JSE-listed Wesizwe Platinum has advised that it closed the Bakubung Platinum mine, in the North West, on July 20 until further notice, owing to an ongoing unprotected strike.
The company says it is working hard to resolve the matter and safeguard employees and assets to ensure sustainability of the mine going forward.
It did not confirm where the strike stems from.
The Bakubung mine is located in the Bushveld Complex, near Rustenburg, and has been riddled with delays to its full construction and commissioning partly owing to technical faults and partly owing to bouts of unrest in the surrounding Ledig community.
The mine is expected to produce 420 000 oz/y of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (4E) platinum group metals at steady-state production over a 30-year mine life.
The mine was initially expected to start operating in 2021, then by mid-2022, and again in the second half of this, as noted in its annual report for 2022.
The report details Wesizwe’s expectation in terms of production as an initial capacity of one-million tonnes a year of run-of-mine ore by the end of June 2024, with the goal of increasing capacity to three-milion tonnes a year by the end of 2027.
Wesiwe has been developing the Bakubung mine since mid-2011.
The annual report states that Wesizwe’s profitability outlook is driven by its production timelines. The company remains focused on generating operational cash flows to offset its fixed cost base once the mine starts producing.