South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe's ARM seals nickel off-take deal with Boliden to restart mothballed Nkomati mine

Patrice Motsepe's African Rainbow Minerals has taken a significant step toward restarting one of South Africa's most closely watched mothballed mines. ARM has signed a conditional nickel concentrate sale agreement with Boliden Commercial AB, securing an off-take route for future production from the Nkomati Nickel mine in Mpumalanga.

The deal connects Nkomati's potential concentrate output directly to Boliden's Harjavalta smelter in Finland, the only large-scale nickel smelter in Europe. ARM said the transaction supports the potential recommencement of mining at Nkomati and strengthens the restart business case by locking in a credible European buyer ahead of any production decision.

The agreement covers nickel concentrate sales over a multi-year period. ARM did not disclose commercial terms. The deal is conditional on a number of prerequisites, including the completion of a responsible sourcing due diligence by Boliden.

Nkomati was placed on care and maintenance in 2021 after making heavy losses that forced ARM to take significant impairment charges against the asset. The mine had operated as a 50/50 joint venture with Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel. ARM bought full 100% control in 2023 after Norilsk exited. Since then, ARM has been evaluating whether a restart made financial sense, particularly a move to underground operations where ore grades are expected to be stronger.

Nickel prices have recovered from the lows that originally pushed Nkomati offline. That recovery has sharpened the restart conversation inside ARM's boardroom.

The off-take agreement with Boliden solves one of the most critical pre-restart requirements: market access. Without a confirmed buyer, the business case for investing restart capital at Nkomati was incomplete. With Boliden locked in as a multi-year offtaker, ARM now has the commercial anchor it needs to move the restart evaluation to the next stage.

ARM framed the deal in clean energy terms as well. The statement said the agreement provides Nkomati with access to a European market increasingly focused on responsibly sourced nickel units, supporting ARM's positioning in the clean energy value chain.

Boliden's Harjavalta smelter is one of the most technically advanced nickel processing facilities in Europe. It has been strengthening its focus on battery-grade and responsibly certified nickel as European electric vehicle manufacturers push to clean up their supply chains. An ARM supply relationship fits that direction precisely.

Motsepe stepped down as ARM's executive chairman in February 2026 and transitioned to non-executive chairman. Jacob van der Bijl was appointed chief operating officer at the same time. The Nkomati off-take deal is the first significant asset-level development under that new leadership structure, and it signals that ARM's ambitions for the mine have not dimmed with the management transition.