JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum producer Anglo Platinum (Angloplat) has shut down its smelter in Polokwane, in Limpopo province, spokesperson Simon Tebele confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.

A furnace run-out occurred at the smelter at 08:00 on Wednesday, which resulted in the matte coming into contact with residual rain water in the emergency run out bunds. This in turn caused the release of steam and smoke, Angloplat said.

"All emergency procedures, including actions to safeguard all site personnel, were successfully implemented and no one was injured," the company said in a statement.

However, the incident would impact on the company's refined platinum output for 2008. Angloplat expected its refined platinum output to decline by between 150 000 oz and 200 000 oz as a result of the shutdown.

Further, Angloplat has completed a preliminary investigation, which indicated that the run-out had been caused by a failure on the furnace matte end wall, which will have to be replaced. The repair work would take about six weeks to complete.

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