Sylvania Platinum will underpin its production of about 60,000 ounces a year of platinum group metals (PGMs) with the R89m purchase of the Phoenix tailings business from gold-focused Pan African Resources. Pan African has undergone a clean-up of its portfolio in recent months, selling its Uitkomst colliery in KwaZulu-Natal to Coal of Africa Ltd for R125m and now its noncore and small Phoenix business, which processes chrome tailings to extract PGMs. The R89m cash deal depends on a number of conditions being met. The sale of Phoenix near Brits was not an easy decision considering the project was conceived, planned and built by Pan African, said CEO Cobus Loots. "The PGM fundamentals are very tough and so is the operating environment. You need a certain scale that was difficult for us and which we didn’t have. We weren’t in a position to grow it aggressively. We know where all the potential feedstocks are and they’re all accounted for," he said. "It’s never nice for us to sell one of ...
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