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Johannesburg - Platinum producer Aquarius Platinum [JSE:AQP] on Tuesday reported attributable production of 114 260 PGM (platinum group metals) ounces - up 3% from the same quarter a year ago, but 7% lower than the March quarter's 122 213 ounces.
Average PGM dollar prices deteriorated in the quarter - platinum was flat, palladium was down 4% and rhodium was down 11%, while the rand strengthened against the dollar by 3% on average quarter-on- quarter.
Commenting on the results CEO Stuart Murray said: "The final quarter of the financial year has been exceptionally busy for Aquarius. On the corporate activity front, we successfully negotiated and signed three significant transactions during the period, two of which have the effect of increasing the Aquarius resource base by approximately 50%, and which we expect to help extend the mine lives of all of Aquarius' South African operations.
He added that in the short term, however, rand prices remain low and the operating environment is challenging.
"In the face of continuing global economic uncertainty, rising costs and slower than anticipated growth in demand for PGMs, we decided not to continue with mining operations and the capital development of the Blue Ridge mine during the quarter. Fortunately the acquisition of Booysendal South has provided us with the flexibility to re-allocate that capital to a more economically and operationally robust project."
"Operationally, although we were able to expand attributable quarterly production compared to the same period a year ago, volumes from our South African operations fell short of our expectations. At Kroondal and Marikana, delays and long lead times for the required new drilling rigs meant that we were required to install our new hangingwall support manually at those mines to meet our unwavering commitment to safety. This delayed blasts and negatively impacted production and costs. At Everest, bad ground resulting from a larger than expected area of oxidised material on the fringes of the ore body had the same effect."
At all three mines, these problems have been dealt with and Aquarius is once more moving towards normal production levels. On a more positive note, Mimosa delivered record production, and in general Aquarius remains well positioned to weather the current economic uncertainty and, more importantly, to benefit from the inevitable medium-term PGM supply shortage and associated price improvements, he concluded.
Average PGM dollar prices deteriorated in the quarter - platinum was flat, palladium was down 4% and rhodium was down 11%, while the rand strengthened against the dollar by 3% on average quarter-on- quarter.
Commenting on the results CEO Stuart Murray said: "The final quarter of the financial year has been exceptionally busy for Aquarius. On the corporate activity front, we successfully negotiated and signed three significant transactions during the period, two of which have the effect of increasing the Aquarius resource base by approximately 50%, and which we expect to help extend the mine lives of all of Aquarius' South African operations.
He added that in the short term, however, rand prices remain low and the operating environment is challenging.
"In the face of continuing global economic uncertainty, rising costs and slower than anticipated growth in demand for PGMs, we decided not to continue with mining operations and the capital development of the Blue Ridge mine during the quarter. Fortunately the acquisition of Booysendal South has provided us with the flexibility to re-allocate that capital to a more economically and operationally robust project."
"Operationally, although we were able to expand attributable quarterly production compared to the same period a year ago, volumes from our South African operations fell short of our expectations. At Kroondal and Marikana, delays and long lead times for the required new drilling rigs meant that we were required to install our new hangingwall support manually at those mines to meet our unwavering commitment to safety. This delayed blasts and negatively impacted production and costs. At Everest, bad ground resulting from a larger than expected area of oxidised material on the fringes of the ore body had the same effect."
At all three mines, these problems have been dealt with and Aquarius is once more moving towards normal production levels. On a more positive note, Mimosa delivered record production, and in general Aquarius remains well positioned to weather the current economic uncertainty and, more importantly, to benefit from the inevitable medium-term PGM supply shortage and associated price improvements, he concluded.
