Aquarius Platinum revealed today (21st April) that its attributable pgm production fell from 131,843 oz to 97,212 oz during the quarter to the end of March 2009.

The world's fourth-largest platinum producer has explained the decline by noting that there were ten fewer shifts in South Africa during the three-month period and that operations were temporarily suspended at its Everest mine.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer Stuart Murray revealed that the figures are somewhat misleading as they conceal some major strides forward for the company.

He said: "The calendar quarter to March is traditionally the lowest average quarterly production for our South African operations because it includes the Christmas and New Year holiday periods.

"What at first glance appears to be a quarter of lower production and flat costs actually reveals some good improvements at the operations for the third quarter in a row."

The results also showed that attributable production at Kroondal was 52,460 oz pgm - down by four per cent - and output at Marikana fell by eight per cent to 19,426 oz pgm.

At Mimosa, quarterly production increased by seven per cent to 23,139 oz pgm, while an 11 per cent decrease to 793 oz pgm was recorded at the Chromite Tailings Retreatment Programme.

Finally, Aquarius confirmed that output at its Platinum Mile facility fell by ten per cent to 1,394 oz pgm, mainly as a result of commissioning difficulties with the fine grind mills.

Sources:

Third Quarter 2009 Financial & Production Results (21/04/09)UPDATE 2-Aquarius Platinum swings to Q3 profit (21/04/09)