New mining project that could power South Africa for 500 years
The Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine (SMM) in the Western Cape has officially launched Phase 1 of its monazite concentrate plant.
This initial phase involves crushing and milling ore to produce a concentrate for export, with shipments scheduled to begin before the end of 2026 under secured offtake agreements.
The launch was initiated by Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, along with other officials.
Phase 1 is the first step in a three-phase roadmap that includes monazite cracking (Phase 2) and the separation of individual rare earth oxides (Phase 3).
Steenkampskraal contains about 14.5% total rare earth oxides and 2.1% thorium, making it the highest known rare earth grade in the world, roughly ten times richer than a typical global deposit.
This opening signifies South Africa’s transition from research and laboratory breakthroughs to commercial mineral processing.
SMM’s collaboration with the national research institution Mintek previously positioned South Africa as the first African country to produce high-purity mixed rare earth products.
Rare earth elements are often referred to as the “vitamins of the economy” because they are critical to electric vehicles, electronics, defence systems, telecommunications, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.
According to SMM Executive Director Robbie Louw, the deposit contains about 14,000 tonnes of thorium, which has an electricity-generation potential roughly equivalent to 55 billion tonnes of coal for power stations.
In a mature, closed thorium fuel cycle, supplying electricity at roughly South Africa’s current national level would consume only about 30 tonnes of thorium a year.
On that basis, Louw said Steenkampskraal’s resource alone represents about 500 years of current South African electricity generation.
Longer-term plans also extend to thorium beneficiation and medical-isotope production, including energy production technology and medical applications.
Thorium daughter products are being assessed for targeted alpha therapy in cancer treatment.
“This is the first commercial step on a road South Africa has already proved it can walk,” said Steenkampskraal Monazite Mine Executive Chairman Enock Mathebula.
“In June, 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.”
Mathebula said that the plant now turns science into a saleable monazite concentrate, and that the ministers’ presence signals to the market and communities that beneficiation is no longer a slogan at Steenkampskraal and production has started.
South Africa needs additional reliable energy generation
SMM Executive Director Robbie Louw said that South Africa needs additional reliable energy generation to provide baseload and strengthen the grid as wind and solar increase.
Louw agreed that Steenkampskraal provides the country with a strategic indigenous thorium energy resource and a pathway to greater fuel-cycle sovereignty.
“The proposal is to use Koeberg to qualify thorium fuel, then deploy it progressively in a new nuclear fleet, including Thyspunt, and to anchor a South African thorium-fuel industry in domestic demand before looking to the export market, which will include India and the world’s light-water reactor fleet.”
He explained that SMM has partnered with Thor Energy, which is an international thorium-fuel developer, whose oxide fuels have undergone irradiation testing in the Halden research reactor in Sweden.
Louw has urged the government to take the following steps with the company:
- “Continue structured engagement so that the government and SMM share a view of the resource’s national strategic value across rare earths, thorium, and industrialisation.
- Connect existing national capabilities, Mintek, Necsa, Eskom and the relevant departments, and identify where they can be strengthened.
- Use government relationships to support technology transfer, investment and market access with partner countries and international companies.
- Evaluate the rare-earth and thorium pathways jointly, including the regulatory, technical and commercial steps required.
- Build, from that relationship, towards a shared roadmap for downstream processing, nuclear fuel development, industrialisation, and access to global markets.”
He said that the strategic prizes are separated oxides and, in time, thorium products for energy and targeted alpha cancer therapy, which relies on partnerships.
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