JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African government is “very supportive” and “a great government to work with”, Glencore CEO Gary Nagle highlighted on Wednesday when the London- and Johannesburg-listed diversified mining and marketing company reported 2025 earnings of $13.5-billion amid copper and zinc performing particularly well.

Glencore’s positive experience with the South African government, Nagle remarked, extended well beyond the ferrochrome discussions, which are themselves showing all the signs of enabling near-term competitiveness.

“My experience with the South African government has been positive across the board. We have challenges, not only in ferrochrome. We have challenges with Astron. We have challenges in the coal business," Nagle said in response to journalist questions.

“They're receptive, they're open, they understand, they’re smart, they’re supportive. If they can't solve the problem, it gets moved to someone who can solve the problem. I really enjoy the interactions and they’re certainly far more constructive and better than some other countries that we operate in,” said Nagle, who spoke of Glencore continuing to be “very pro” South Africa.

“We believe South Africa's a great country to invest in” and if the right opportunity arose, Glencore would, he made clear, invest more.

On the need for the company to secure a lower electricity tariff to revive ferrochrome production, Nagle said in response to Mining Weekly: "We're confident that we’ll get a very competitive tariff from government. We believe we’ll get it before the end of February. We’ve restarted Lion already and we look forward to restarting both Boshoek or Wonderkop smelters.”

Lion Smelter in Steelpoort, Limpopo, achieved its first ferrochrome production tap on February 16, following the successful recommissioning of 50% of its operating capacity. That follows the approval by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa of a 12-month interim electricity tariff of 87.74c/kWh.

The Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture anticipates that Lion will return to full operational capacity by March 31.

While the interim 87.74c/kWh tariff enables Lion to return to full operational capacity in the short term, it remains insufficient to support sustainable operations over the long term.

The same position applies to Boshoek or Wonderkop smelters. All three smelter operations would require a tariff of 62c/kWh to operate on a commercially sustainable and viable basis over the long term.

Engagement with all relevant stakeholders is under way while initiatives designed to compete with a very challenging global market environment are implemented to protect jobs, support local economies and secure the future of South Africa’s ferroalloys industry.

Mining Weekly: Would you be prepared to invest capital in new technology, which cuts the use of electricity quite substantially, and then also perhaps go the green route with renewable energy, or maybe buy renewable energy from the growing number of private power traders?

Nagle: We've got a terrific team looking at all options around technology and ability to reduce costs, do things smarter, better. Japie Fullard runs a great business. He's got people looking at all these new technologies that are coming up as well as power contracts. All that's on the table. That's not something new. It's something we did even when I was running alloys. We're looking forward to hopefully getting the 62c tariff and being able to run these extra two smelters and then continue to invest in that technology, knowing that we have secured long-term competitive power.

In response to a question on whether that would level the playing field with competitors, Fullard said: “It will definitely put us back into the ring, so that means that we’ll definitely then have a fighting chance.

“But is that going to be enough? We'll definitely have to do additional work we're not doing. To think outside the box, do investments in technology. We’re also looking at our own business, making sure that we’re not only competitive from an electrical perspective, but also sharpening our pencil,” said Fullard while pointing out that it's not only the government that must provide help on the electricity side, but that “we, as a company, must also look at ourselves. So, definitely yes, that will bring us into a fighting ring, but that's only the start,” Fullard reiterated.

GOOD 2025 PERFORMANCE

Meanwhile, in Wednesday's full-year results presentation, Nagle hailed 2025 as a year of significant progress, marked by good operational performance, continued portfolio optimisation, and clear momentum for copper-led growth.

Glencore is targeting 1.6-million tonnes of yearly copper production by 2035, supported by capital-efficient copper growth options.

Wednesday also saw the announcement of the finalisation of a land access package in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is destined to add 300 000 t/y of copper production.

Also, for the second consecutive year, Glencore met full-year production guidance for key commodities.

“Glencore’s standalone investment case is strong. Our regularly updated, illustrative annualised free cash flow generation at spot commodity prices, is currently a very healthy $7-billion.

“We have a well-diversified business across a range of commodities, supported by one of the best marketing franchises in the industry,” Nagle reported.

“More cash back with levers ahead,” was the headline of a ‘buy’ note by Jefferies Research Services analysts. “Solid results with a beat on shareholder returns,” was the takeaway from Barclays Equity Research. "Net debt lower, capital returns ahead of expectations," was the observation of Morgan Stanley Research.