JSE- and TSX-listed Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) has reported a 49.5% decrease in revenue to $11-million for the third quarter of the year ended September 30, compared with the $21.8-million reported for the third quarter of 2023.

Revenue for the year-to-date (YTD) decreased to $45.5-million from the $76.5-million reported for the same period in 2023, representing a $31-million, or 40.5%, decrease.  

Mine operating income decreased by 114.3% to a loss of $1-million in the third quarter, compared with income of $7-million in the third quarter of 2023, as the gross margin declined to -9.4% in the quarter under review, from 32.1% in the third quarter of 2023.

Mine operating income for the YTD decreased by 63.4% to $8.7-million resulting from a reduced gross margin of 19.1% from 31.1% in YTD 2023.

Eastplats incurred an operating loss of $5.7-million for the third quarter, compared with an operating income of $3.6-million in the third quarter of 2023.

Operating loss for the YTD was $4.1-million, compared with operating income of $15.8-million in the same period in 2023.

The net loss attributable to equity shareholders was $3.4-million – a $0.02 loss a share – in the third quarter, compared with net income attributable to equity shareholders of $3.1-million – or $0.02 earnings a share – for the third quarter of 2023.

Eastplats says the decrease in the third-quarter net income was largely attributable to lower chrome sales, offset by a decrease in finance costs and a foreign exchange gain in the period owing to the strengthening of the rand.

Net loss attributable to equity shareholders was $800 000 in the first nine months of this year, compared with net income attributable to equity shareholders of $10.4-million for the same period in 2023.

The company notes that the decrease in net income was mainly attributable to lower gross margins earned on YTD chrome sales, offset by a decrease in finance costs and a foreign exchange gain in the period owing to the strengthening of the rand.

The company had a working capital deficit of $26.6-million as at September 30, and short-term cash resources of $8.5-million, compared with $21.3-million on December 31.

“We continue to ramp up tonnages at the Zandfontein underground section at the Crocodile River mine (CRM) to produce high-grade platinum group metal (PGM) and metallurgical chrome concentrate.

“As we approach the end of 2024 and plan for 2025, we are focussed on improving recoveries and operating efficiently,” says Eastplats CEO and president Wanjin Yang.

The company derived revenue from the processing of PGM and chrome concentrates at the CRM. The majority of Eastplats’ revenue –  about 84% and 92% for the 2024 third quarter and YTD period, respectively – is from chrome concentrate sales.

The company continues the tailings storage facility (TSF) wall building programme, using waste rock and paddocking, to raise the wall to facilitate continued depositing of reprocessed tailings. The reprocessing of the original CRM tailings is expected to be completed by early 2025.

Eastplats says year-on-year PGM production decreased between the 2023 third quarter and the third quarter of this year, owing to operational challenges in the current period, as lower-grade sections of the TSF, containing vegetation and other impediments, were being processed.

In the third quarter of this year, while commissioning of the processing plant continued, the company began processing run-of-mine (RoM) Upper Group Two ore produced from the Zandfontein underground section at the CRM.

A total of 75 000 t of RoM ore was blasted up to October 1, with about 22 000 t of the RoM ore processed in September.