JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed platinum producer Aquarius Platinum achieved a 20% increase in platinum-group metal (PGM) production during the three months ended March 31.

The group recorded 4E – platinum, palladium, gold and rhodium – PGM production of 81 471 oz during the third quarter of the financial year, compared with the 67 967 oz recorded in the corresponding period in the prior year.

The group’s Kroondal operations reported production of 105 027 oz – a 37% jump from the 76 935 oz achieved during the three months ended March 31, 2012.

Aquarius’ Mimosa mine reported a 1% decline in 4E PGM production, from 52 053 oz in the 2012 third quarter, to 51 611 oz in the quarter under review, while production at the group’s Platinum Mile tailings operation decreased by 9% from 3 474 oz in the quarter ended March 2012, to 3 152 oz in the quarter under review.

“While our operational performance improved, the operating environment remained particularly challenging across most disciplines and was exacerbated by the significant drop in dollar metal prices post the period end,” commented Aquarius CEO Jean Nel.

The average PGM basket price increased by 4% to $1 295/oz during the quarter, with group unit costs averaging $922/oz – a 22% drop from the corresponding period the year before.

The Kroondal mine recorded a basket price of $1 315/oz at a cash cost of $937, Mimosa reported a $1 247/oz basket price with a cash cost of $840 and Platinum Mile achieved a basket price of $1 335/oz at a cash cost of $854.

The closures of the loss-making Everest and Marikana mines resulted in a 34% decline in total cash cost production, reaching $75.1-million.

However, the closures also resulted in a drop in revenue to $100.4-million in the three months to March, from the corresponding quarter of the prior year’s record of $124.8-million.

Despite the flat prices, mine earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased from $2.2-million in the third quarter of the previous year, to $30.3-million during the period under review, owing to the increased production at Kroondal.

The group ended the quarter with a cash balance of $93-million.