Eastern Platinum (EastPlats) has commissioned a platinum group metals (PGM) processing facility at its Crocodile River mine along South Africa’s Bushveld, transitioning the company from a tailings chrome recovery operation into a concentrate metal producer.
The facility will produce PGM and chrome concentrates at a time the company was already anticipating production of platinum metals to be elevated this year. The Toronto- and JSE-listed junior miner said in May that it was focusing on ramping up underground operations at Zandfontein while it weighed capital plans for re-opening full operations at the mine.
Now, it has commissioned a PGM and chrome processing facility, with Wanjin Yang, the CEO for EastPlats, saying the company is looking forward to “reporting PGM and metallurgical chrome revenues from the Zandfontein underground section as run of mine ore tonnages ramp” up.
While commissioning of the processor at Crocodile River is ongoing, EastPlats had by October 1 blasted a total of 75 000 tonnes in run of mine ore.
“This produced a concentrate containing approximately 1 300 ounces of PGM 6E metals, which was delivered to Impala Platinum Limited (Implats) under the existing offtake agreement between the company’s subsidiary, Barplats Mines Limited and Implats,” said EastPlats in a statement yesterday.
For the rest of October, the company expects to process a further 30 000 tonnes in run of mine ore, producing concentrates containing 2 000 to 2 500 ounces of PGM 6E metals.
Eastplats has produced metallurgical chrome concentrates as a by-product when processing the UG2 run of mine ore for PGMs.
It expects underground operations at Zandfontein mine to produce 40 000 tonnes of ore per month by the end of this year, with the next ramp up phase projected to increase production to 70 000 tonnes of ore per month by the end of 2025.
The company said it would continue to process historical tailings to recover chrome from its chrome re-treatment project at the Crocodile River Mine although it expected this to wind down early next year.
Following the conclusion of the processor at Crocodile River, Eastplats expected to complete the second phase of its tailings storage facility program to recover chrome and PGMs from tailings generated from the newly operating Zandfontein underground. By 2026, PGM revenues in the company are expected to account for at least 65% of Eastplats’ total revenue.
Eastplats had a working capital deficit of $15.5 million (R296m) as at December 31, 2023 and short-term cash resources of $21.3m consisting of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. Revenues for the 2023 full year subsequently increased to $106.9m, a record for the company that compares higher than the re-stated $53.9m for the year earlier full year period.
Eastplats said on its website that the long-term demand for PGMs remained attractive as these key metals play a significant role in clean energy technologies. The use of PGMs would still be largely supported through the 2030s despite the expected decline in the use of internal combustion engines.
“The long-term outlook for chrome remains positive, as the market continues to expand, driven by a rise in stainless steel demand,” it saud
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