Name of the Project
Maseve platinum mine (formerly Western Bushveld Joint Venture Project 1).

Location
North West, South Africa.

Client
Development of the project has been conducted through Maseve Investments 11. As of August 31, 2015, Platinum Group Metals (PTM) subsidiary PTM RSA majority-owns this company, with 82.9%. Africa Wide Mineral Prospecting and Exploration, 100% owned by JSE-listed Wesizwe Platinum, holds the remaining 17.1%.

Project Description
The Maseve platinum mine, located about 35 km from Rustenburg, comprises projects 1, 2 and 3.

The mine plan for Project 1 has been revised. The new plan envisages the construction of a platinum mine and a concentrator to produce between 234 000 oz/y and 300 000 oz/y of combined platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (4E) in concentrate.

During nine years of peak production, about 275 000 oz/y of 4E in concentrate will be produced from the project’s Merensky reef horizon.

The Merensky reef will be mined at widths of between 93 cm and 176 cm and the upper group two reef will be mined at widths of between 105 cm and 205 cm.

The mining and development plan includes conventional hand-held drilling equipment, electrical drills and scrapers, as well as winch cleaning, which is similar to the successful conventional mining operations at the adjacent mines.

Declines and primary access to the deposit have been designed for development using mechanised equipment.

Ore will initially be hauled out of the mine using mechanised equipment and transported by conveyor from Year 4 to the end of the mine’s 22-year life.

The concentrator has been designed and recosted, based on treating the optimal 140 000 t/m. The revised mine plan has increased this treatment rate to 160 000 t/m and, for the concentrator to treat the increased quantity of reef, the recovery has been reduced to a discount of up to 2.5% for treatment over the nominal nameplate capacity.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project's independent feasibility model developed a post-tax net present value of $431-million at a 5% discount rate.

Value
Peak funding for the project has increased from $502-million in the first quarter of 2015 to $514-million.

Of the required capital cost, a fully funded $100-million for the Phase 1 surface establishment and the underground decline development programme has been allocated.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
PTM has again lowered its production guidance for the first year of operations at its Maseve mine, citing a delay in ramping up stoping tonnes.

Despite monthly output at Maseve increasing to 1 893 oz of 4E, as well as associated copper and nickel in concentrate, the Vancouver-based company has lowered its guidance for concentrate production – on a 100% project basis from April 2016 to April 2017 – from 110 000 oz 4E to 91 500 oz 4E.

According to PTM, the Maseve mine is fully constructed and is in the ramp-up phase of production. Development at Maseve has established about 20 ends where the Merensky reef is exposed and, of these, 18 are currently working ends. Further, recent efforts have been focused on primary access development.

The mine accessed the main production vein at Maseve, Block 11, in mid-August. The block is host to some of the best grade thickness ore at the Maseve mine and is an important part of the next several years of scheduled mining. Block 11 is a large, well-drilled and stable mining block estimated to host more than 545 000 4E Merensky reef ounces, held in 3.07 t grading 5.53 g/t 4E in the indicated category.

The seam thickness, where accessed, is about 2 m, with a well-developed and near-flat dipping Merensky reef present as modelled. Vertical channel sampling has returned assays of 7.4 g/t 4E, over a true width of 193 cm. This block is amenable to board-and-pillar stoping using mechanised mining methods.

PTM expects tonnes mined to increase as key mining blocks are accessed, developed and stoped. Successful stoping in bord-and-pillar areas and long-hole areas has now started and is ramping up. The grade of material feed to the mill is increasing as the proportion of stoped tonnes increases relative to lower-grade development tonnes. Production is expected to double in September from August levels and then to continue increasing monthly into 2017.

The company has noted that it experienced difficulties and delays in certain areas of underground infrastructure, causing bottlenecks in the movement of waste and ore out of the mine. Completing the first of three underground silos, as well as the addition of a belt loader at this silo and future top and bottom completions at silos two and three, is expected to increase output from the current month onwards into 2017.

PTM has also commissioned a conveyor from underground that feeds directly to the overland conveyor and into the primary crusher and mill. In the months ahead, the plan is to install a final conveyor leg directly to Block 11, which will greatly improve the ability to move good-grade tonnes out of the mine and directly into the mill.

Further, PTM has negotiated amendments and extensions with lenders Sprott Resource Lending Partnership and Liberty Metals & Mining Holdings (LMM), after they completed due diligence at the Maseve site during August.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Société Generale, Barclays Bank, Absa Capital, Standard Bank of South Africa and Caterpillar Financial (lead finance arrangers); Turnberry Projects (prefeasibility study and overall feasibility study); Wardrop Engineering (decline access); GRD Minproc (concentrator design); Grinaker-LTA Mining (vertical shaft design); Golder Associates Africa and Oryx Environmental (public consultation and environmental permitting work); DRA Mining (engineering, procurement and construction management) and JIC Mining Services (underground decline tunnels).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
PTM investor and media enquiries, tel +1 604 899 5450, fax +1 604 484 4710 or email info@platinumgroupmetals.net.
Wesizwe Platinum, Sirkien van Schalkwyk, tel +27 11 994 4600, fax +27 11 994 4601 or email Sirkien@wesizwe.com.
Turnberry Projects, tel +27 11 781 0116 or fax +27 11 781 0118.
Wardrop Engineering, email info@wardrop.com.
GRD Minproc, tel +27 11 514 0005.
Grinaker-LTA Mining, tel +27 11 578 6000 or fax +27 11 578 6161.
Golder Associates Africa, tel +27 14 597 0442 or fax +27 14 592 2842.
Oryx Environmental, tel +27 11 880 5204.
DRA Mining, tel +27 11 202 8600.
JIC Mining Services, tel +27 11 564 9400, fax +27 11 315 3789 or email general@jic.co.za.