NEWS ANALYSIS: Implats changes its thinking from deep to shallow
Impala Platinum has clearly drawn a line under any further large investments in growth projects around Rustenburg that would entail deep, expensive shafts and has gained a toehold in one of the best remaining undeveloped shallow prospects in SA. For a $30m investment, Implats, the world’s second-largest platinum producer, has bought a 15% stake in the Waterberg deposit northwest of Polokwane in Limpopo, as well as the right to oversee a definitive feasibility study into building a mine at the shallow resource, which is rich in palladium rather than platinum. It has also secured the right to invest $166m more to buy 50.01% of the deposit. This gives it control and access to a fresh stream of concentrate for its smelting operation in Springs as its older mines are worked out. It also sets its remaining mature mines the target of becoming profitable or facing closure.The definitive feasibility study, which follows a pre-feasibility study done by Canada’s Platinum Group Metals (PTM), wi...
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