01
Beneficiation
Turn mineral resources into processed products and more value captured locally.
McKallip Mineral Research · South Africa
Beneficiation.Manufacturing.Re-industrialisation.
Minerals Covered
Data Sources Analysed
Reports planned for 26/27
Independent, evidence-led research on how mineral beneficiation can support domestic manufacturing and re-industrialisation in South Africa.
Available now
Overview
South Africa's minerals, from ore to finished product, and the conditions that decide where the value is made
This report asks where South Africa loses value between the mine and the finished product, what stops that value being kept at home, and which mineral commodities can realistically be won back. It is a domestic study built only on public data. Part I sets out what is at stake: jobs lost, value exported raw and processing capacity closed. Part II examines the constraints common to every commodity: electricity, logistics, feed, scale and customers, exploration, skills, enabling inputs, and finance, rights and regulation. Part III assesses nineteen commodities, from chrome to cobalt and graphite, project by project. Part IV sets out the McKallip proposition, what each actor must do and the next twelve months.
Winning Back the Mineral Value
R 24 999 · Online reader + PDF
The value chain we work across
02
Manufacturing
Build domestic suppliers, manufacturing capability and dependable customers.
03
Re-industrialisation
Restore productive capacity and build new industry around the mining sector.
Start with a free tool
Test the value of processing
before you commit.
Explore indicative value uplift, break-even thresholds, and processing costs with open-access calculators. No account required.
No login requiredOpen access
Instant resultsZero wait time
Your assumptionsFull control
Free screening tool
Open accessBeneficiation value uplift
Compare indicative raw and processed product values, operating costs, and break-even prices using your own assumptions.
Value uplift
Cost per tonne
Break-even price
Sample output preview
Raw ore$42/t
Concentrate$189/t
Refined$340/t
Need regional context? Explore Winning Back the Mineral Value →
How the research is built
A clear sequence from
evidence to decision.
- 01Step 01
Part I — What Is at Stake
- 02Step 02
Part II — What Holds It Back
- 03Step 03
Part III — Chain by Chain
- 04Step 04
Part IV — Winning It Back
Sections shown from the flagship report outline; scope and evidence vary across publications.
Flagship report · South Africa
The flagship report
Mineral Beneficiation
Winning Back the Mineral Value
This report asks where South Africa loses value between the mine and the finished product, what stops that value being kept at home, and which mineral commodities can realistically be won back. It is a domestic study built only on public data. Part I sets out what is at stake: jobs lost, value exported raw and processing capacity closed. Part II examines the constraints common to every commodity: electricity, logistics, feed, scale and customers, exploration, skills, enabling inputs, and finance, rights and regulation. Part III assesses nineteen commodities, from chrome to cobalt and graphite, project by project. Part IV sets out the McKallip proposition, what each actor must do and the next twelve months.
Key finding
"Value is leaking, and faster. In 2025, 57% of export value across eleven mineral commodities left as ore or concentrate. Chrome ore exports rose from US$1.1bn to US$5.2bn while ferrochrome exports halved in 2025 alone, to US$1.8bn (chapter 2). (Observed.)"
Data coverageSouth Africa only. Evidence as at 9 October 2026. 33 chapters in four parts (four on what is at stake, seven on the constraints, nineteen on commodities and three on the proposal), with five appendices.
MethodologyEvery project claim, company target and forward-looking number carries one of five evidence labels: Observed, Company-stated, Conditional, Not yet established or Illustrative. Each chapter opens with a lead paragraph and a governing thesis; chapters in Parts II to IV end with a verdict and recommendations that name the lever, who acts, the cost and the condition or stop condition. The study uses only dated, named public sources; sources that could not be retrieved or verified are logged and left out, not worked around.
Published11 October 2026
ReferenceMMR-00001 · v1
Free with an account
Weekly analysis
Short, free analysis that follows the same mining-to-manufacturing questions as the reports.
Policy & Strategy10 January 2025
Why beneficiation policy fails when it treats every mineral the same
South Africa's beneficiation mandate applies a uniform logic to commodities with fundamentally different metallurgy, market structures, capital requirements and competitive positions.
Energy & Smelting5 January 2025
South Africa's ferrochrome problem is an electricity problem
Ferrochrome smelting remains structurally competitive only when tariff trajectories, reliability, and furnace utilization are modeled together rather than separately.
Critical Minerals1 January 2025
Four rare-earth feedstocks that do not require a new mine
Several African rare-earth opportunities derive from existing operations and waste streams rather than greenfield mine builds.
Your research workspace
Follow the markets
that matter to you.
Create a free account to read every weekly analysis, save reports and follow commodities or regions in your personal research workspace.
Save reportsCommodity alertsRegional filtersWeekly digest