TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Stillwater Mining's two platinum-group-metals operations in Montana have returned to normal operations, after disruptions last week, and the company does not expect the stoppages will have any material effect on production levels, the firm said on Tuesday.

NYSE-listed Stillwater announced on Moay 25 that it had cancelled day shift operations at the Stillwater and East Boulder mines, because of heavy road and highway flooding.

The mines themselves faced no danger, but the company said at the time it was concerned about employees getting to and from work.

At the same time, the East Boulder mine was also in the process of replacing one of the two main ventilation fans because of a motor failure.

“The company has assessed the effect of these issues on its second-quarter production outlook and estimates their overall impact will be negligible,” Stillwater said on Tuesday.

Only one shift of production was lost at the Stillwater mine, as crews were able to travel to and from the operation from the evening of May 25.

The mine's production had also been ahead of plan for the second quarter, and is still likely to finish at or ahead of budget, the company said.

And although the ventilation fan problems at East Boulder needed more time to be addressed than the company had expected, the concentrator continued running on a normal schedule while the mine operation was affected, thanks to a higher than normal ore stockpile.

“So East Boulder mine's ounce production in May also is likely to be close to plan,” Stillwater said.

Platinum and palladium prices have risen sharply since last week, the company noted earlier in the day.

The afternoon platinum price on the London Bullion Metal Association was fixed at $1 828/oz on Tuesday, up $42/oz, or 2.4%, from Friday's close, while palladium fixed at $777/oz, an increase of 2,6%.

Both metals are used in emissions-reducing autocatalysts. Anglo Platinum is the biggest platinum producer and Russia's Norilsk Nickel is the top palladium miner.

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