The company operates a single cluster of open-pit and underground mines producing mainly copper as well as byproducts such as precious metals from anode slimes, nickel sulfate, sulfuric acid, magnetite, and vermiculite.

[2] In September 2011, both companies announced that they planned to sell their stakes because its copper operation was "no longer of a sufficient scale.

"[3][4] In December 2012, they reached a pre-sale agreement to sell their collective 74.5 per cent interest at R110 per share in a deal that valued Palabora at R5.31 billion.

[5][6] The Palabora mine was an open-pit operation until 2002, when the pit reached its final economic depth.

[7][8] It is the only producing copper mine operating in South Africa, as well as the largest employer in Ba-Phalaborwa.