Aquarius Platinum has announced it has entered into a 'pool and share' agreement with Anglo Platinum (Angloplats) on their respective mining properties at Rustenburg and Kroondal.

Under the arrangement Aquarius' South African unit will link with Angloplats in order to boost output and pool resources.

Angloplats will provide access to a portion of the UG2 orebody on Rustenburg Platinum Mines lease area and Aquarius Platinum will provide access to its existing Kroondal Platinum Mine lease area and infrastructure.

The deal is expected to result in both firms sharing around $277 million in synergies, according to Aquarius.

The capacity at Kroondal will more than double, with output swelling to 505,000 platinum group metal (pgm) ounces by 2005, of which half will be attributable to Aquarius Platinum South Africa.

A management committee comprising an equal number of representatives from each party will oversee the operations, which will be managed by Aquarius Platinum.