Chrome and platinum group metals miner Tharisa will decide later in 2018 whether to proceed with two projects worth R600m to lift production by a quarter in coming years. Both projects are the subject of feasibility studies and if approved, the two new plants at the mine near Rustenburg will contribute towards Johannesburg and London-listed Tharisa’s target of 2-million tonnes of chrome in concentrate and 200,000oz a year of platinum group metals from 2020. The chrome output level more than surpasses critical mass to justify a ferrochrome smelter, CEO Phoevos Pouroulis said. But with 70% of costs coming from electricity and reductants, Tharisa would need to find a technology that made the company competitive in a global market where China was a leading producer of the stainless steel ingredient, with installed capacity of 8-million tonnes.
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