Amplats’ Q4 production rises 14% to 594 000 oz
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) delivered 594 000 oz of equivalent refined platinum in the quarter ended December 31.
This was 14% higher than the 520 000 oz produced in the fourth quarter of the prior year, when 44 000 oz of production was lost owing to a strike by employees.
In the quarter under review, Amplats’ Rustenburg operations delivered 106 000 oz – a 36% year-on-year increase – while its Amandelbult mine, near Thabazimbi, increased production by 41% year-on-year to 103 000 oz.
Production at the Union mine rose 23% year-on-year to 43 000 oz in the December quarter.
Meanwhile, higher concentrator throughput, supported by mining productivity improvement programmes, resulted in an 11% year-on-year increase in output to 98 000 oz at the Mogalakwena operation, in Mokopane. Production on-mine had increased to 93 000 oz, while toll concentrating activities at the Lonmin Baobab concentrator had yielded 5 000 oz – a 51% year-on-year increase as a result of higher throughput.
JV OPERATIONS
Production from the miner’s joint venture (JV) and association operations decreased 2% year-on-year to 194 000 oz in the December quarter.
The Atlatsa-owned Bokoni mine, near Burgersfort, boosted output by 11% year-on-year, while the Kroondal mine increased production by 2%. The Bafokeng Rasimone platinum mine’s production was 6% lower year-on-year at 51 000 oz, owing to Section 54 stoppages, following fatalities in October 2014.
The Mototolo JV mine delivered 30 000 oz, a 10% year-on-year decrease, owing to concentrator operational challenges that have since been resolved.
Meanwhile, Amplats’ refined platinum production decreased 17% to 574 000 oz in the three months ended December 31, owing to the build-up in pipeline inventory following the drawdown on inventories during the industrial action in the first half of 2014 and the planned Polokwane Smelter rebuild, which was completed ahead of schedule during the quarter and was operating at steady-state.
Amplats also reported that it operated fatality-free during the quarter. “The underlying safety performance remained strong with the lost time injury frequency rate at managed operations for the quarter ending 9% lower at 0.84 per 200 000 hours worked compared with the same period in 2013,” it said.
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