,” Collins said. “We can now stream data, monitor operations and even support video feeds from equipment like excavators. That simply wasn’t possible before.”

Beyond productivity improvements, the platform has also strengthened operational safety through enhanced fleet visibility and monitoring.

“For example, we can track behaviours such as unsafe machine operation, enabling better operational control and contributing to safer working conditions,” Collins said.

The deployment has also created a long-term digital foundation capable of supporting both critical and non-critical operational traffic across the mining environment.

“We now have a network backbone that can support both critical and non-critical traffic, which is something we didn’t have before,” said Collins. “There’s still a maturity journey ahead in terms of optimisation, but the platform is stable and performing well.”

Malan noted that the solution also offers a lower total cost of ownership because the infrastructure can be fully managed internally without relying heavily on third-party providers. “This is different to an LTE environment, for example, which often would require external dependencies.”

The Tharisa Mine project marks the first deployment of RADWIN’s FiberinMotion technology in Africa, positioning the operation among the continent’s leading examples of connected mining innovation. Additional deployments are already underway elsewhere in the region.

“What started as a challenge to achieve reliable connectivity has become a long-term proven platform strategy for us,” Collins said. “We now know that we’ve invested in something that is not only effective today, but reusable across the group and scalable for the future.”

Tharisa is now extending the same technology to its Karo Platinum operation in Zimbabwe, a low-cost open-pit PGM asset located along the Great Dyke.

“The Tharisa deployment was the first in Africa, and a second is now in progress at Karo Mining in Zimbabwe,” he said. “The Zimbabwe rollout will cover a significantly larger operational footprint, further demonstrating the scalability of the solution in complex mining environments.”

Collins added that the ability to remotely deploy and manage the infrastructure has proven particularly valuable for expanding operations across multiple regions. “We now have enough confidence in the platform to roll it out in another country without needing a team on-site within close proximity. That’s a critical factor for us.”

He also highlighted Datacentrix’s contribution to the project’s success. “It comes down to trust and responsiveness. If I can pick up the phone and get support when I need it, that makes a big difference,” he said. “Datacentrix understands both the technology and the mining industry, which means we can align quickly and move forward without unnecessary complexity.”

“The RADWIN FiberinMotion solution has subsequently been adopted by several other local mining organisations, with the assistance of Datacentrix, reinforcing its ability to enable safe, scalable and cost-effective digital transformation across the full mining lifecycle,” Malan said.