Palabora Mining Company Limited (Palabora Copper)

Palabora Mining Company (PMC), trading as Palabora Copper, operates South Africa’s only producing copper mine, together with a smelter and refinery complex, on the outskirts of Phalaborwa in Limpopo’s Ba-Phalaborwa municipality. Palabora is the largest employer in the area and has anchored the regional economy for decades, according to a provider record checked in August 2026.

Registered name

Palabora Mining Company Limited (Palabora Copper)

Type

Private company (copper mining, smelting and refining)

Fields funded

Mining, metallurgical, electrical and chemical engineering, geology, chemistry, environmental science, surveying and supply chain

Website

palabora.com

From open pit to block cave

Palabora was established in 1956 as a joint venture between Rio Tinto Zinc and Newmont Mining. The mine ran as an open pit from 1964 until 2002. Palabora then moved underground, investing about US$465 million in a block-cave mine designed to extend production by roughly two decades. Block caving undermines a large ore body so that it collapses under its own weight and is drawn out from below, a method that demands specialised geotechnical and mining engineering skills.

Chinese and South African owners

Rio Tinto sold its 57.7% shareholding in about 2013. Palabora is now majority-owned by a Chinese consortium of HBIS, Tewoo, General Nice and the China-Africa Development Fund, alongside South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation.

A community bursary

Palabora’s bursary gives young people from the Ba-Phalaborwa area a route into the careers a copper mine, smelter and refinery need: mining, metallurgical, electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering, geology, chemistry, environmental science, mine surveying, instrumentation and supply chain. Awards cover registration, tuition, accommodation, meals, books, a laptop and a personal allowance, with selection based on merit.

BursariesAfrica’s earlier guide lists qualifying communities as Maseke, Lulekani, Makhushane, Namakgale, Benfarm, Selwane, Mashishimale and Phalaborwa town, for South Africans aged 16 to 35 with no criminal record. Publicly available sources do not describe a fixed work-back period, so confirm terms before accepting.

Timing

Palabora had not advertised a 2027 round by mid-September 2026. The last published round closed on 20 November 2023, and some earlier rounds closed at the end of August. Palabora’s website returned no readable text to automated reading on 15 September 2026.

How to research Palabora

Visit Palabora’s website in a browser for the current careers portal, and ask the mine’s community or stakeholder office whether a bursary round is planned. Ask your ward councillor in the listed villages, since community notices often go through local structures. Read about the block-cave mine’s expected life, which affects how long Palabora will need new graduates.

Phalaborwa students should also check the Foskor bursary and the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality bursary.