Creamer Media’s 'Projects in Progress 2023' supplement considers some of the major project developments under way, including high-profile electricity, hydrogen, industry, petrochemicals and gas, as well as water projects in the engineering sector. The supplement also includes some mining projects in the coal, diamonds, gold and platinum sector, as well as a few of the lower-profile public and private developments. What remains apparent is that the private-sector pipeline for projects remains especially weak, owing to poor levels of investor confidence. Nevertheless, project activity is continuing across most of the mining subsectors and in some pockets of industry.

The clean energy transition has unleashed unprecedented demand for key minerals and metals. Lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite are crucial to battery performance, longevity and energy density. Rare-earth elements are essential for permanent magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicle (EV) motors, while copper underpins electricity-related technologies. These so-called critical minerals and metals are considered the building blocks for the green and digital economy, without which there will be no batteries, no EVs, no wind turbines and no solar panels. Creamer Media’s ‘Battery Metals 2023: Powering the green economy’ report provides an overview of the battery metals market in this context. Globally, the focus of the report is on supply and demand and the creation of a sustainable battery value chain, as well as the environmental and social impact of battery metals production. In Africa, the report’s focus shifts to some of the key mining projects under way on the continent.