Photo by: Platinum Group Metals
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Project developer Platinum Group Metals (PTM) will start with hot commissioning of the Western Bushveld Joint Venture (WBJV) Project 1 plant, near Rustenburg, South Africa, after closing and drawing down $80-million in separate financing deals on Friday.
"We are very pleased to complete this transaction with the clear support and vision of our major shareholders. We look forward to the ramp-up of our first mine with an eye on continued solid demand for platinum and palladium and improved markets in the near and medium term,” PTM cofounder and CEO Michael Jones stated.
The TSX- and NYSE-listed company had entered into agreements with its largest shareholder Liberty Metals & Mining Holdings, a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Insurance, for a $40-million loan facility and had also drawn down an existing $40-million working capital facility with Sprott Resource Lending Partnership.
First concentrate delivery to Anglo Platinum's Waterval smelter, in Rustenburg, was planned for January, while underground development was ongoing.
At planned steady-state production, in 2018, WBJV Project 1 was expected to be one of the lower-cost conventional platinum group metal mines in South Africa, with an expected cash cost of about $625/oz.
PTM continued to work on growth at the project, funded by the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, with continued drilling, resource modelling, mine design, metallurgy and infrastructure planning all under way.