JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum group metals (PGM) mining and marketing company Impala Platinum (Implats) on Wednesday announced the planned retirement of Dr Mandla Gantsho as an independent nonexecutive director and chairperson of the board of directors of Implats.

His retirement will take effect on conclusion of the scheduled annual general meeting of the company on October 14, the Johannesburg-listed company stated in a stock exchange news service notice.

Dr Gantsho was appointed to the board as a nonexecutive director in 2010 and appointed chairperson in October 2015.

He has led the board through some of the most testing times in the history of both the broader PGMs industry and the Implats group, Implats CEO Nico Muller noted.

“His wise and steady-handed stewardship of our leadership throughout his tenure will be sorely missed. Thanks in no small part to his clarity of vision and courageous leadership, Dr Gantsho leaves the group in a significantly stronger position with Implats now well equipped to navigate the current challenging operating and economic environment that we find ourselves in.

“We’re all deeply grateful for his guidance and contribution over the years. On behalf of the board and the greater Implats team, I would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Dr Gantsho for his outstanding contribution over the past decade of board service,” Muller said.

The board has started a process to appoint a new chairperson. Shareholders will be notified once a candidate has been nominated and appointed, Mining Weekly can report.

Implats produces PGMs at six mining operations and refines PGMs at Impala Refinery in Springs. Impala Refining Services toll refines for third-party PGM producers.

Implats has operations on South Africa’s Bushveld Complex and Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke, which are the world’s two most significant PGMs-bearing ore bodies. It is also active in the Shield, an igneous domain for PGMs in Canada.

Implats employs nearly 50 000 people across its operations and markets and sells its products in South Africa, Japan, China, the US and Europe.

The PGMs it produces are the key to a more environment-friendly world and contribute to many industrial, medical and electronic products.