PLATINUM miner Implats faced a range of challenges in the March quarter which hindered saleable production, ranging from heavy rainfall at mines to downtime at smelters for maintenance and repairs.
Still, customer demand remained robust. CE Nico Muller said contractual sales were supplemented by spot requests, despite global uncertainty. “Physical tightness and sustained pricing support for the minor PGMs was a notable feature in this quarter.”
That was reflected in Implats’ output of refined and saleable rhodium in the quarter, which rose by 9%. In early March, the spot price of rhodium spiked at $5,800/oz after ranging from $4,200 to $4,600/oz in the final quarter of 2024.
In total, Implats produced an unchanged 716,000 refined ounces of 6E PGMs in this quarter, including saleable ounces from Impala Canada and Impala Bafokeng. 6E sales volumes fell by 6% to 775 000oz.
Almost every Implats mine experienced disruptions. There was heavy rainfall at Rustenburg, which affected ore movement and re-mining volumes, and at Two Rivers, where rain damaged electrical substations and the bridge giving access to the mine. At Bafokeng, workers were slow to return from the Christmas break and there were safety stoppages at Styldrift. After leadership and operational changes at Marula, performance has stabilised but remains weak.
At Zimplats, mined and milled volumes were affected by the performance of the mechanized fleet. In Canada, the mine’s volumes are lower but in line with the revised production baseline. Mimosa experienced sporadic power disruptions. At IRS, the refining operations, the drop in ounces delivered by JV and managed operations offset the benefits of higher receipts from third parties.
In February, Implats warned that Impala Canada and Marula were at risk in anaemic PGM pricing conditions due to structural issues.
Despite the challenges, CE Nico Muller said the group was on track to deliver its revised volume and unit cost guidance for the current financial year.
