JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The world’s third-largest platinum producer, Lonmin, on Wednesday reported lower first quarter production figures, and announced that its chairperson, John Craven, would retire.

Overall refined platinum production for the quarter ended December 31, was down 14% to 132 935 oz, compared with the year before, while platinum-group metals (PGMs) production had declined by 12% to 243 818 oz.

Lonmin stated that the PGMs pricing environment had remained challenging in the first quarter of the 2009 financial year and would remain so in the short term.

However, the London and Johannesburg-listed miner said that it remained committed to its sales and cost guidance for the 2009 financial year.

Lonmin attributed the lower December-quarter output to the anticipated build-up in metals in process during the planned rebuild of the No 1 furnace, as well as owing to the lower level of metals in concentrate that was produced during the quarter.

The miner’s concentrators had produced 9% less saleable ounces of platinum, owing to the tons milled exceeding the tons mined during the quarter.

The 3,1-million total mined tons from all its operations had remained flat year-on-year, stated that the company, saying this was as a result of the “winding down” of opencast operations at Marikana and the impact of a 21-day labour action at the Baobab operation, in Limpopo.

Meanwhile, production at the underground mining operations at Marikana was 8% higher to 2,7-million tons in the first quarter ended December 31, 2008, compared with the first quarter of 2008.

The recalibration of the Saffy shaft towards hybrid mining was progressing in line with the company’s expectations, it stated.

Lonmin said that current monthly haulage and reef development metres at the Marikana underground operations were also showing improvements on that achieved in the past two years.

BOARD CHANGES

Meanwhile, Craven has decided to step down as chairperson of the board of directors, and will be succeeded in the interim by deputy chairperson Roger Phillimore.

Craven would step down immediately, citing personal and health reasons.

The producer said that it had already started a process to identify a permanent successor.

Craven was appointed as independent nonexecutive director and chairperson of the board in 1997. He was previously the group CEO and chairperson of Morgan Grenfell Group and the member of the board of MD of Deutsche Bank.

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