JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The development of JSE-listed Wesizwe Platinum’s Bakubung Platinum Mine (BPM) continues to progress in line with targeted milestones.

The company, which late on Thursday reported its financial results for the six months to June 30, said the main shaft commissioning was nearly complete, with the first two conveyances installed in the shaft barrel.

One of the conveyances has been commissioned, while the other is still in commissioning.

The next critical activity is installing the rock skips and commissioning the hoisting system by the end of this year.

The inquiry process for the process plant has also been completed and order placement is planned to start in 2018.

Mine services such as power, water and housing are critical to the overall success of the developing project. Wesizwe is running parallel projects in these areas to ensure the availability of these services well within the critical path of the developing project.

The capacitor bank for the first 40 MVA transformer has been commissioned and energised.

The second 40 MVA transformer has been commissioned and energised from Eskom’s side.

BPM has, however, not yet closed the breaker to start taking load on the second transformer. It will wait until it has fully commissioned the second capacitor bank before admitting load on the second transformer to reduce power waste.

The designs for the plant substation have advanced steadily and all the documentation will be handed over to Wesizwe on completion of the design.

Investigations to reduce the underground scope and production build-up have also started in an attempt to curb asset dilution due to the current platinum price.

Meanwhile, Wesizwe reported a R19-million profit for the six months under review, compared with a loss of R600 000 in the first half of 2016.

Basic earnings a share for the period were 1.17c, while headline earnings a share were 9.74c.