JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim- and AltX-listed mining exploration and development company Jubilee Platinum narrowed its loss a share by 61% during the six months ended December 2013 to 7.41c, as the company focused on using its smelter processing infrastructure to drive short-term revenues and earnings through the processing of ferroalloy material.

Jubilee on Wednesday, also announced a 25.87% increase in revenue for the period under review to R36.11-million, up from R28.69-million during the prior corresponding period, while gross profit grew by 53% to R15.5-million.

The company further reduced its operating costs by 45% to £2.6-million during the six-month period.

“In the period since [the] last annual report, conditions in global markets have improved marginally with sustained demand for platinum group metals [PGMs]. The South African platinum industry is again dogged by a labour strike affecting all the major producers and putting further pressure on the supply of PGMs,” Jubilee chairperson Colin Bird said in a statement to shareholders.

However, he added that the company’s mine-to-metals strategy would continue unabated and that Jubilee would continue to pursue all its goals against a predicted rise in the price of PGMs.

Bird pointed out that, during the period under review Jubilee had continued with its smelter upgrade and modifications to bring a third ARC furnace into operation at its Middelburg operations, in Mpumalanga.

The commissioning of this furnace, which was already fully contracted to smelt ferroalloy material, would further boost the company’s earnings capabilities in the near term, Jubilee CE Leon Coetzer added. 

The company had also, during the six-month period, progressed the mining right application of its Tjate platinum project, on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, and the sale of the Quartzhill portion of this project.

“We have an excellent combination of assets and have a strategy in place to ensure that revenues and earnings growth underpin our development plans.

“We continue to work towards the processing of tailings from the Dilokong chrome mine, in Limpopo, and are exploring a number of options which will enable us to exploit the growing surface platinum stocks,” Coetzer said. 

He added that the company’s long-term focus remained on establishing Jubilee as a fully integrated platinum-focused company through the integration of its exploration and surface projects with its smelting and processing capability.

“We look forward to continued strong progress towards achieving this goal,” Coetzer said.