Absolute enters platinum with Pienaar at helm (15/02/10)

Absolute has secured a binding agreement to take up an effective 60 per cent stake in the Bauba platinum resource.

The property contains eight platinum-prospective farms which cover 12,700 hectares along the Leolo mountain range in South Africa's Limpopo province.

According to reports, the location should incorporate chromitite from both the Merensky and UG2 reefs and could contain more than 100,000 oz of pgms.

The JSE's Stock Exchange News Service also revealed that its estimated reconnaissance resource is 700 million tonnes, which it describes as a conservative prediction.

Absolute would be down dip of three existing platinum mines and three development projects if the deal, which it has described as "company-transforming", is completed.

Exploration plans for Bauba would include geological mapping, three-dimensional seismic surveys and diamond drilling.

Absolute has recruited Pine Pienaar, former Chief Executive of Mvelaphanda Resources, to oversee the agreement.

North American Palladium Announces 2009Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results (25/02/10)

North American Palladium (NAP) has declared itself satisfied with the progress of its strategic initiatives during 2009.

Although its flagship Lac des Iles (LDI) mine was placed on care and maintenance, the company still managed to complete 42,000m of exploration drilling at the site.

The result of this project was the discovery of two new zones located close to the Offset Zone, which NAP is now calling Cowboy and Outlaw.

In addition, improved palladium grade was witnessed during infill drilling in the Offset Zone, prompting NAP to develop a 1,500m ramp over a depth of 200m.

The ramp, which will cost the firm about $16 million, will pave the way for surface mining and additional underground exploration.

NAP also completed the purchase of the Sleeping Giant gold mine and has since undertaken 10,500m of extensional drilling.

As a result, the mine shaft will now be made 200m deeper, a project which is expected to require about $6 million in funding but should be finished in 2010.

"Although 2009 was a challenging year, I am pleased with the progress made," said President and Chief Executive William Biggar.

"With LDI set to be fully operational again early in the second quarter, NAP is well positioned to benefit from the continuing upturn in the palladium price cycle as well as the positive outlook for the gold price."

Look at Marathon PGM mine begins (14/03/10)

Marathon PGM Corporation has submitted a formal description of its Marathon PGM-Cu project to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

The Toronto-based firm has completed all the fieldwork for the project and expects the review to take 21 months.

Marathon is hoping to prolong the life of a large-tonnage, open-pit mine by conducting further exploration of the deposit.

The proven and probable reserves have so far been calculated as 91.45 million tonnes at a grade of 0.832g/t of palladium, 0.237g/t of platinum, 0.085g/t of gold, 1.44g/t of silver and 0.247 per cent copper.

Wesizwe favours building platinum mine with strategic partner (31/03/10)

Wesizwe Platinum has announced that a feasibility study on the Frischgewaagd-Ledig project revealed a resource of 13 million oz pgm and a near-term potential of producing 350,000 oz pgm per year.

The company is still assessing the best approach to the project after its management rejected the delay, sell or self-fund options in relation to building the platinum mine.

Management are believed to be in favour of forming a strategic balance-sheet partnership with a local or foreign partner, thus enabling the mine to be created as a Wesizwe property.

Meanwhile, the firm is also involved in exploring Project Delta, which is located close to Frischgewaagd-Ledig, Mining Weekly reports.

The target is thought to contain a resource of 16 million ounces and attributable pgm production of about 415,000 oz per year.

If this project is concluded, Anglo Platinum will become the largest single Wesizwe shareholder, having accumulated 26.7 per cent of its ordinary share capital.

In return, Wesizwe will boost its attributable pgm resources by roughly 20 per cent to 15.7 million ounces.

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