The board of diversified mining company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) has approved the development of its 180 000 t a month Bokoni platinum project, in Limpopo’s Bushveld Complex, following the completion of a definitive feasibility study in June, with first production targeted for the first half of the 2028 financial year.

The R15.2-billion brownfield project will comprise the refurbishment of an existing 60 000-t-a-month concentrator and the construction of a new 120 000-t-a-month concentrator, with full commissioning scheduled for the second half of the 2030 financial year.

Once at steady state, the operation is expected to produce about 350 000 oz to 400 000 oz of six-element platinum group metals (PGMs) a year.

The company notes that this project will have a post-tax net present value (NPV) of R5.9-billion, using a nominal post-tax discount rate of 18%, with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 28% and an expected payback period of six years.

ARM also highlights that its long-term PGM outlook remains constructive, despite the anticipated impact of battery electric vehicle penetration, and owing to the resilience in PGM industrial demand and the role of PGMs in automotive applications.

“Sustained underinvestment, accelerating shaft depletion in South Africa and structural decline across other producing regions are collectively expected to progressively reduce primary supply. These dynamics are expected to move the platinum market into deficit, providing support for the PGM basket price and incentivising new production,” the company notes.

Meanwhile, ARM adds that operations at the Nkomati nickel mine, in Mpumalanga, will also be restarted with an estimated nominal project capital expenditure of R753-million, a life-of-mine of 13 years and a post-tax net NPV of R764-million, using a nominal post-tax discount rate of 17%.

Additionally, the company says plant refurbishment work at Nkomati is expected to start in July, and mining operations are scheduled to restart in October, with an estimated yearly steady-state production of 56 000 t/y of nickel concentrate and an estimated yearly free cash flow of R616-million at steady-state production.

ARM also notes that the expected IRR for the Nkomati project sits at 28%, with an expected five-year payback period.

“The restart of Nkomati’s openpit nickel mining operations represents a low-risk, immediately actionable development opportunity.

“The project leverages Nkomati’s existing mining and processing infrastructure, and is underpinned by a large polymetallic resource with a secured nickel concentrate offtake arrangement which re-establishes South Africa’s only primary nickel producer,” ARM highlights.