IMP
IMPO
IMP - Implats First Quarter Production Report
Impala Platinum Holdings Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration No. 1957/001979/06)
ISIN: ZAE000083648
JSE Share Code: IMP
LSE Share Code: IPLA
ADR Code: IMPUY
("Implats" or "the company")
IMPLATS FIRST QUARTER PRODUCTION REPORT
FOR PERIOD 01 JULY TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
Unaudited Unaudited
Operational Quarter ended Quarter ended
information 30 September 30 September
2009 2008
Implats Gross
Refined Production
Platinum 000oz 413 390
Palladium 000oz 266 218
Rhodium 000oz 63 52
Nickel 000tonne 3.48 3.33
Impala
Tonnes Milled 000 2,997 4,026
Grade (6E) g/t 4.61 4.59
% Merensky 39% 47%
Refined Platinum 000oz 180 243
Production
Marula
Tonnes Milled 000 393 394
Grade (6E) g/t 4.41 4.26
Platinum in 000oz 19 18
Concentrate
Zimplats
Tonnes Milled 000 869 520
Grade (6E) g/t 3.52 3.40
Platinum in Matte 000oz 36 17
Mimosa
Tonnes Milled 000 577 515
Grade (6E) g/t 3.86 3.86
Platinum in 000oz 26 22
Concentrate
IRS
Refined Platinum 000oz 233 147
Production
Prices Achieved
Platinum $/oz 1,211 1,755
Palladium $/oz 260 396
Rhodium $/oz 1,509 8,292
Nickel $/tonne 16,330 19,629
Average exchange R/$ 7.82 7.75
rate
SAFETY
It is a great sadness that 12 of our colleagues lost their lives at work during
the quarter under review. On the 20th July 2009, nine employees tragically lost
their lives in a massive fall-of-ground incident in one of the mechanised
sections at 14 Shaft in Rustenburg. A tri-partite investigation involving
Implats, the DMR and the unions, together with an independent review, was
conducted and an official DMR enquiry is still in progress. The company has
taken the decision to reduce bord widths to six metres across all Rustenburg
mechanised sections in order to significantly reduce the operational risk.
Another two of our colleagues died following a methane explosion at 14 Shaft and
a further one lost his life in a fall-of-ground incident at 8 Shaft. The board
of directors and the management team extend their sincere condolences to the
families, friends and colleagues of these employees.
Despite this set back to our vision of zero harm we remain committed to
achieving a safe working environment. The company continues to focus on
creating and promoting a safety culture within each employee and vigorously
enforcing compliance with our Platinum Rules. The new safety bonus system
introduced during the latter half of FY2009 has started to produce results. To
date, 15 areas have achieved 90 days without a lost-time injury whilst another
10 areas have reached 180 days.
PRODUCTION
Higher production from the Zimbabwean operations, increased deliveries to Impala
Refining Services ("IRS") and changes in the pipeline, as stocks were cleared
during the strike action, resulted in a 6% increase in gross refined platinum
production period on period to 413,000 ounces. Palladium and rhodium rose by
22% and 20% respectively.
Impala
At the Lease Area tonnes milled declined by 26% to just under 3 million due to
the closure of all mechanised sections following the 14 Shaft incident and the
two-week strike during September. As a result platinum production declined by
similar levels with the loss of 25,000 ounces from the safety stoppages and a
further 50,000 ounces due to the industrial action. The change in the mining
layout in the mechanised sections will further impact production in the current
year by another 25,000 ounces.
The closure of the mechanised sections impacted Merensky production which fell
by 17% to 39% of throughput. Despite this the overall grade at the operation
improved as a result of the focus on quality mining. On-reef development
continues to receive the attention of the operational team.
As a result of the 14 Shaft incident and the strike, production for FY2010 is
expected to be down by 100,000 ounces of platinum to 850,000. Annualised
production of 1 million ounces of platinum will be achieved within the next five
years. The lower production volumes will adversely impact unit costs during the
first half of the current year.
Marula
Production at Marula was also impacted by the strike action which resulted in
output falling by approximately 2,000 ounces of platinum. The grade improved
with the ongoing move to the conventional mining method. Development remains
key to further improvements. It is expected that Marula will deliver
approximately 85,000 ounces of platinum in concentrate in the current financial
year and 100,000 in FY2011.
Zimplats
At Zimplats mill tonnage increased by 67% in line with the ramp-up of production
from the Phase 1 expansion project. The Ngezi concentrator was successfully
commissioned in late July and reached design throughput by the end of September.
The development of the Portal 4 underground mine remains on schedule to reach
full production by mid 2011. In the interim period ore will be sourced from the
surface ore stockpile.
Platinum production in matte rose by 113% year on year to 36,000 ounces due to
the ramp-up and the fact that output in the previous period a year ago was
impacted by a smelter shutdown. Production in FY2010 is expected to reach
170,000 ounces of platinum in matte with full annualised production of 180,000
ounces being achieved in the following year.
Mimosa
The commissioning of the Wedza phase 5 expansion at Mimosa which entailed the
extension of milling and tailings handling capacity was completed. This
resulted in a 12% increase in tonnes milled and a concomitant increase in
platinum in concentrate production to 26,000 ounces. The mine is now operating
at steady-state capacity of 100,000 ounces of platinum in concentrate per annum.
IRS
IRS` refined platinum production, which includes material from Marula, Zimplats
and Mimosa, rose by 59% to 233,000 ounces quarter on quarter. This was largely
due to increased receipts, particularly from the Zimbabwean operations, Two
Rivers, Blue Ridge and Smokey Hills and pipeline movements as mentioned
previously.
CASH MANAGEMENT
Recent improvements in US dollar-based PGM pricing have been offset by the
strength of the rand and cash preservation remains a priority. Cash net of debt
at the end June 2009 of R1.36 billion has reduced to a net debt after cash
position of R0.13 billion at the end of the quarter. The final dividend
payment, a major cash outflow during the period, amounted to R1.2 billion
excluding STC.
Enquiries should be directed to:
Bob Gilmour
Group Executive Corporate Relations
+27 11 731 9013/12
+27 82 453 7100
Bob.gilmour@implats.co.za
13 November 2009
Johannesburg
Issued by sponsor: Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited
Date: 13/11/2009 12:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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