Southern Platinum, the new spin-off firm from what was SouthernEra, has announced that progress is being made at its Messina platinum mine.

The firm says that since its assumption of the Messina rights four years ago it has made giant strides towards developing a full capacity platinum resource.

With the firm identifying a fully trained workforce of around 1,800, and completing the expansion of the mine's capacity from the original 80,000 tonne per month to 120,000 tonnes, Southern Platinum is confident of continued development.

The firm says that it has invested much money in ensuring the safety and efficiency of the mine, rather than rushing to ramp up production, with the board enthused by the results.

In an update the company explained: "These strategic decisions - to increase the mining rate and to implement superior mining methods - were embarked on with the full understanding that the mine's build-up to full production would be delayed.

However, these decisions ensure that once in full production the mine will be safer, more productive and, hence, more profitable."

Over the past ten months other key changes have included improvements to Messina's safety performance and the innovative implementation of continuous operations to improve productivity.

While Messina's build-up to full production has been slower than anticipated, largely as a result of a comparatively inexperienced company, Southern Platinum remains confident of further growth.