Platinum Australia tracks Aquarius Platinum Into South Africa
By Our Man In Oz
What’s in a name? In the case of Platinum Australia, who cares, because the company which has Australia in its name has moved to within sight of becoming a South African platinum producer. By the middle of the year first ore should be coming out of the Smokey Hills project, to be followed by the bigger Kalahari Platinum (Kalplats) project. With the price of platinum holding comfortably above US$1100 an ounce Platinum Australia is well positioned to make quite a splash in the platinum world. In fact, the splash could be very similar to that made in the late 1990s when another small Australian company, called Aquarius Platinum, invaded the home turf of South Africa’s platinum giants, only to be ignored initially as an unwelcome interloper but now recognised a significant player in South African platinum – not to mention a share price which has rocketed along from around A$1.60 in 1999 to recent sales at A$34.50, turning a modest business into one capitalised at A$2.9 billion. At A$1.53, and with a market value of A$282 million, Platinum Australia is a minnow alongside its older Aussie cousin, roughly 10 per cent the size of Aquarius. But, there is no doubt that Platinum Australia is travelling the same road............................read on