The Arxo Business consists of three separate units, all critical in the pit to port strategy that sees Tharisa maximise the output from its resource.
Arxo Resources is the trading division of the Company, responsible for linking global buyers to our products, Arxo Logistics not only ensures that our product is delivered to the client but is critical in assisting movement of goods to the mine. Arxo Metals is the research division, taking projects such as the Challenger Plant and Vulcan fine chrome recovery plant from laboratory scale to commercial production.
Arxo Metals
Arxo Metals, a wholly owned subsidiary, serves as the Group’s research, development, and beneficiation platform for chrome and PGM output. Located near Brits in South Africa’s North West province – approximately 40 km from the Tharisa Mine – Arxo Metals turns our “mine-to-metal” vision into reality. The company transforms raw ore into value-added, higher-margin products and implements new technologies.
In today’s mining industry, simple extraction is insufficient. Arxo Metals is central to Tharisa’s strategy to generate increased economic value – not only by producing raw ore but by converting it into differentiated, high-value products. This approach supports our objective to “generate value by becoming a globally significant, low-cost producer of strategic commodities required for a sustainable future. Arxo Metals delivers on this mandate by focusing on downstream beneficiation, innovation and the commercialisation of new processing routes.
Core achievements
- Arxo Metals operates a beneficiation site with both research and production facilities near Brits. Its assets include a 1 MW DC furnace for the production of PGM-rich metal alloys
- In chrome, Arxo has developed proprietary processes for producing specialty chrome products, such as chemical grade and foundry grade chrome concentrates and for recovering fine chrome particles through the Vulcan Complex
- Through its proprietary processes, Arxo Metals produces chrome alloy from Tharisa-mined chrome via a pilot facility, marking a significant step into alloy production and greater value addition
- These processes are also more energy efficient. Traditional chrome alloy production is highly electricity intensive, requiring both smelting and remelting. In contrast, Arxo Metals’ process consumes significantly less electricity, offering a cost and sustainability advantage
- Arxo Metals supports Tharisa’s wider sustainability goals. Its studies on green energy, beneficiation and power consumption are integral to a 15-year power purchase agreement with Etana Energy, allowing Tharisa to source up to roughly 44% of the mine’s electricity through wheeled renewable energy by 2026. Arxo Metals’ work is central to delivering this ’greener chrome’ vision
- The pilot facility is also making a positive contribution locally, having created more than 100 jobs in the Madibeng region and providing training opportunities for students and trainees
Arxo Metals owns the Challenger Plant, which is integrated with Tharisa Minerals’ Genesis Plant and specialises in the production of chemical grade and foundry grade concentrates. These specialty grade concentrates, which are subject to more stringent specifications and fetch higher prices, are sold through offtake agreements to customers in the chemical and foundry sectors.
PGM beneficiation
The Arxo Metals PGM process is intended to take concentrate from mine to final, pure, individual PGMs. The Brits smelter has proven a reductive smelt, iron collection process suitable for the Tharisa Mine concentrate producing an iron-PGM alloy, and most refining deleterious elements excluded from the alloy.
The chloroplat refining process has been in development for five years for the Arxo Metals-specific use case on the grounds of a chlor-alkali industrial partner, supported by IP and patents. Chloroplat operates by direct attack of the PGM-bearing alloy with high temperature chlorine, allowing all components to be dissolved before precious metals are recovered. Laboratory and pilot scale work has shown proof of the process, with high precious metal recoveries in a single pass. A demonstration scale plant is in progress to verify commercial parameters, on a site and with a design suitable for rapid scaleup to a full refinery.
The chloroplat process has a number of advantages over the typical base metal and precious metal refining process:
- Modular and scalable process units with comparatively lower capital intensity and build times low waste production, with valuable by-products and internal waste reduction processes
- High single pass recoveries, brief PGM lockup, and minimal difficult to purify elements
The demonstration scale plant includes a PGM purification and separation unit, with modern ion- and solvent-exchange processes being applied to simplify the precious metal refinery and reduce its footprint and capital intensity.
Strategic value
- Value creation: By progressing beyond raw chrome and PGM concentrates into alloy production and specialty products, Arxo Metals enables the Tharisa Group to capture more margin and differentiate itself in global markets
- Competitive edge: Proprietary technologies developed at Arxo Metals’ facilities offer both cost and energy advantages – such as reduced electricity consumption in chrome alloy production – strengthening the Group’s competitiveness
- Sustainability and ESG: More efficient processing, research into energy storage and renewables, and a focus on downstream manufacturing align with global decarbonisation trends and responsible sourcing expectations. Arxo Metals’ work is a key contributor to the Group’s sustainability initiatives
- Risk mitigation and diversification: With PGM and chrome markets evolving, Arxo Metals’ downstream beneficiation and R&D capability provide valuable optionality – higher-value and niche products help to hedge against commodity price cycles
- Local beneficiation and job creation: Operating facilities close to the mine delivers employment opportunities, skills development and supports regional economic growth, thereby strengthening Tharisa’s social licence to operate
Arxo Resources
Arxo Resources has built a robust, established platform of global customers, including stainless steel and ferrochrome producers as well as commodity traders. The company has exclusive rights to sell metallurgical grade chrome concentrate produced by Tharisa Minerals to customers across China, Indonesia and other international markets. The scale of Arxo Resources’ operations enables direct market access and real-time price discovery. Its strong customer relationships also create an effective platform for the additional sales of third-party products.
In FY2025, Arxo Resources sold 1.4 Mt of metallurgical grade chrome concentrates (FY2024: 1.7 Mt), of which Tharisa Minerals produced 1.35 Mt.
Arxo Logistics
Arxo Logistics provides an integrated logistics platform designed to reduce the costs and risks associated with transporting concentrates.The company manages the road transport of Tharisa Minerals’ PGM concentrates to Northam and Sibanye-Stillwater, as well as the long-haul logistics of chrome concentrates from the Tharisa Mine to international customers using both bulk and containerised shipping.
Due to infrastructural constraints affecting the inland rail network, Arxo Logistics has expanded its operational footprint and port usage over the last couple of years. This expansion has increased flexibility and provided greater supply certainty for global customers. Shipments are routed via Richards Bay Dry Bulk Terminal, Durban ports and Maputo Port.
Throughout FY2025, Arxo Logistics ensured all materials were delivered to customers and offtakers on schedule. Arxo Logistics shipped 1.4 Mt of chrome concentrate in FY2025 (FY2024: 1.7 Mt), primarily to leading ports in China and Indonesia, including third party material.
