South Africa’s Lesego Platinum CEO James Nieuwenhuys has joined the board of Russian miner Eurasia Mining, but no potential transaction between the companies is on the horizon.

Eurasia previously said that the appointment of Nieuwenhuys to the board would only occur if a potential transaction with Lesego was to progress, but it stated on Tuesday that there had been a change of approach at board level.

“. . . at this stage, there is no intention to enter into any arrangement with Lesego, although both companies continue to keep this under review,” the Russia-focused precious metals miner said.

Eurasia pointed out that Niewenhuys’ experience and his contacts, especially among platinum group metals and gold producers in Russia, China and South Africa, could be beneficial as the company explored potential options for its assets, including a potential sale of the mining assets.

“At this exciting time in the development of the company it is valuable to expand our team to include industry professionals with relevant contacts,” said chairperson Christian Schaffalitzky.

In the meantime, Eurasia provided an update on its operations at West Kytlim, where it produced 66 kg, or 2 122 oz, of platinum in 2019.

The company is shifting from a contractor operation to an owner-operated model.

“2019 has proven to be yet another important year for the project and the company is now operating the West Kytlim mine on a 100% of revenue basis. This represents a step change in our development and a threefold increase from our previous share of revenue that varied from 30% to 35% and is now 100%. It has taken some years to get to this point. We are now taking control of the established mine and have the necessary people and machinery in place to run it. Contracting in the early years was necessary to build our own team on the ground, however it resulted in relying on potentially unsustainable production due to the contractor's own priorities. We are happy to be in full control now,” said Schaffalitzky.

In the final days of the season, the company tested running the mine using its own team without the contractor, having purchased the necessary equipment.