JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The world's fourth-largest platinum producer Aquarius Platinum said on Monday that it would formally appeal against a directive relating to mechanised bord-and-pillar mining methods in South Africa's North West province.

The company said it believed that the implementation of the directive, issued on Friday, would not give rise to a safer mining environment and that it would have a "detrimental" economic effect on chromite and platinum mines that use the bord-and-pillar mining method.

Aquarius planned to present alternative strategies at the appeal later on Monday.

The ASX-, JSE-, and LSE-listed platinum company's share price took a beating on the news, falling by as much as 23% in Australia, 25% in Johannesburg and 17% in London.

The directive by the inspector of mines followed a fall-of-ground accident at the Marikana mine that left five mineworkers dead and was aimed towards the prevention of rockfalls and rockbursts in metalliferous mines.

All mines using mechanised bord-and-pillar mines in the North West region were instructed to reduce bord widths in their shafts from 10 m to 6 m.

It further stated that extraction rations should be limited to 75%, prominent geological feature should be supported by pillars, boxing of roadways must be towards one direction, and that the orientation of leads and lags between headings must almost be aligned for effective ventilation.

The directive would affect Aquarius' Kroondal and Marikana mines, which are 50:50 joint-venture operations with the world's largest platinum producer, Anglo Platinum.

Anglo Platinum investor relations manager Anna Mulholland told Mining Weekly Online that the company's wholly-owned Bathopele mine also used the bord-and-pillar method and would therefore be its only other operation that would be affected by the directive.

"We are currently assessing the impact and engaging with the Department of Mineral Resources on the issue, but safety has to come first in everything we do," she emphasised.

Meanwhile, Aquarius said that it had retained the services of an international mining consultant, which concurred with the company's management team that the implementation of the directive would not give rise to a safer mining environment in respect of fall-of-ground accidents.

It also formed a technical working group to find a safer working environment and that it had invited other mining companies affected by the directive to participate in the process.

The Kroondal mine produced 422 078 platinum group metals (PGMs) ounces in 2009, and represented 46% of Aquarius' attributable production in the year. The Marikana operation, just east of Kroondal, produced 157 937 PGM ounces, which accounted for 17% of the midtier miner's production.

Aquarius' third mine in South Africa, Everest, is in Mpumalanga province. The company also has a 50% stake in the Mimosa mine, in southern Zimbabwe.

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