Black-owned Northam Platinum will be able to speed up development work at its Booysendal project to ensure it meets its January 2013 production target.

The platinum group metal (pgm) miner was granted a water-use licence for the project in the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, which should mean it is operating on time and adding 162,000 pgm ounces annually, Northam chief executive officer Glyn Lewis has confirmed.

Speaking to South African publication Business Day, he also explained that Northam had been granted a new order mining right for its deep-level Zondereinde mine in the Limpopo region.

"Construction at Booysendal had to be slowed because we had to wait for the water-use licence, which meant we could only work on things that did not impact (on) water," he said.

"Now we can go full throttle because this permit has reduced impediments."

The first phase of the Booysendal project is expected to add around 162,000 oz a year to the 300,000 pgm ounces from Zondereinde.

In the six months to the end of December 2010, production at Zondereinde slipped 33 per cent as a result of strike action.

Earlier this month, Northam reached agreement with Aquarius Platinum to sell some of the mineral rights attached to the southern portion of Booysendal for a cash amount of R1.2 billion (£100 million).

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Northam green light to speed up mine project (25/05/11)

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