Moses Madondo
CEO: Thungela Resources
‘People don’t fully understand some of the great things that mining does’
MOST of Moses Madondo’s career has been in gold and diamonds, but he has the key attribute for managing coal: decades of engineering and management experience, and belief. The fact that thermal coal prices tanked in 2025 on the back of weaker demand from China and India, which has knocked Thungela’s share price, does not faze him. Madondo points out that new coal supply is limited as projects are hard to finance while anti-coal policies are tightening. This means demand is outpacing supply.
In any event, the world still needs coal, he says. (Experts have dispensed with predicting ‘peak coal’.) Short-term prices will be boosted as marginal production is squeezed out. For its part, Thungela has run a relatively conservative balance sheet. Even during the sky-high coal prices of 2021, the company kept a cash buffer and pledged allegiance to the dividend. Thungela also has a track record for delivering projects on budget. Two major investments are currently underway: the Zibulo North shaft and Annea, which will have a 12- to 14-year life and help sustain SA output at 14-mt/y to 15mt/y, and the Lephalale Coal Bed Methane project – the only project of its type in SA.
Thungela also bought a modular LNG plant, which will generate power for one of the mines. But for Thungela’s major growth, look to the expansion of its Ensham mine in Australia. There’s also a possibility of new acquisitions, especially in metallurgical coal. Goedehoop North and Kleinkoppie, two of Thungela’s ageing mines, were sold last year.
LIFE OF MOSES
Madondo exudes confidence. He became CEO of Thungela in August 2025, after spending almost four years as MD of De Beers’ mining operations in SA and Canada. Before that, he spent 24 years at AngloGold Ashanti, ultimately as senior VP for the South African operations and later as senior VP for innovation and technology. He started his career at AngloGold in 1998, as a junior engineer. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from UCT and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.
