African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Implats have announced that they are to proceed with a 220,000 oz per year platinum group metals project in South Africa.

The two firms will work on the Two Rivers Platinum on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in a joint venture, held 55 per cent by ARM and 45 per cent by Implats.

The joint venture contracts ARM to manage the project, while Implats will undertake the processing and refining through its subsidiary Impala Refining Services (IRS).

ARM's chief executive officer, Andre Wilkens commented: "The decision to proceed with Two Rivers is aligned with the company's growth strategy. The pgm sector is one of ARM's key commodity focus areas, the project has an exciting return which comfortably meets the company's required return rates, and the successful trial mining phase has reduced risk considerably."

Two Rivers' capital expenditure is estimated to be in the region of R1.2 billion (£98.7 million) for commissioning and a further R600 million (£49 million) in project finance.

The funding has been secured through ABSA and Nedbank, with the balance of the funding being contributed by the two partners in their respective shareholding ratios.

Two Rivers is located in the southern central part of the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The mine will employ about 1,000 people, including contractors and the decision to proceed follows a successful trial mining phase to test all critical project assumptions.