The storm that had engulfed Mantengu Mining over the past year has, at least for now, begun to recede.
On May 23 2025, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) formally announced that it had found no evidence of share price manipulation in Mantengu’s stock following its detailed investigation of the junior miner’s complaints.
While the ruling was welcomed by some investors as a chance to move on, Mantengu itself isn’t ready to let the matter rest. The company quickly issued a strongly worded statement pointing to what it called the investigation’s “narrow scope”, “incomplete analysis” and “exclusion of critical evidence”. CEO Mike Miller insisted that the FSCA’s findings, while not unexpected given resource constraints, did not reflect the full picture, and that the criminal complaint filed by the company against certain individuals remains active and under investigation by the Hawks.
Still, for many shareholders, the conclusion of the FSCA probe may allow the focus to shift from controversy to operations — and there’s no shortage of positive developments to consider.
Top of mind is Mantengu’s recently finalised acquisition of the Blue Ridge platinum mine from Sibanye-Stillwater and Imbani Platinum SPV. On July 21, Mantengu received the long-awaited section 11 ministerial consent, officially clearing the way for the company’s largest transaction to date. The deal brings into Mantengu’s fold a shallow, mechanised platinum group metals (PGM) mine with an integrated concentrator, a sizeable 1Mt surface stockpile and a clear near-term production strategy.
While the mine is currently under care and maintenance, Mantengu plans a phased restart beginning with the processing of the existing stockpile to generate chrome and PGM concentrates. According to company estimates, this initial phase could yield up to 375,000t of chrome concentrate and more than 35,000oz of PGMs — all at the lower end of the cost curve.
Crucially, the main rationale for the acquisition was the monetisation of this surface stockpile. The economics of the deal were structured around quick and relatively low-risk returns from this ore, with any potential resumption of underground mining viewed as a bonus rather than a prerequisite. However, the recent sharp rally in PGM prices has suddenly made that upside more plausible.
Should market conditions remain favourable, Mantengu could choose to proceed with underground development once the results of a planned feasibility study are in. Alternatively, it could sell the longer-term rights to a third party at improved valuations.
Even without Blue Ridge, Mantengu’s asset base has expanded significantly since its listing. The company now owns two chrome mines, a silicon carbide manufacturing facility (Sublime Technologies) and the assets of an iron beneficiation plant. This increasingly diversified portfolio helps explain why Mantengu recently proposed changing its name to simply “Mantengu Ltd”.
Even without Blue Ridge, Mantengu’s asset base has expanded significantly since its listing.
In its AGM notice, the board said the word “Mining” no longer accurately reflects the full breadth of the company’s operations or investment philosophy, which now extends to downstream processing, manufacturing and even potential energy infrastructure projects. The proposed rebrand reflects an ambition to be viewed not as a pure-play miner but as a broader resource investment company — one that remains focused on metals and mining but not limited by it.
Meanwhile, attention is turning to near-term operational milestones. Following the FY2025 year-end, Mantengu expects to commission two new processing plants at its chrome mines. These facilities are intended to boost throughput and revenue significantly, though no formal production guidance has been given. Investors will be watching closely to see how these new plants affect the company’s margin profile and cash generation, particularly after a year in which natural disasters took their toll.
In early 2025, both Langpan and Meerust were hit by floods that forced temporary evacuations and halted mining operations. Mantengu estimates that the flooding shaved R38m off revenue and R30m off net profit, due to fixed overheads and the opportunity cost of lost production. The impact was not limited to Mantengu — major PGM producer Valterra reported a sharp decline in refined PGM output due to the same weather event, which it likened to a black swan-style disruption.
However, recovery is under way. On July 18, Miller posted on X that Langpan and Meerust had pumped out nearly 2-billion litres of water and that water tables had stabilised, allowing operations to resume. With the worst seemingly behind them, these mines are expected to play a critical role in Mantengu’s next growth phase — not only as chrome producers but also as a source of incidental PGMs that could be monetised via third-party refining deals.
If Mantengu can successfully process the Blue Ridge stockpile, monetise PGM-rich ore from its chrome mines, and scale up chrome production via the new plants, it may finally transition from speculative small cap to credible mid-tier player.
The market appears to be warming to that narrative. Over the past month, Mantengu’s share price has rallied more than 50%, reflecting renewed investor optimism now that regulatory distractions are fading and operational execution is front and centre.
There are still questions — not least whether underground mining at Blue Ridge will ultimately prove viable — but the path forward is clearer than it’s been in months. For a company that spent much of the past year in controversy, Mantengu now has something firmer to stand on: assets in production, optionality in the pipeline and, for the first time in a while, the wind at its back.
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