Platinum: focus shifts to Waterberg
With the Maseve mine, Implats and RBPlat are planning to succeed where PTM failed
New York and Toronto-listed Platinum Group Metals’ (PTM) financial squeeze, after years of calling on shareholders and bankers for more funds to build its Maseve platinum mine, represents an opportunity for Impala Platinum and Royal Bafokeng Platinum. This month, Implats paid US$30m for a 15% stake in PTM and an option to buy more of the Waterberg project, while RBPlat agreed to pay $74m in cash and shares for 82.9% of the Maseve mine, including a concentrator. The question is, however, if PTM could not make these projects work, how can RBPlat and Implats do any better? The answer for RBPlat is that in Maseve it is getting a near-completed mine and infrastructure for a good price, which complements its existing operations. Implats is getting an inexpensive entry into a potentially enormous project, which is still at the definitive feasibility study stage. PTM CEO Michael Jones was typically enthusiastic about its potential, describing it as "our amazing Waterberg platinum discovery"...
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