Latest news with #CraigHarvey
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Zimbabwe's mining laboratories get overwhelmed amid gold price surge
Zimbabwean laboratories are struggling to keep pace with a wave of mineral samples from mines, accelerating exploration on the back of record gold prices. Gold prices hit a record high of $3,500 an ounce, boosting global exploration efforts. Zimbabwe's gold production rebounded significantly after years of economic and political challenges. Mining companies are facing delays in laboratory analysis due to increased activity. Zimbabwean laboratories are struggling to keep pace with a wave of mineral samples from mines, accelerating exploration on the back of record gold prices. Gold hit an unprecedented $3,500 an ounce in April, driven by geopolitical tensions, central bank stockpiling, and, more recently, economic uncertainty stoked by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. Even Zimbabwe, where gold output had slumped after decades of political and economic turmoil, has staged a sharp rebound. The central bank has resumed issuing gold coins after a 10-month suspension, showing renewed confidence in the sector. Production reached 24.3 metric tons in the first seven months of 2025, up 40% from the same period a year earlier. Annual output is now forecast to exceed 40 metric tons, setting a new record and marking a dramatic recovery from just 3 tons in 2008. Laboratory delays slow exploration work Craig Harvey, Vice President for Technical Services at Caledonia Mining Corp., one of the country's largest gold producers, said the company is facing delays in receiving results from accredited local laboratories, according to a Reuters report. "It is very frustrating for us, but in the Zimbabwe context, that's very encouraging," Harvey said. Caledonia's net profit surged to $34.8 million in the first half of the year, from $12.25 million a year earlier, lifted by higher production and a 40% jump in the average gold price.
UPI
17-06-2025
- Business
- UPI
British Steel reaches 5-year $677M deal with Network Rail
British rail passengers board a train at Hatton Cross Underground station in London in March. On Tuesday, British Steel announced that it has landed a new contract with the Network Rail railway company worth more than a half-billion dollars. File Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE June 17 (UPI) -- British Steel announced Tuesday that it has landed a new contract with the Network Rail railway company worth more than a half-billion dollars. In a press release, British Steel's Commercial Director for Rail Craig Harvey said, "The contract is a ringing endorsement of UK workers and British industry, underpinning the vital role we play in ensuring millions of passengers and freight operators enjoy safe, enjoyable, and timely journeys on Britain's railways." The deal made between the two companies is a five-year arrangement valued at approximately $677 million that will have the steel company create about 7.7 to 8.8 tons of rail every year. Additionally, the contact can be extended for another three years. British Steel is the only manufacturer of rail in the United Kingdom. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander posted to X Tuesday that she had met with representatives of British Steel to finalize the contract, and that "this deal truly transforms the outlook for British Steel and its dedicated workforce in Scunthorpe." The English town of Scunthorpe is a British Steel site that has reportedly supplied Network Rail with track for more than 20 years, and in the last decade alone they have manufactured over 1.1 million tons of rail for Network Rail. The factory there had been scheduled to close its blast furnaces earlier this year but was saved when the government used emergency powers to keep it open for now. "After taking urgent action to step in and save these historic blast furnaces from closure, we've now helped secure their long-term future by backing British Steel with meaningful government contracts, protecting thousands of skilled manufacturing jobs in the process," said Alexander. U.K. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Tuesday in the release that "This is great news for British Steel and a vote of confidence in the U.K.'s expertise in steelmaking, which will support thousands of skilled jobs for years to come."
BBC News
16-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
British Steel secures £500m contract to supply UK train tracks
British Steel has secured a five-year contract worth £500m to supply train tracks for Network company will forge more than 337,000 tonnes of track in a deal safeguarding the short-term future of the Scunthorpe comes after the government seized control of the company from its Chinese-owner Jingye in April amid accusations it was planning to switch the blast furnaces off, which would have made them permanently unusable. British Steel said the new contract represented a "huge vote of confidence in UK workers and British industry". While British Steel has long supplied the track used for Britain's railways with Scunthorpe producing rail since 1865, the latest deal provides guaranteed work for the plant for at least the next five years. The contract will begin on 1 July, with the company continuing to provide Network Rail with 80% of its track needs and other European steelmakers to supply "specialist rail products" alongside, the government said. Clive Berrington, Network Rail's director for railway business services, said the public company, which owns and maintains Britain's railways, was "committed to buying British where it makes economic sense to do so"."British Steel remain extremely competitive in the provision of rail and will remain our main supplier in the years ahead," he Harvey, commercial director for rail at British Steel added the agreement demonstrated the firm's "importance to the UK's economy and infrastructure".In April, the government took control of British Steel from its owners but has so far stopped short of fully nationalising the business. It has not ruled out full public ownership, but is also looking for potential private investors to fund steelmaking operations, which has increasingly been raised as a national security over the future of the UK's steelmaking capability were raised when talks between the government and Jingye broke down, with the business secretary saying it had "become clear" that the company was intent on closing down the blast the furnaces were starved of fuel and went out, the UK would no longer have the ability to produce so-called virgin steel, due to the process of restarting them being extremely difficult and steel-making involves iron being extracted from its original source to be purified and treated to make all types of steel used in major construction projects, such as new which employs 2,700 people, is the last plant in the UK producing virgin steel. It has four blast furnaces, all named after English Queens - Bess, Mary, Anne and Victoria, but Bess and Anne are the only two still in government said the new deal with Network Rail demonstrated its progress to "strengthen domestic manufacturing and supply chains" in order to boost economic Secretary Heidi Alexander, who is set to visit Scunthorpe on Tuesday, said the contract "truly transforms the outlook for British Steel".The deal comes ahead of the government's national infrastructure strategy being released later this has surrounded the future of the UK's steel industry in recent years, with the closure of Port Talbot's blast furnaces in tariffs targeting imports of steel to the country have also threatened businesses. The UK has been temporarily spared from President Donald Trump's executive order doubling steel tariffs from 25% to 50%.However, the UK could end up facing the higher rate if its deal signed with the Trump administration last month, which would see steel and aluminium tariffs axed, does not come into force.
