Platinum outfit African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) says that it has had a number of approaches to participate in its Mpumalanga underground mine.

The project is wholly-owned by ARM following the buy-out of Anglo's 25 per cent stake, but the resources firm says it is now looking for a technical partner to help push forward a R2.5 billion expansion.

ARM says that several parties have expressed an interest, although ARM Platinum chief executive Andre Wilkens stressed that they "have two months to come back to us".

Indeed, the platinum chief said that he would not rule out the possibility of the firm pushing ahead with its revamp on its own.

"There are no signed agreements, but we hope to reach that situation in the next few months. But the partners that want to participate also have to excite us with their offers or we will tackle the project independently," he told Mining Weekly.

The mine produced a total of 36,360 oz of platinum group metals last year, netting ARM R346 million in operating profit.

ARM says it is aiming to produce an annual total of around 400,000 oz of platinum by about 2008.