Platinum producers Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) have agreed to, once again, extend the notice date for their disposal of concentrate agreement.
RBPlat entered into the agreement with Amplats subsidiary Rustenburg Platinum Mines (RPM) in July 2018 for the sale of all of the platinum group metals (PGMs) concentrate produced by RBPlat. The agreement was set to last for a continuous rolling period of five years, with the option for termination by RPM on or before August 10 last year.
The agreement, which covers either 17% or 50% of Amplats’ bought PGMs concentrate, will now have its notice date extended to February 10, 2024. The termination date for this agreement will remain August 11, 2024, or a later date that is no longer than 18 months from the date notice, as decided by RBPlat.
The extension of the notice date for the agreement comes as a result of Impala Platinum (Implats) having made a mandatory offer for RBPlat and the possibility of Northam Platinum making a conditional general offer to acquire the remaining shares in the company in November last year.
Given the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing acquisition process, it was agreed that it would be advisable for RBPlat and Amplats to delay their decision regarding the offtake agreement.