South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe's ARM seals Boliden off-take deal that could restart Nkomati nickel mine

Patrice Motsepe is positioning to switch one of South Africa's biggest nickel assets back on. African Rainbow Minerals, the mining group the billionaire founded and chairs, told the market on Tuesday it has agreed a conditional off-take deal with Swedish miner Boliden that paves the way for a potential restart of the mothballed Nkomati operation in Mpumalanga.

The deal sends future nickel concentrate from Nkomati to Boliden's Harjavalta smelter in Finland, the only large-scale nickel smelter in Europe. The off-take is still subject to ARM board approval and to Boliden's responsible sourcing due diligence, but the framework is now in place.

"This transaction supports the potential recommencement of mining at Nkomati and strengthens the Nkomati restart business case by securing an off-take route for future nickel concentrate production," ARM said in its statement.

Nkomati has been quiet since 2021, when persistent losses driven by rising operating costs and weak nickel prices forced ARM and its then partner, Russia's Nornickel, to put it on care and maintenance. The picture changed in July 2025, when Nornickel sold its 50% interest to ARM, leaving Motsepe's group as sole owner and clearing the way for a unilateral decision on the asset's future.

Market timing helps. Nickel prices are running toward two-year highs, with policy-driven supply cuts in Indonesia, the world's biggest producer, doing most of the lifting. The metal sits at the intersection of two strong demand stories, stainless-steel making and electric-vehicle batteries, and a tighter global market makes a stalled South African mine look more like an opportunity than a stranded asset.

Sole ownership also lets ARM rewire Nkomati's economics. The Boliden agreement locks in a buyer in Europe, where buyers prize traceable, low-emission supply, and shifts processing risk away from ARM's books. The Harjavalta smelter is also strategically important to the European battery industry, which gives Boliden every incentive to keep the relationship intact through cycles.

Open-pit operations are the focus of the restart consideration, ARM said, a phased approach that would limit upfront capital and let the group test margins before committing more deeply. Final decisions still rest with the board, and the timing of any restart depends on the off-take agreement formally landing.

Motsepe's wider playbook is visible in the choice. He has been consolidating control over indigenous African mining assets and picking partners with technical depth rather than geopolitical baggage. Nornickel out, Boliden in, Nkomati back on the map.