Northam Platinum has seen more than 5,000 troy ounces of metal lost in production as a result of the blaze at its Limpopo mine last week.

The platinum miner announced today that it has lost 5,250 troy ounces as of the end of Monday.

Northam spokesman Marion Brower confirmed that after five days of closure the firm was beginning to feel the output dip.

For the full 2004 financial year Northam, which employs 6,500 people, produced 340,547 oz of precious metals in concentrate.

However, analysts told I-Net Bridge that they expect the company to report headline earnings down 19 per cent from the 109.5 cents achieved in the 2004 financial year.

Nine miners died in the blaze, which broke out last Monday more than 2km underground.

Meanwhile, the chief inspector of mines, May Hermanus, has vowed that a comprehensive investigation would be staged ahead of any return to production.

The fallout from the mining accident has already been felt in the company's share price, which slipped 3.2 per cent on the news.