Despite a number of challenges, Sylvania Platinum’s Sylvania Dump Operations (SDO) produced 14 907 oz of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (4E) during the second quarter ended December 31, 2018.
Late summer rains had resulted in make-up water boreholes on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex drying up. As a result, the Lesedi operation had no process water for 20 days.
Power infrastructure and supply, meanwhile, continued to present challenges at the Tweefontein and Lannex plants.
Moreover, the remining of Tailings Dump 1 at Doornbosch, which is approaching the end of its life, resulted in erratic grade and mining downtime.
Lastly, Section 54 stoppages at the host mine during the period resulted in less feed to Sylvania’s plants on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex.
Rains have since restored the groundwater table and host mines are back to full production after the Christmas shutdown.
The Project Echo secondary milling and flotation module for Mooinooi is progressing well, on track for commissioning in the fourth quarter of the 2019 financial year.
“The reasons for the average performance this quarter have been extensively analysed. Plans have been put in place to prevent a repeat of operations running out of water and to address the mining at Doornbosch, which is now performing significantly better.
“Current arisings from host mines are also back to normal levels. Management is focusing on grade planning and uptime to ensure that we achieve our forecasts in the second half of the year,” commented Sylvania CEO Terry McConnachie.
The company expects to release its results for the half-year ended December 31, 2018, on February 18.