THARISA, a chrome and platinum mining company, showed the negative impact of lower metal prices in a 36% decline in its interim profit.Tharisa, a Cyprus-based company that is listed in Johannesburg and London, reported profit of $3.1m for the six months to end-March, a 36% fall from $4.9m a year earlier, dragged down by sharp falls in the prices of chrome and the platinum group metals (PGMs) it produces.Tharisa has an opencast mine near Brits in the North West that it is ramping up to steady state production. The mine increased PGM output by 4.5% to 60,000oz of the six elements that make up the basket of metals it produces. Chrome concentrate was 7% higher at 604,400 tonnes."The six months under review were characterised by a challenging macroeconomic environment, where global commodity prices declined materially before recovering towards the end of the second quarter," Tharisa said.In dollar terms, the PGM price fell 27% to $686/oz and metallurgical-grade chrome prices dropped 32% ...
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