South32 temporarily shut Wessels manganese mine

SOUTH32 said it had temporarily shut its Wessels manganese mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape province during the December quarter at a time of poor prices for the metal.

Trucking of the metal to port, which South32 is prepared to do given a high enough metal price and in lieu of sufficient capacity on the Transnet-operated manganese line, was also subsequently reduced.

The mine has since been reopened.

South Africa manganese saleable production decreased by 3% or 29,000 wet metric tons to 1.08 million tons in the December 2024 half year, the Perth-headquartered group said in a production update on Monday. “We will continue to monitor and respond to market conditions,” it added.

It also elected not to update a full year production forecast for its Mozal aluminium facilities in Mozambique stating on Monday “any escalation in civil unrest has the potential to impact our critical trucking activity and operations”.

South32 withdrew production guidance at Mozal in December following violent protests in Mozambique. The protests were in response to the election of President David Chapo representing Frelimo.

Hundreds of people were killed in the wake of the October election which sees Frelimo retain unbroken power for more than 50 years. Protests continued last week during the inauguration of President Chapo.

South32 said it had reduced amperage to the smelter potlines in the wake of the protests, reducing aluminium production capacity by 3% to preserve raw materials and maintain operational stability.

For the six months ended December, saleable aluminium production increased 7% or by 12,000 tons to 178,000 tons as it benefited from completion of an operational recovery plan and despite loadshedding.

“In recent weeks, we have re-built alumina stocks at the smelter as we successfully implemented contingency plans and road blockages eased,” said South32 in its update.

“While Mozal Aluminium has continued to operate and export aluminium to customers during this period, any escalation in civil unrest has the potential to impact our critical trucking activity and operations,” it said.

“Accordingly, production guidance remains withdrawn as we monitor and respond to the evolving situation.”

During the six month period under review, South32 paid $169m in dividends in respect of the prior six months and continued with its on-market share buy-back, leaving $171m to be returned to shareholders. It also completed the sale of its Illawarra Metallurgical Coal in the September quarter.

“We have a strong balance sheet and platform for growth in minerals and metals critical to the world’s energy transition,” said Graham Kerr, CEO of South32.