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Johannesburg - South African mining group Africa Rainbow Minerals [JSE:ARI] posted a rise of 9.5% in full-year headline earnings on Thursday, lifted by a solid performance in its platinum arm, a rare piece of good news for producers of the white metal.
Headline earnings per share were R19.00 compared to R17.35 in the previous year, boosted in part by an almost 70% increase in the group's platinum arm which benefited from a weak rand currency and improved sales volumes.
The performance of ARM Platinum stands in stark contrast to the wider South African industry, which was hammered by a five-month wage strike this year.
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ARM Platinum's attributable headline earnings increased by 68% to R883m.
The one poor performer in the group's platinum holdings was the Modikwa mine, which was hit by industrial unrest and safety stoppages. Its headline earnings fell by a third.
At a time when exploration budgets are being slashed, ARM said it was still searching for minerals in Mozambique and had "identified numerous occurrences of copper/zinc, nickel/copper/PGE, chromite/nickel and graphite mineralisation."
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