mining weekly

Garatau platinum mine could start production in 2015 – Nkwe


13th June 2012
Updated 3 minutes ago

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Garatau platinum mine, which ASX-listed Nkwe Platinum is developing in South Africa, could be in production as early as 2015, reaching steady state output by 2017, the company said on Wednesday.

The developer said the new BFS estimated a capital requirement of some A$641-million to fund the development of a 3.6-million-ton-a-year operation, producing some 330 000 oz/y of platinum over an initial 17 years.

The optimised BFS only took into consideration mining of the Merensky Reef, and did not take into account the value of the underlying UG2 reef or the adjacent farm De Kom, which was one of three farms subject to an ownership tussle with African Rainbow Minerals and Anglo American Platinum.

Nkwe MD Maredi Mphahlele said that focusing solely on the Merensky Reef in the BFS allowed for further significant value from the UG2 Reef and the De Kom property.

“It is robust in its own right, and when the UG2 resource is brought into the calculation, it points to a 40-year plus productive mine life. Add to this the known resource of the farm Hoekeprantz and the anticipated resource on the farm De Kom, which forms part of the recently granted mining right, and the massive value of this parcel of assets then emerges.”

The BFS found that the capital footprint of the project carried substantial savings on both the surface and underground costs, which would have been incurred with the development of a mining operation on the UG2 reef.

There were some 13.5-million ounces of resource in the underlying UG2 reef, and Mphahlele said that the company was currently preparing a detailed valuation on these resources.

Mphahlele said that with the optimised BFS now complete, the company and its advisers would be in a position to complete joint venture development negotiations.

Swiss-listed Xstrata holds the option to acquire a 50% interest in the Garatau project by fully funding the development costs. If it makes use of this development option, the diversified company would also be entitled to fund up to 50% of Nkwe’s larger Tubatse project.