Implats saw a 2.4% decline in production, to 5.2m tonnes in the quarter to end-September, from 5.34m tonnes in the same period last year.
Implats’ share price has almost tripled so far this year, but on Thursday morning took a 1% hit to trade at R102,49 following the production update.
Implats said its lower output was largely due to lower production from Impala Rustenburg’s 1 Shaft, as plans were progressed to outsource mining operations, and at Marula where the successful narrowing of the stoping width resulted in improved ore quality.
Impala Rustenburg saw two employees die in two separate incidents, and there was another fatality at its Two Rivers joint venture.
Platinum in concentrate of 280 000 ounces produced at managed operations was unchanged from the prior comparable quarter. Across all mining operations (managed and joint venture) platinum in concentrate production declined by 4.2% to 334 000 ounces largely as a result of milling constraints experienced during the reporting period at Two Rivers and Mimosa.
Zimplats - its business in Zimbabwe - reported unchanged output at 1.71-million tonnes.