In the past decade, African production of aluminium has remained relatively stable, ranging from a production low of 1.64 million tonnes in 2012 to a high of 1.81 million tonnes in 2013. HILLSIDE ALUMINIUM (South Africa) Hillside Aluminium has played a key role in South Africa’s aluminium industry for more than 20 years.
Despite Africa’s riches in terms of CRMs, currently the battery minerals by and large leave the continent raw and unprocessed, with refining, and manufacturing, mostly taking place elsewhere, especially in China. Some notable exceptions include South Africa’s existing aluminium and manganese refining, and more recent nickel refining.
South Africa has rich reserves of minerals like manganese and vanadium which can position it strongly to emerge as a leader in the expanding global battery industry. Ongoing research is essential to develop battery chemistries that reduce reliance on transition minerals. Image Source: Sven Musica.
South Africa's mineral advantage South Africa has large reserves of two critical minerals, manganese and vanadium, allowing the country to play a bigger role in the battery storage sector. Manganese is a crucial component of lithium-ion batteries, which power EVs and renewable energy grids.
South Africa imported $1.1 billion (4.4 GWh) of lithium-ion cells and batteries in the first six months of 2023 which is mostly imported from China. China, having established battery storage manufacturing facilities, has been the primary supplier of lithium cells and batteries to South Africa between 2019 and 2022.
The main battery materials available in South Africa are manganese and vanadium, while smaller amounts of nickel and cobalt are also extracted as by-products of Platinum Group Metal (PGM) mining (Figure 26). The major mining companies and their mineral production profiles are listed in Figure 26: Mineral reserves map for South Africa.