E&T Minerals: delivering reliability, efficiency, excellence and transparency

While trading and investment firms are vital to blue-chip operations and junior miners alike, few are willing to get involved in mineral beneficiation. E&T Minerals has committed to creating greater value for clients, while improving its own profitability, by providing beneficiation solutions.

The Southern African trading and investment firm specialising in coal was founded by Emmanuel Ngulube, who serves as CEO, and Daniel Eyre, who is COO. The two bring a deep knowledge of African commodities, logistics and business practices to their clients. 

The company’s client base extends across a range of industries, from steel manufacturers and paper mills to power generators and multinational commodity traders. The team is expert in identifying and securing resources sought by its clients from a large network of reputable producers.

“We have built this business on the principles of reliability, efficiency, excellence and transparency, and our focus is on sustainable mining assets with sustainable reserves on the back of which we can structure long-term trades,” says Ngulube.

“When we started this business, coal appeared to be a dying asset, largely due to the drive to exit fossil fuels. We were advised to consider other markets instead, as the export market for coal had dropped and things certainly didn’t look good. You could say it was a bit of ignorance on our part, being new to the game, but we also wanted to get into the energy space and needed an entry point. The beauty of coal is the sheer volume of product, meaning it was a market with a much lower barrier to entry than others.”

He says he and Eyre have strong feelings about energy in Africa, noting that there are still many Africans with no access to energy. Therefore, while the world certainly needs renewables, they believe the continent should continue investing in renewable and non-renewable energy markets. 

Coal and other commodities

“We understand the need for affordable energy in Africa, and while we agree sustainability is critical, coal and oil are going to remain the baseload for Africa’s energy for many years to come. Coal can be used as a means to uplift people, because it’s so affordable and abundant. Our prediction is that it won’t be going away any time soon, which is why we invested in it, with the understanding that it has a limited horizon of about 20-30 years,” says Ngulube.

Eyre adds that while the company’s niche is coal, E&T remains open to anything. “We are looking at various other commodities, especially those related to renewable technologies. Moving forward in this space, battery storage will be key, so we are exploring lithium assets in Namibia, the copper boom in Zambia, as well as the potential for chrome and other rare earth metals — but these renewable-focused assets need to be developed first,” says Eyre.

“We had some difficulty with the European markets when the initial thrust of going green occurred, and there was a lack of investment in coal in these markets, which is still the case today. However, we are now witnessing a pushback, suggesting coal will still be around for some time, especially as, I suspect, the energy crisis will worsen before things improve.”

Eyre notes that Africa is positioned to be Europe’s “saviour” from the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war. After all, he says, Russia was the Western nations’ anchor supplier of energy. The lack of Russian gas has created a vacuum of supply, so E&T believes it has the potential to be a big contributor to the currently distressed European market.

A maiden voyage

Eyre outlines one of the company’s recent big successes, explaining that one of the top power utilities in Europe had sent its head trader to SA earlier this year in anticipation of the Russia-Ukraine war. It was trying to find out if bulk commodity traders like E&T could deliver coal tonnage to port. 

“The utility owns its own fleet of ships and picks up coal around the globe, but due to the war, they came to us. This gave us sole access to a ship — as opposed to having to find space on another organisation’s ship — and enabled us to supply a shipment worth of coal direct to the end user.

“This was beneficial to the junior miners we work with, who were able to gain direct access to comprehensive transport facilities and an eager market for their commodities. Best of all, we signed a long-term contract with them, which means that this will now be an ongoing operation, with regular shipments undertaken on our and our partners’ behalf.” 

An entrepreneurial approach

“The business was launched by Emmanuel and [me], two childhood friends with a dream, and we have grown organically since then. We have placed a lot of emphasis on building the right team at E&T, and it has been rewarding to employ a youthful team with strong expertise that otherwise might have been sitting at home without jobs,” says Eyre.

“SA has a huge youth unemployment challenge, and we feel the people best suited to fix this problem are the youth themselves. We have brought in people who share the same vision and the skills to position us as best-in-class. Not only is it really cool to have people who are incredible at what they do, which allows the business to focus on leading the pack, it also helps [that] they are entrepreneurial.” 

Ngulube says E&T is willing to invest in its people’s ideas, even when these are not directly related to the business. “We encourage our people to build additional businesses, to have side hustles, and we help and support them to grow these, too, as we recognise that each new entrepreneurial effort will lead to the creation of more jobs for young people. With this approach, we have adopted a big-picture view of what’s best for the country as a whole,” he says.

As it is important to develop people and business, it is just as critical for E&T to have the right partners to ensure its end-to-end systems function effectively, so the company has a number of strategic partners throughout the value chain.

“The ultimate goal is to grow the business to a point where the European business will be sustainable, by delivering efficiency, stability and continuation of supply,” Ngulube says.

“We want to ensure that everyone in the chain benefits — where we can give reasonable returns to our shareholders, while also supporting the communities at the front line. It’s about remoulding the way we do things to ensure even the smallest players get their fair share while providing the market with security that the product will be delivered.”

The key is transparency throughout the chain, as this allows for challenges to be identified and quickly overcome, as well as providing the knowledge of where it can be grown and where it is working exactly as it should. 

“Africa has a huge commodity base. We need to build our infrastructure and strengthen our focus to be in a position to deliver commodities to the rest of the world. In the view of E&T, Africa is going to become a shining light for the world in this respect. After all, we are one of the least tapped markets and we probably sit with the most resources,” says Ngulube.

This article was paid for by E&T Minerals.