Platinum miner Lonmin plans to grow output at its Marikana mine to 950 000 oz of platinum by 2015, CEO Ian Farmer announced on Monday, adding that the long-term fundamentals of the platinum-group metals (PGM) market remained attractive.

Lonmin, the world’s third-biggest platinum producer, reported a 37,7% increase in March-quarter sales to 251 880 oz of platinum, with refined production increasing by 24,3% to 225 152 oz.

It attributed the higher second-quarter sales to increased production and release of stock that built up in the first quarter when deliveries were impacted by the difficult weather conditions in the northern hemisphere.

Sales for the financial half year rose by 9% to 318 306 oz and Farmer said that Lonmin remained on track to meet its full-year sales target of 750 000 oz of platinum.

Lonmin more than doubled its profit before tax to $159-million in the six months, from $77-million in the 2010 half year. Net operating profit rose to $144-million from $65-million, while net debt decreased from $375-million to $296-million.

Revenue jumped by 42% to $938-million, which the platinum miner attributed to a robust pricing environment.

The sustained recovery of automotive and industrial demand drove the improvement in platinum and palladium prices, which increased by 19% and 89% respectively in the six-month period.

Lonmin increased its estimated capital expenditure for 2011 by $20-million to $400-million in light of the continued strength of the rand. Farmer said the company would continue to monitor the balance between the need to invest for future production in line with maintaining a strong balance sheet and providing a return to shareholders.

He emphasised that management continued to focus on operational performance, and that quarter-on-quarter production momentum had been maintained despite the challenging environment. “We are on target to achieve our 2011 guidance for sales and costs.”

Despite solid progress in the company’s operational performance, the platinum miner has seen an increase in the number of fatalities at its operations, reporting three deaths in the second quarter and two in April.

Describing safety at operations as “disappointing”, Farmer said: “Our fundamental approach to safety management remains sound. We continue to learn from the root cause of each incident and remain committed to zero harm and safe production without fatalities in the workplace.”

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