Premium Exploration announced that it has received approval from the United States Forest Service for its 10,000 foot drill programme. The programme will be operated alongside Beartooth Platinum and is designed to look into a "feeder zone" to discover the properties of potential platinum group metals mineralisation at the Chrome Mountain Project. The project is located near to the Stillwater Mining Company.

Beartooth Platinum said that the programme will consist of ten to 15 NQ Core holes going about 10,000 feet down. It would be a follow up from the 2007 drill programme. The previous programme revealed high-grade reef-style mineralisation that could be associated with chromitite layers in a much thicker envelope of platinum group metals enrichment, the firm revealed.

Camec Enterprises said that it is optimistic about platinum mining opportunities in Zimbabwe. Despite the indigenisation law in the pipeline, Camec Enterprises plans to bring a Zimbabwean mine into production in the next 18 months. The firm is targeting production levels of between 120,000 oz and 150,000 oz.

Meanwhile, Eurasia Mining announced that it had secured a Russian partner to invest in its platinum projects in the Eastern European country. Deloan Investment Limited agreed to invest a sum of £1 million in loan notes that could eventually be converted into Eurasia equity. According to a statement from Eurasia Mining, the transaction indicates the firm's desire to secure a Russian partner for further projects. The firm is currently looking at platinum group metals prospects in two regions of Russia.

Sylvania Resources announced this month that the construction of its Lannex and Elandsdrift-Mooinooi plants is nearing completion. The plants are scheduled to be in production by the end of the year and they have cost an estimated R320 million. Louis Carroll, the Executive Director of the firm, said that the expansions reflected the company's ambitions to increase capacity. It will mean production has reach 70,000 oz a year by 2010.

Platinum Australia received a boost this month when it was awarded prospective mining rights for the Kalahari Platinum project. Covering an area of about 26 kilometres to the north of the existing project, it is a venture between Platinum Australia and Batsalani Mining & Resources. Platinum Australia will not begin exploration including a detailed survey of the ground project area. John Lewis, Managing Director of the firm, said: "The partners intend to carry out an aeromagnetic survey of the project during the second half of 2008, to be followed by a detailed soil geochemical survey over the project area."