Impala Platinum (Implats) has announced that it plans to optimise the cost of its capital by restructuring the way it handles debt.

David Brown, the chief financial officer, says that during the current financial year Implats intends to borrow between R1 billion and R1.5 billion.

The news marks a departure from the pgm giant's traditional practice, which sees it having almost no debt, instead financing itself through equity.

However, Brown points to the cost of servicing equity finance and says that by bringing in a level of debt Implats can reduce its average weighted cost of capital.

This will mean projects will not have to pass such a stringent economic viability test because the weighted average cost of capital will reduce.

'Each project we have was reviewed on the basis of a number of criteria, taking base operating statistics (recoveries, grades and historical and tested knowledge) into consideration. We then apply these parameters, taking the rand/dollar exchange rate and the longterm metal price into consideration,' Brown told Business Day.

According to Brown the redrafting of the way the company handles capital will facilitate more projects and will help to optimise the firm's profits.