South Africa’s largest gold mining company, Harmony Gold, is expecting to start copper production from its mine in Queensland, Australia by 2028. 

The company’s CEO, Peter Steenkamp, told Reuters on Thursday (6 September): “We want to make the final investment decision by the end of the [financial] year. It is a two-year build, then Eva Copper will be in production.” 

According to Steenkamp, early work, including building access roads, has started at the mine, which is expected to produce up to 60,000tpa of copper. 

Harmony acquired the project in 2022 and received a conditional grant of A$20.7m ($13.54m) from the Queensland Government in July, which is contingent upon Harmony reaching a positive final investment decision by January 2026. 

In its financial and operating results for the year ending 30 June 2024, Harmony reported expected gold production of 1.4–1.5 million ounces (moz) to June 2025 after output rose 6% to 1.56moz in the financial year just ended. 

The results also showed R11.4bn ($645m) headline earnings, marking a 132% increase on the previous year. Harmony attributed this rise to higher gold production, better grades and record prices.  

“We continue to allocate most of our project capital to our higher-grade, higher-quality and lower-risk assets,” stated Steenkamp. He added that Harmony’s gold output would stabilise around 1.4moz over the long term as the company continues to invest in its higher-grade gold mines. 

In February, the company announced an investment of R7.9bn to extend the life of the Mponeng gold mine in South Africa from seven to 20 years as part of its international growth strategy.  

Harmony’s diversification away from gold and towards copper reflects surging global demand as miners aim to secure long-term supply chain stability for key markets such as renewable infrastructure and electric vehicles.