As I pen this ZBS newsletter, whilst sitting on a plane to Hong Kong, I couldn’t help thinking about my carbon footprint.

Am I serious about my negative impact on the environment if I fly for 12 hours there and then another 12 hours back for a single meeting?

Seriously? Am I ever going to adapt to the challenges of a decarbonising world?

South Africa’s mining industry has always been defined by its ability to adapt. From being the world’s largest producer of gold to now dominating platinum, from labour-intensive to mechanised, we’ve learned that survival is often about adjusting to forces larger than ourselves, be it global commodity cycles, geopolitics, or technology.

Back in February this year,
Sasol
,
Anglo American
, and
De Beers Group
signed a joint agreement to test renewable diesel in heavy industry. At the time, it looked like a forward-looking pilot… promising, but still far from reality.

Fast-forward to today, and we see the real shift: the publication of a regulated biofuels price. This wasn’t just an announcement; it’s now a milestone. It provides the clarity and stability the market needs to move from pilot projects into real, scaled adoption.

And for mining, that matters more than most of us realise.

So why does renewable diesel matter? Renewable diesel is not just biodiesel.

It’s a “drop-in” fuel, chemically identical to fossil diesel but produced from non-petroleum feedstocks such as used cooking oil, moringa, or other crops. That means it can run in existing engines and infrastructure with no modification.

For an industry like mining, which relies on diesel for heavy haul trucks, machinery, and remote energy solutions, this is potentially game-changing. Unlike electric vehicles or hydrogen trucks, which require wholesale new systems, renewable diesel could be an immediate decarbonisation lever with real impact.

In short, this is pragmatic transition fuel. Not perfect, not infinite, but a bridge we can realistically cross.

Now, before I continue, let me address the “glossary”, as it were.

This development is so newsworthy and groundbreaking due to its renewable impacts on the industry and ultimately the environment. So, what are transition fuels, biofuels, and decarbonisation levers?

Transition Fuels are “in-between” fuels.

They aren’t as dirty as coal or oil, but they aren’t “completely” clean either. Think of natural gas or LPG, they burn with fewer emissions, but they’re still fossil fuels.

We call them transition fuels because they buy us time. They help reduce carbon today while we build the systems of tomorrow, like wind, solar, and other zero-emission energy sources.

They’re not the end goal, but they’re an important bridge on the road to a cleaner energy future. This should not be confused with “renewable energy”.

Biofuel is a fuel that comes from something that was recently alive.

Think corn, sugarcane, or even algae. It’s the opposite of fossil fuels, which are dug up from the ground after having been dead for millions of years.

The whole idea is to get our energy from something renewable, something we can grow again, or it comes from making it a “renewable” resource, like wind or solar…

While biofuels are a step away from our dependence on oil and gas, they’re not a perfect fix. They’re a piece of the puzzle, and a complicated one at that.

Decarbonisation Levers are simply the tools we pull to cut emissions.

Some are quick wins, like using renewable energy, improving efficiency, or switching to cleaner fuels. Others are bigger shifts, like creating new low-carbon products, rethinking supply chains, or moving towards a circular economy where waste gets reused.

There are also financial levers, carbon taxes, incentives, or even ideas around capturing and storing carbon emissions. So, to simplify it, decarbonisation levers are the different ways companies can move the needle from business-as-usual to a lower-carbon future.

Right! Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s continue…

My Take: What It Could Mean for Mining

  1. License to Operate Mines face increasing pressure from investors, governments, and communities to reduce emissions (think ESG). Switching even a portion of fleets to renewable diesel offers tangible progress without waiting for new technologies to mature.
  2. Cost vs. Commitment: The economics of feedstock availability in South Africa remain uncertain. If this fuel comes at a premium, only the most forward-looking companies will buy in. But if scale is achieved, it could drive down costs across the sector. But does that trigger alternative economic repercussions, be it positive or negative?
  3. Industrial Agriculture Meets Mining. There’s an unavoidable tension here: do we want our agricultural land producing food or fuel? Done wrong, biofuels risk inflating food prices. Done right, second-generation feedstocks and localised supply chains could create rural jobs and link mining to broader national development goals.

As someone who spends a large chunk of my time at
Manganese Metal Company (Pty) Ltd
, which is the only non-Chinese-based producer of high-grade Electrolytic Manganese (EMM), that goes directly into the market for products vital for steel and batteries, the obvious question is: Does renewable diesel assist us?

The short answer is not directly.

MMC’s manganese feeds steelmaking and battery markets, not diesel engines. In fact, if renewable diesel helps mining companies decarbonise their operations, that strengthens their sustainability credentials and, by extension, stabilises demand for the very commodities MMC supports. Cleaner manganese mining means cleaner EMM and cleaner High Purity Manganese Sulphate (HPMSM)

If anything, this shift buys manganese time. While the world experiments with alternative fuels, the structural demand for high-purity-grade manganese in batteries and green steel remains unchanged, and possibly even reinforced, because a decarbonising mining sector can more credibly push for low-carbon steel and other products.

So, from where I am sitting, this is more positive than negative.

On another note, still on topic, it’s important to recognise that behind announcements like these are people who drive them forward.

Behind this milestone of publishing the regulated biofuels price, a crucial step in bringing transparency, stability, and momentum to South Africa’s biofuels industry, are individuals and firms who quietly (or not so quietly) pave the path forward.

NSDV Law
played a central role in navigating the regulatory framework that made this publication possible. Their work in energy and environmental law, combined with their experience in shaping policy and licensing, helped create the legal foundation that underpins this achievement.

And

Lili Nupen

, who many of us know from her insightful contributions at the
Resources for Africa
Junior Mining Indabas and the London Indaba, has once again made her mark.

She represents a strong legal voice in energy, mining, and environmental matters, but more than that, she represents transformation. In a male-dominated industry, her leadership is both impactful and symbolic, proof that change and inclusivity strengthen us all.

So well done on effecting positive change!

Will renewable diesel “solve” South Africa’s energy or mining emissions challenge? No, I don’t believe so.

But it may just be one of the few credible, near-term steps we can take while waiting for the rest of the energy transition to catch up.

As I’ve always said, truth and transparency matter. And the truth is, our industry doesn’t need silver bullets; it needs stepping stones and bridges. Renewable diesel might just be one of them.

The question now is: who will cross it first, and how far will they go?

Anyway, these were my musings from 30,000 feet above, I now hand it over to you.

Do you believe renewable diesel is a distraction or a practical step in the right direction? Should mining companies embrace it, or wait for hydrogen and electrification? What do you believe the benefits of the published Regulated Biofuels Prices will be in the long term?

Let’s discuss this in the comments section! Educate, debate, ask a question, or simply share your opinion. Discussions pave the way for change; be a part of it.

– Z.B.S