South African mining spent a decade being written off as a sunset industry. The project list says otherwise. Ivanhoe’s Platreef produced first concentrate in November 2025, Kumba is 37 percent through an R11.2 billion processing overhaul at Sishen, Northam is spending billions across two PGM complexes, and a rare new underground gold mine poured first gold on the West Rand this year. The builds are real, they are funded, and each one is buying engineering, construction and equipment right now.
Here are the projects worth watching in 2026, and what they tell you about where South African mining is heading.
Which new mining projects are under way in South Africa?
The heaviest construction sits in PGMs and iron ore. Platreef in Limpopo is the standout: first concentrate in November 2025, Shaft 3 hoisting from around April 2026, and a Phase 2 expansion designed to lift output to roughly 450,000 ounces of PGMs and gold a year. Kumba’s UHDMS project at Sishen, R11.2 billion, rebuilds the processing plant to lift premium product from 18 percent to 55 percent of output and extends the mine to 2044, with the first module producing in 2026 and steady state expected by the end of 2028.
Northam is running two programmes at once. Zondereinde’s western extension and deepening carries a R3.2 billion capex year, while the R4.5 billion Eland revival is built to take the operation from around 100,000 ounces in 2025 to 180,000 by 2028, backed by a 20 megawatt solar plant with battery storage. In the Northern Cape, Orion Minerals signed a 250 million dollar funding package with Glencore in February 2026 to build the Prieska copper-zinc mine, one of very few new base metal builds in the country.
Is anyone still building gold and coal projects?
Yes, though the character has changed. West Wits Mining’s Qala Shallows on the West Rand started mining in late 2025 with first gold poured in 2026, the first new underground gold development on the Witwatersrand in years. Pan African Resources is expanding its MTR tailings retreatment operation toward 60,000 ounces a year by December 2026 and takes a board decision on its Soweto Cluster tailings plant after a mid 2026 feasibility study. The pattern is telling: new gold money in South Africa flows into shallow mining and surface retreatment, not the ultradeep shafts that defined the last century.
In coal, Thungela’s Elders project is in ramp-up toward 4.2 million tonnes a year and its Zibulo North Shaft completes in 2026. Beyond the traditional commodities, Rainbow Rare Earths is finishing a feasibility study on its Phalaborwa project, which recovers rare earths from old phosphogypsum stacks, with 50 million dollars of United States development finance behind it and construction targeted for 2027.
Get to new projects first
AMIQ follows South Africa’s new builds from announcement to construction, with the owners and engineers verified.
The projects on the bench
Behind the funded builds sits a bench of projects waiting for one more green light. The Waterberg PGM project on the Bushveld’s northern limb, a palladium-heavy shallow mechanised design, waits on its construction decision and would be the next Platreef-scale build if approved. The Northern Cape’s copper revival extends beyond Prieska, with the historic Okiep district and a cluster of juniors reworking old orebodies at modern prices. And Gamsberg’s zinc expansion ambitions resurface whenever the metal rallies. What moves projects off this bench is rarely geology. It is a firm price, a rail commitment or a funding partner, which is why the bench empties fastest in years like this one.
Who actually builds a South African mine?
A decade with few new builds thinned the construction ecosystem, and that is now a constraint of its own. Shaft-sinking and underground development capacity is concentrated in a handful of specialist contractors, the big engineering houses run the EPCM layer, and both are staffing back up as the project list grows. For mid-tier suppliers this is worth understanding: on an EPCM build, the engineering house issues most of the purchase orders, so getting onto its vendor lists matters as much as knowing the mine owner. The contractor landscape is mapped in our mining contractors guide.
How to read a project announcement
Not every announcement is a project. The sequence that matters runs: study results, funding secured, EPC or EPCM appointed, early works, main construction. Suppliers who mobilise at the study stage are usually two years early, and those who wait for the ribbon cutting are two years late. The moment to engage is between funding and contractor appointment, when packages are being scoped and vendor lists drawn. Every project named on this page sits somewhere specific on that clock, and tracking the transitions is precisely what a project intelligence platform is for.
What is holding projects back?
Three constraints shape every board decision. Rail is the binding one for bulk commodities: Transnet expects around 168 million tonnes this financial year against a 180 million tonne target, and manganese and chrome producers fight for allocations. Power has improved, with load shedding effectively over and Eskom running its most stable grid in years, which is precisely why smelting-heavy projects are being looked at again. Permitting remains slow, with the new mining cadastre live only in the Western Cape as of mid 2026 and national rollout pushed to March 2027.
The economics still work. Mining contributed R439 billion to GDP in 2025, about 5.8 percent, and employs roughly 470,000 people. Record chrome and manganese export volumes in 2025 show what happens where logistics allow, and the project list above shows owners committing capital despite the constraints.
What this means if you supply the industry
Every project on this page is a procurement pipeline with a clock on it. Shaft equipping at Platreef and Zondereinde, plant construction and tie-ins at Sishen and Prieska, tailings infrastructure at Pan African’s operations, renewables and storage at Eland, and each phase has a different buyer signing off. The suppliers who win this work engage before the tender is public, while the engineering is still being scoped.
AMIQ tracks these projects and hundreds more across the country with verified owner, engineer and procurement contacts at each one. Watch the pipeline at new mining projects, or join AMIQ and follow every South African project from feasibility to first production.
Frequently asked questions
What is the biggest new mining project in South Africa?
By committed capital, Kumba’s R11.2 billion UHDMS processing project at Sishen and Ivanhoe’s multi-phase Platreef PGM mine lead the list. Platreef produced first concentrate in November 2025 and is expanding toward roughly 450,000 ounces a year.
Are new gold mines still being built in South Africa?
A few, and they look different from the old ones. Qala Shallows on the West Rand poured first gold in 2026 as a shallow underground operation, while Pan African Resources keeps expanding surface tailings retreatment. Deep new shafts are not being sunk.
What stops more projects from being built?
Rail capacity is the main constraint for bulk commodities, with Transnet volumes still below target. Permitting speed is second, though the new mining cadastre now rolling out province by province is designed to fix application backlogs by 2027.
What is the Waterberg PGM project?
A palladium-rich, shallow, fully mechanised PGM project on the Bushveld’s northern limb, held by a joint venture led by Platinum Group Metals. It awaits a construction decision and would be among the largest new PGM builds in the country if approved.
