JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Although JSE-listed Impala Platinum (Implats) suffered production losses at two mines in the latest quarter to March 31, the output of the world’s second-largest platinum miner is up 9% over nine months.

Implats – headed by CEO David Brown – lost 10 500 oz in the quarter to safety stoppages at its Impala Platinum and Marula mines, but has managed to lift total group refined production to 1,38-million ounces over nine months, compared with 1,26-million ounces in the corresponding nine months of 2010.

The increase follows the additional toll treating of third-party material at Impala Refining Services – where platinum production rose by 7% to 655 000 oz – and better throughput at Impala.

Less fulsome was group palladium and rhodium production, which rose by only 4%.

Nine-month output at Impala increased by 11% to 722 000 oz and production for the full 12 months is expected to be in the region of 940 000 oz.

After the seasonally slow start to the March quarter as well as safety-related shaft closure, surface material had to come to the rescue at Impala to ensure that three-million tons of material were milled, but 130 000 t were lost overall, equating to a loss of 8 500 oz of platinum.

At Marula mine, seven shifts were lost in the quarter owing to safety stoppages, equating to 2 000 oz of platinum.

A lack of mining flexibility continues to constrain Marula, where the low yearly output of 55 000 oz remains a focus of management attention.

More political uncertainty struck in Zimbabwe on March 25, when the government issued amended indigenisation and economic empowerment regulations that require foreign-owned companies to meet a minimum 51% indigenous ownership.

Mining companies were given 45 days to May 9 to submit their proposals and six months to implement them, following Ministerial approval.

Implats says that the three cornerstones of its long-standing indigenisation talks with the Zimbabwean government continue to be local equity ownership, empowerment credits for the release of mineral rights, and social upliftment.

At the project level in Zimbabwe, the company’s Zimplats mine is operating at first-phase nameplate capacity of 180 000 oz/y of refined platinum, and the ramp-up at Bimha mine is close to completion.

The second-phase expansion to 270 000 oz remains on track at Zimplats, where the shotcreting of the third portal is complete and mining access is scheduled for the end of April.

Tons milled in the nine months at the Mimosa mine in Zimbabwe remained unchanged at 1,7 million as did platinum production in concentrate at 77 000 oz.

Unit cost for every platinum ounce produced by the group rose by
5,4%, and going forward, the National Union of Mineworkers has fired the shot across the bows of the upcoming wage talks by submitting a 14 % wage demand.

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