Name of the Project
Platreef palladium/rhodium/nickel/platinum/copper/gold project.

Location
The Platreef project hosts an underground deposit of thick platinum group metals (PGMs), nickel, copper and gold mineralisation on the northern limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, in Limpopo, South Africa.

This is about 280 km north-east of Johannesburg and 8 km from the town of Mokopane.

On the northern limb, PGM mineralisation is primarily hosted within Platreef, a mineralised sequence traced for more than 30 km along strike.

Project Owner/s
Diversified mining company Ivanhoe Mines indirectly owns 64% of the Platreef project through its subsidiary, Ivanplats, and is directing all mine development work.

The South African beneficiaries of the approved broad-based black economic empowerment structure have a 26% stake in the project.

The remaining 10% is owned by a Japanese consortium comprising Itochu Corporation; Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation; Itochu affiliate ITC Platinum Development; and Japan Gas Corporation.

Project Description
The Platreef mine has the potential to be a significant platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold producer for many generations to come. The 35-year mine life, reflected in the 4.1-million-tonne-a-year feasibility study, is based only on indicated mineral resources using drilling across about one-third of Platreef mine’s licence package, with mineralisation open in multiple directions.

The project, within Platreef’s southern sector, comprises two contiguous properties: Turfspruit and Macalacaskop. Turfspruit, the northernmost property, is contiguous with, and along strike from, Anglo Platinum’s Mogalakwena group of mining operations and properties.

The mining of the Platreef deposit will occur between 700 m and 1 200 m depth.

The mining areas will be accessed by each of the shafts to the three main underground access levels (750 m, 850 m, and 950 m levels).

Shaft 1 has a nameplate hoisting capacity of up to one-million tonnes a year. Shaft 2 will have a hoisting capacity of eight-million tonnes a year and will be one of the largest and highest-capacity shafts in Africa. Shaft 3 will provide an additional four-million tonnes a year of hoisting capacity. 

Each of these main levels provides access for labour, and materials and ore transfer, to the hoisting shafts.

The main access levels also connect to the interlevel development areas that access the stoping (production mining) areas.

Mining will be performed using highly productive mechanised methods, such as longhole stoping and drift-and-fill, using cemented backfill for maximum ore extraction. 

The phased expansion of PGM and base-metal production at Platreef will be achieved through the modular expansion of the concentrators. Every concentrator module will be designed and built using the same process design.

Phase 1 has a concentrator design capacity of 770 000 t/y.

The 2025 feasibility study on the Phase 2 expansion proposes a new 3.3-million-tonne-a-year concentrator module, built alongside the Phase 1 module, increasing the total Phase 2 processing capacity to 4.1-million tonnes a year - a near five-fold increase in 3PE+Au production to more than 460 000 oz of 3PE+Au, plus an estimated 9 000 t of nickel and 6 000 t of copper. The feasibility study estimates a life-of-mine (LoM) of 35 years.

The Phase 3 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) comprises a further two 3.3-million-tonne-a-year concentrator modules, built sequentially and located alongside the Phase 1 and 2 modules, which increases the total Phase 3 concentrator capacity to 10.7-million tonnes a year.

This expansion further doubles the annualised 3PE+Au production to more than one-million ounces of 3PE+Au, plus an estimated 22 000 t of nickel and 13 000 t of copper. The PEA estimates a 29-year LoM.

Potential Job Creation
Ivanhoe has reported that recruitment is continuing ahead of the ramp-up of Phase 1, with a total Ivanplats workforce now at more than 2 200 employees and contractors, with more than 70% locally based and 26% female. The workforce will continue to grow, as the project team has recently started development work on Phase 2.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The 4.1-million-tonne-a-year 2025 feasibility study generates an after-tax net present value (NPV), at an 8% discount rate, of $1.4-billion and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20%, with a payback of 7.8 years.

The PEA generates an after-tax NPV, at an 8% discount rate, of $3.2-billion and an IRR of 25%, with a payback of 8.7 years.

Capital Expenditure
The 2025 feasibility estimates initial capital expenditure of $1.24-billion. The PEA estimates expansion capital of $803-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Phase 1 production started in the fourth quarter of 2025, with the first batch of platinum/palladium/nickel/rhodium/gold/copper concentrate produced on November 18, 2025, during Platreef’s official opening ceremony. The Phase 1 concentrator is expected to ramp up to commercial production from mid-2026.

The Phase 2 concentrator expansion is targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2027. Shaft 2 is expected to be ready to hoist labour and materials by the end of 2028 and ore by the end of 2029.
 
Latest Developments
Ivanhoe Mines announced on April 23, 2026, that three major project milestones had been achieved. 

Construction of Shaft 3 and its associated underground materials-handling and crushing infrastructure was completed on schedule in late March 2026 and is in the final stages of commissioning. Once fully ramped up, Shaft 3 is expected to increase Platreef’s total available hoisting capacity five-fold, to about five-million tonnes a year, improving the mine’s ability to hoist ore and waste rock, and supporting Phase 1 ramp-up and Phase 2 underground development.

Since first production in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Phase 1 concentrator has batch-processed lower-grade development ore as underground development has progressed. Ivanhoe expects longhole stoping of the Flatreef orebody to start soon, allowing for the Phase 1 concentrator to ramp up to commercial production from mid-2026.

The Ivanplats team broke ground on the Phase 2 concentrator site on April 9, 2026. DRA Global is the engineering, procurement and construction management contractor for the Phase 2 underground infrastructure and the 3.3-million-tonne-a-year Phase 2 concentrator, which is targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2027. This phase is expected to increase production to more than 450 000 oz/y of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold.

Widening of Shaft 2 has also started. The shaft was initially raise-bored to a diameter of 3.1 m in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is being widened to a final diameter of 10 m using the slipe-and-line method. The contract was awarded to United Mining Services of Johannesburg. Site mobilisation was completed during the first quarter of 2026 and the first slipe blast was completed on April 1, 2026. 

Once operational, it will support steady-state Phase 2 operations and the future Phase 3 expansion.

Ivanhoe has also reported that ITC Platinum, the Japanese consortium shareholder, has committed to fund its proportionate share of the Phase 2 expansion.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
OreWin – Australia (overall report preparation and economic analysis, mineral reserve estimation and mine plan); Mine Technical Services – US (mineral resource estimation); SRK Consulting – South Africa (mine geotechnical recommendations); DRA Global – South Africa (process and infrastructure, and engineering, procurement and construction management for the Phase 2 underground infrastructure and 3.3-million-tonne-a-year Phase 2 concentrator); United Mining Services – South Africa (Shaft 2 widening contract); and WSP - South Africa (water and tailings management).

Contact Details for Project Information
Ivanhoe Mines, tel +27 11 088 4300 or email info@ivanhoemines.com.