Platinum Australia has announced that the order for five diesel generators with a capacity of 8,000KVA for the Smokey Hills Platinum Mine has been placed.

Arriving in June, the units will allow the site to run at full capacity without needing power from the national grid.

The firm has paid $32 million for the units and say the cost is fully justified by the certainty of power.

John Lewis, Managing Director of Platinum Australia, said: "While we have every expectation that Eskom will meet their contractual commitments to supply grid power to our Smokey Hills Platinum Mine, both during construction and in operations, we are very aware of the ongoing problems being faced by the power utility."

He said the project will now be able to guarantee it can commission on time, even if there are delays from Eskom.

"Even in the event of a complete failure of grid power requiring the operation to supply 100 per cent of power requirements from the diesel generators, the impact on operating costs would be approximately US$70 per oz 4E PGM.

"This would see a cost of production at the Smokey Hills Platinum Mine of just over US$300 per oz 4E PGM, still one of the lowest in the industry," Mr Lewis explained.

Source:

DIESEL GENERATORS ORDERED FOR SMOKEY HILLS PLATINUM MINE, 11/03/08

Platinum Australia press release

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