South African platinum miner Lonmin has announced that it is to acquire Canadian mining firm AfriOre in US$429.4 million deal.

It is understood that Lonmin is particularly interested in AfriOre's Akanani platinum group metal (pgm) operations in South Africa.

The agreement was initially formed in November, but Lonmin has now announced that it has firmed up its original bid, offering in the region of $429.4 million for AfriOre, and has also completed due diligence on the deal.

Lonmin itself has been the target of a number of takeover rumours in the past year, following increasingly impressive platinum production results as it surpassed the one million platinum ounces mark in October.

The acquisition of AfriOre will further boost Lonmin's overall platinum production potential.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd