[Ferro-Alloys.com] ANGLO American said it planned to retain its 40% stake in the Samancor Manganese Joint Venture in South Africa with 60% partner South32.

Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo said in an interview last week there were “no plans to do anything short term” with the manganese stake.

The Samancor JV consists of two mines: Wessels and Mamatwan. The Joint Venture owns 74% of Hotzel Manganese Mines consortium with the balance of the consortium owned by board-based black empowerment entities.

Anglo has so far agreed to sell its Australian metallurgical coal mines, its nickel operations and demerge Anglo American Platinum as per a strategy unveiled in May last year to focus on copper, iron ore and the fertiliser mineral project, Woodsmith in the UK.

“It is a relatively good asset,” said Wanblad of the joint venture. “It has a good return. There is no need to do anything at this point in time. It’s a relatively small part (of the company) and provides a set of opportunities I’m not prepared to eliminate,” he said.

The manganese operations are forecast by operator South32 to produce two million tons of manganese ore in the Perth-based company’s current financial year (ended June), a decrease of 200,000 tons compared to 2024 production.

Asked last year if South32 would be willing to buy Anglo’s shares in the manganese mines, CEO Graham Kerr said it would only be done “for value … We’re not going to pay a control premium for something we already run,” Kerr said at the time.

There was also speculation that Exxaro Resources might have been a buyer in terms of its ambitions to diversify from coal production. Since the departure of CEO Nombasa Tsengwa earlier this year, it’s an open question whether Exxaro is still sticking to that strategy.

The manganese market is famously volatile. South32 temporarily shut the Wessels mine during the December quarter owing to poor prices for the metal.

Trucking of the metal, which South32 is prepared to do when the price is high enough in lieu of sufficient capacity on the Transnet-operated manganese line, was also subsequently reduced. The mine has since been reopened.

The manganese price ex-South Africa surged 34% in the second half of South32’s 2024 financial year to $4.05 per dry metric ton (FOB) following cyclone-related disruption at its Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO) earlier in the year.

• [Editor:tianyawei]