Written into the history book W hat an accolade for Navanetham “Navi” Pillay, a South African jurist, who won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting peace and international law, from opposing apartheid to serving on international courts. She served as the United Nations High
of Mineral and Petroleum Resources) and Sipho Nkosi (Former Exxaro CEO). Rare Earths And speaking of rare occurrences, Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine (SMM) officially opened Phase 1 of the Steenkampskraal project. Phase 1 crushes and mills ore, then upgrades it by gravity separation and flotation to a monazite concentrate for the export market. SMM says it has secured several offtake agreements for its concentrate. First shipments are planned before the end of 2026. “In June, with Mintek, we produced high- purity mixed rare earth products and became the first African country to achieve this through a partnership between a mine and a national research institution, Mintek. The plant now turns that science into a saleable monazite concentrate. Beneficiation is no longer a slogan at Steenkampskraal. Production is under way,” said Dr Enock Mathebula, Executive Chairman of SMM. Interestingly, Rainbow Rare Earths is also plotting its pathway to production on its flagship Phalaborwa project in the Limpopo Province
Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014 and was the first non-white female judge of the High Court of South Africa. Pillay, who dedicated her prize to “survivors of international crime”, was president of the international tribunal on Rwanda’s genocide between the late 1990s and early 2000s. More recently, she was part of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021. Including Pillay, the total number of South Africans awarded the Nobel Peace Prize rises to five. The other four laureates are: Albert Luthuli (1960): Former President of the ANC and a prominent leader in the anti-apartheid struggle,
Desmond Tutu (1984): Anglican Archbishop and influential anti- apartheid activist, Nelson Mandela (1993): Anti-apartheid revolutionary and former President of South Africa and F.W. de Klerk (1993): Former President of South
Steenkampskraal plant now turns that science into a
and its Uberaba project in Brazil. The company is targeting production at Phalaborwa by 2029 and production from Uberaba at the end of 2030 (For this story read the February 2027 edition of
saleable monazite concentrate. Beneficiation is no longer a slogan at Steenkampskraal. Production is under way.
Africa who played a key role in ending apartheid. On the topic of powerful women, Natascha Viljoen, a South African business executive and CEO of
Nelendhre Moodley.
( Modern Mining ).
Editor: Nelendhre Moodley e-mail: mining@crown.co.za Advertising Manager: Rynette Joubert
In this edition The November edition of Modern Mining features a lithium outlook titled, Africa: A New Lithium Frontier (Pg 12) alongside coverage of Rwanda-based Trinity Metals’ planned major expansion in tungsten and tin production over the next three-to-five years. Modern Mining spoke to CEO Peter Geleta (see pg 14). Hivekit, a US-based mining technology company, which recently announced OPS.AI, a new technology that proactively coordinates and optimises mine operations, is eyeing entry into the African continent, targeting South Africa and Tanzania as its first points of entry (pg 18). Also noteworthy is a story by Weir highlighting how mining operations across West Africa are increasingly adopting its integrated digital ecosystem, which now extends beyond the traditional processing plant (pg 22). n
Newmont Corporation since January 2026, was inducted into the Joburg Indaba Mining Hall of Fame at the opening of the event on October 6. The honour recognises her more than 30 years of leadership in the mining industry, spanning mining and processing operations. She is the first woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and previously served as CEO of Anglo American Platinum, now known as Valterra Platinum. Viljoen joins the close to 20 key inductees including amongst others: July Ndlovu (Thungela Resources CEO, inducted in 2025), Roger Baxter (former Minerals Council South Africa CEO, inducted in 2024), Mark Cutifani (former Anglo American CEO, inducted in 2019), Neal Froneman (Sibanye-Stillwater CEO), Patrice Motsepe (African Rainbow Minerals founder), Gwede Mantashe (Minister
e-mail: rynettej@crown.co.za Design & Layout: Ano Shumba Publisher: Karen Grant
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2 MODERN MINING www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | November 2026
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