Siyakhula Sonke Empowerment Corporation (SSC Group), the South African mining services and empowerment group led by Fred Arendse, has agreed to become the B-BBEE partner on Marula Mining's two Northern Cape critical minerals projects in a deal provisionally valued at R500m.

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Marula, which trades on London's Aquis Stock Exchange and South Africa's A2X, said its subsidiary Muchai Mining SA will transfer 30% of Southern African Lithium and Tantalum Mining (SALT), owner of the Blesberg lithium and tantalum mine, and 30% of Northern Cape Lithium and Tungsten (NCLT) to two new empowerment companies.

The numbers

"This transaction is about significantly more than satisfying an ownership requirement." – Jason Brewer, CEO, Marula Mining

The SALT stake carries a provisional price of R300m and the NCLT stake R200m. SSC or its nominee will own 66.66% of each empowerment company, with employee and community trusts holding 16.67% each. Muchai Mining SA keeps 70% of both projects.

Marula and its subsidiary will fund the purchase through loans. According to the company, 80% of the free cash flow paid to each empowerment company will go towards repaying those loans, with the remaining 20% paid out as a trickle dividend.

An operating role, not only a shareholding

Each project company will have five directors, two of them from the empowerment company. SSC will have first refusal on administrative, exploration, mining and mine services at both projects and has agreed not to sell its stake for five years. The two groups also plan to work together on drilling, historical waste dumps and tailings reprocessing across Marula's South African operations, and Marula intends to appoint Arendse to its board.

"This transaction is about significantly more than satisfying an ownership requirement," Marula CEO Jason Brewer said.

Arendse said the partnership "puts real ownership, and real operational responsibility, in the hands of South Africans", adding that SSC would bring drilling, mining services and technical expertise to move the projects forward.

Blesberg's next step

Marula said the structure is designed to meet the Mining Charter, 2018, and the minimum 30% B-BBEE shareholding required for new mining rights. Its mining right application for Blesberg is expected to cover the full 1,051 ha licence area, replacing a two-year mining permit over 5 ha, and would open the way to a conventional open pit for lithium, tantalum, niobium and feldspar.

The deal is not yet complete. It depends on SSC's due diligence, final sale and loan agreements and Section 11 consent from the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and the prices may change after due diligence.

A growing ownership play

As reported by Miningmx, SSC was founded in 2005 by Arendse, a former head of transformation at Anglo American Platinum, and is moving from mining services into owning and running assets. It is also the empowerment partner in Neo Energy Metals' proposed purchase of the Beatrix 4 shaft and Beisa uranium and gold project from Sibanye-Stillwater.

Why it matters

The deal links a South African-owned services group directly to lithium, tantalum and tungsten in the Northern Cape, with employees and host communities holding a carried share, at a time when the country is trying to turn critical minerals into new mines and local jobs.

Source: Marula Mining PLC announcement, 29 October 2026 (https://www.aquis.eu/stock-exchange/announcements/5995888); Miningmx, 2 November 2026.