Platinum and palladium mining company Platinum Group Metals is refocusing its business on the large-scale, bulk mineable Waterberg project, in Limpopo, South Africa, which is dominated by palladium and has reserves in platinum, rhodium, gold, copper and nickel.

“Our key business objectives are to advance the Waterberg project and repay secured lender minerals explorer Liberty Metals & Mining (LMM). We plan to increase our profile by focusing on the competitive nature of the large-scale Waterberg palladium reserves at a time when palladium is attracting market attention and supply is estimated to be in deficit,” Platinum Group Metals states.

The Waterberg project has the potential to be a low-cost platinum and palladium producer based on a fully mechanised mine plan, according to Platinum Group Metals.

“The price of palladium has nearly doubled since 2015 as a result of its primary use in catalytic converters for automobiles and limited market supply,” the company notes.

Platinum producer Impala Platinum (Implats) made a strategic investment of $30-million in November 2017 to purchase a 15% stake in the Waterberg project.

When announcing its financial results for the third quarter last month, Platinum Group Metals said its liquidity will be constrained until financing has been obtained to repay and discharge remaining amounts due to LMM and for working capital purposes.

The remaining amounts due to LMM total $46-million, before the company’s 4.57-million platinum producer Royal Bafokeng Platinum’s (RBP’s) shares are sold and the proceeds are applied against the LMM loan facility.

In September 2017, the company announced a sale to RBP in a transaction valued at about $74-million.

Platinum Group Metals says the Waterberg project operating company Waterberg Joint Venture (JV) Resources plans to advance the Waterberg project to completion of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) by early 2019. As of July, the DFS engineering work was advancing well and as planned at present. Geotechnical drilling and sampling for planning of the mine infrastructure was also ongoing.

A DFS drill programme to increase the confidence in certain areas of the known mineral resource to the measured category was completed in May. The company expects an updated resource estimate for use in the DFS this month.

Total expenditures on the property since inception are about $58-million.

Technical teams from all Waterberg project partners, including Implats, and appointed independent engineers are involved in the technical planning and oversight of the DFS.Waterberg JV Resources plans to file a mining right application this year.