As the consolidation of embattled and unprofitable platinum mines gains pace, Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) will raise up to R1.4bn to buy the Maseve mine, concentrator and tailings facilities on which funders of the Canadian owner have turned their backc. Northam Platinum CEO Paul Dunne said a few months ago that the local platinum sector, the source of 80% of the world’s refined platinum, had reached a point where mines would either close or be consolidated as low prices and rising costs pushed the industry to the edge. Anglo American Platinum CEO Chris Griffith estimated that two-thirds of SA’s platinum mines were unprofitable and that the situation was unsustainable. The consolidation option was logical for the Maseve mine to the immediate south of Sun City in North West after shareholders and funders of Toronto-listed Platinum Group Metals (PTM) grew tired of repeated calls for cash to ramp the new mine to full production as the company missed target after target. PTM will u...
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