Platinum Australia saw pgm output at its flagship mine in South Africa increase in the second quarter of 2010, it has been confirmed.

The company revealed that production at Smokey Hills rose by five per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to 8,680 oz pgm 4E (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold).

Such a small improvement could be viewed as a disappointment, as the previous three-month period had seen operations affected by strikes and power interruptions.

However, Platinum Australia continued to be affected by issues at the facility in Q2, with several small potholes emerging to add to a large one discovered previously.

The company is developing new mining stopes in a bid to work around the potholes and revealed that it expects pgm production for the September quarter to reach 15,000 oz.

"Production will, however, remain subject to some disruption from potholes until a redundancy of stope faces is established in the December quarter," read a statement.

Operations at Smokey Hills have also been impacted by delays in connecting grid power by state electricity utility Eskom, which added $1.5 million to the firm's quarterly expenses.

Platinum Australia announced in January that it has signed a partnership with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation to develop the Stellex North Project.

Source:



Challenges continue at Platinum Aus mine (29/07/10)

© Adfero Ltd