LSE- and JSE-listed chrome and platinum miner Tharisa delivered record mining and processing rates in the quarter ended June 30 – the third quarter of the company’s financial year.

The company produced 39 000 oz of platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and gold (6E) platinum group metals (PGMs), compared with the 35 000 oz of 6E PGMs produced in the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

Chrome concentrate production totalled 379 700 t in the quarter under review, compared with the 321 400 t produced in the prior corresponding quarter.

This while the PGM basket price averaged $3 804/oz in the quarter under review, compared with $1 593/oz in the same quarter last year.

The average metallurgical grade chrome concentrate contract price was $160/t in the quarter ended June 30, compared with $143/t in the quarter ended June 30, 2020.

The company mined 1.5-million tonnes of reef in the quarter, against 1.2-million tonnes of reef mined in the prior corresponding quarter.

CEO Phoevos Pouroulis says the third quarter was one of the strongest operational quarters in the company’s history, supported by strong PGMs and chrome pricing.

These price increases are a result of the increase in demand for critical metals as economies focus on rebuilding after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Given the rapid adoption of decarbonisation initiatives, Tharisa expects the higher prices to be sustainable for the foreseeable future.

Tharisa’s growth projects remain on track, with construction of the proprietary Vulcan fine chrome recovery plant on schedule for commissioning by the end of the calendar year, which will add 20% of additional chrome to current production levels at low operating costs.

The company’s new development project, Salene Chrome, in Zimbabwe, is also progressing well and will start producing before the end of the current calendar year.

Tharisa had a cash balance of $80.5-million at the end of June and debt of $38.7-million, resulting in a net positive cash position of $41.8-million.

The company paid out an interim dividend of $10.8-million on June 30.

Tharisa remains on track to meet its guidance of between 155 000 oz and 165 000 oz of 6E PGMs and between 1.45-million and 1.55-million tonnes of chrome concentrates for the full financial year.