STYLDRIFT MINE COSTS INCREASE
RBPlat warns of overrun
Royal Bafokeng Platinum says the overall cost of the first phase of its Styldrift mine has increased
Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) has warned of an overrun on its R11bn budget to build a new mine that it initially slowed down to curtail spending at a time when platinum prices were weak and the demand outlook for the industrial and precious metal was uncertain. In its full-year results, RBPlat said the overall cost of the first phase of its Styldrift mine had increased, without giving a specific number apart from saying it would cost more than the original R11bn. During a results presentation RBPlat chief financial officer Martin Prinsloo said R6.09bn had already been spent on the mine. The company and its partner, Anglo American Platinum, would spend a further R4.75bn to bring the mine’s output to 150,000 tonnes of ore a month by the end of 2018 from the roughly 50,000 tonnes a month it was delivering now. To take the mine to its full capacity of 230,000 tonnes per month, a 100,000-tonnes-per-month concentrator would have to be built at a cost of R1.6bn, which would come on top ...
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