JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Black-owned platinum miner Northam Platinum said on Friday that the group’s earnings and headline earnings a share for the six months to the end of December were estimated to increase by between 136% and 156%.

The higher earnings reflect the effects of significantly improved production from the company’s Zondereinde mine in Limpopo and a 10% higher average rand basket price received over the period.

Earnings for the corresponding six months in 2010 were 21c a share.

Production in the 2010 period was adversely affected by a six-week-long strike, safety stoppages and challenging mining conditions. Difficult mining conditions on the Merensky reef horizon persisted during the period under review, while a number of Section 54 safety related stoppages also interrupted production processes.

No shifts were lost as a result of industrial action in the current reporting period.

Northam stated that the weighted average number of shares in issue at December 31, 2011 was 382 416 190, compared to 360 747 809 shares in issue at December 31, 2010.

The interim results for the latest six months would be released on February 24.
 

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