Impala Platinum (Implats) plans to start building a new palladium mine that could begin producing as soon as 2024 as the company’s outlook for metals turns bullish.

Implats, the world’s second-biggest platinum miner, plans to start work on the Waterberg project in South Africa in 2021, CEO Nico Muller has said. The producer is also considering boosting output at its jointly held Mimosa mine, in Zimbabwe, by 30% as it bets on a long-term shift in platinum-group metals (PGMs) prices.

A surge in palladium prices and a weaker rand is dispelling the gloom that gripped South African miners just a year ago. The metal used in pollution-control devices for car engines is forecast to remain in deficit for an eighth straight year in 2019, and Implats is not the only company seeking new sources of supply. The world’s top platinum supplier, Anglo American Platinum, is studying plans to ramp up palladium output through the expansion of its flagship Mogalakwena mine.

“I believe the change in PGMs is structural and not cyclical, so we are fully confident that the buoyant market we see today is going to prevail for the next ten years,” Muller told reporters in Johannesburg after announcing earnings last week. “When you contemplate a project like this, you have to have a long-range view, and we have a very bullish position at the moment.”

Despite a stronger market for PGMs and improved liquidity, Implats is sticking with plans to restructure lossmaking mines at its Rustenburg complex. Implats will evaluate options to boost output in existing businesses and may consider assets outside its current portfolio.

Implats will exercise its options to increase its stake to more than 50% from 15% of the Waterberg project, which is being developed jointly with Platinum Group Metals and the Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corporation. The deposit could produce about 450 000 oz of palladium and about 290 000 oz of platinum a year, initial studies show. The high proportion of palladium means raising money is unlikely to be a major concern, according to Muller.

“I don’t see financing to be a material barrier to our ability to execute the project.”