Indaba 2026: Africa’s mining momentum
Burson Buchanan’s Mining Indaba started with one of the few site visits that took place ahead of the conference, the well-attended visit to Wia Gold’s Kokoseb project in Namibia (ASX: WIA).
Kokoseb is a recent gold discovery yet is moving rapidly towards development with the DFS, the updated MRE (which will include an inaugural underground resource to compliment the c.3m ounce open pit), and the mining license award anticipated to be announced in Q3 this year. Wia Gold was one of the most talked about gold projects during Mining Indaba, with Henk Diederichs, the newly appointed CEO & MD, enjoying significant interest from a variety of global capital market stakeholders.
In the midcap market, PDI (ASX: PDI) was at Indaba with Robex, both of which are in the latter stages of merging, creating one of the largest pure gold mining groups in West Africa. The market excitement about the merger at Mining Indaba was palpable, with both companies’ share prices reaching all-time highs, as the broader market reflected on the prospects of the MergeCo being a 400,000 oz/pa producer, with an asset base of over 9.5m oz Au, with a market value currently at c.US$3.2 billion. This vision took a firm step towards reality with Robex announcing on 12th February that its Kiniero mine had reached commercial production, with ramp up to nameplate production remaining firmly on time and on budget.
Burson Buchanan also supported Kodal Minerals, London’s only quoted spodumene production company, with rapidly growing production from the Bougouni spodumene mine in Mali. Bolstered by the significant rise in the spodumene prices, along with the ongoing and successful ramp up in production, Kodal is now generating significant cash flow from its operations.
It was another excellent Indaba, showcasing Burson Buchanan’s competitive advantage of advising fast growth mining companies and empowering all stakeholders to fully benefit from the rare success of finding, building, and bringing leading African mines into production.
