Implats cancels plans to sell Marula mine

Johannesburg - Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] has cancelled plans to sell its Marula mine, it said on Wednesday, adding it would instead aim to increase output at the operation.

Implats said in February it would sell Marula mine to strengthen its balance sheet after a five-month wage strike last year that crippled production across the sector.

The company said in a statement it believed "shareholder returns will be best obtained by focusing on strategic interventions that will optimise performance at this operation".

It would aim to cut costs at the mine and grow output to 90 000 ounces per annum, Implats said.

Marula mine, which was not directly hit impacted by the record strike, produced 78 500 ounces of concentrate platinum in the firm's 2014 financial year.

As part of its strategic review, Implats had said it would revamp its Rustenburg mines to boost productivity while also halting the expansion of the Mimosa mine in Zimbabwe because of export tax.

Shares in Impala were down before the announcement, and traded at 1.3% lower at 15:50 GMT, compared with a 1.2% decline in Johannesburg's Platinum mining index.