Production continues to increase at Messina Platinum's Phase 1 Mine, SouthernEra announced today (August 19th), although it still remains under development.

The main shaft is now fully commissioned, and extracted 171,049 tonnes of material during the last quarter, easily meeting the 40,000 tonnes per month production target.

The bulk of this came from the 150 and 200-metre levels, although development continued on the 275 and 350-metre levels to augment the build-up of production.

Overall, the Millennium Platinum Project in South Africa has increased output by 250 per cent to 3.7 million tonnes.

Profitability problems caused by the strength of the rand and comparatively weak dollar continued to be felt, although the South African Reserve Bank has reduced interest rates by 2.5 per cent as inflation descends, with further cuts expected during the second half of the year.

This, it is hoped, will lead to a softening of the rand, which should then reduce costs to budgeted levels for the final six months of 2003.