Sylvania Platinum has said it is on course to meet its production target for the year ending June 30th and will increase output by 50 per cent over the next 12 months.

The low-cost platinum group metal (pgm) miner provided an update on its operations, stating that it will hit 40,000 oz for this financial year.

Expansion work at three projects in South Africa will allow it to increase this to 60,000 oz for the year ending June 2012, said chief executive officer (CEO) Terry McConnachie.

The construction of a heavy media separation plant at its Mooinooi Tailings Plant in the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex has been completed on time and in budget.

Although total plant feed remains at 40,000 t/m, the increased run-of-mine feed allows better recoveries and is expected to increase by 220 oz/m.

This project allows a second phase expansion at the plant, which Sylvania said could allow pgm production to rise to over 1,600 oz/m.

In the Eastern Limb of the platinum-rich Bushveld Complex, the new Lannex tailings dam, which was completed in April, has now been commissioned.

Meanwhile, a final project study for the Tweefontein chrome and pgm plant is complete, with construction due to be finished by May 2012.

The plant would be similar to the Doornbosch operation, the miner said, and pgm production is expected to reach 880 oz/m.

Commenting, Nigel Trevarthen, deputy CEO, said: "The above announcements coupled with record production results from each quarter this year should demonstrate that Sylvania is able to deliver on promises made to the market."

He added: "Work is progressing well at our Volspruit and Northern Limb projects and we look forward to validating our ability to deliver a profitable business that exploits the low grade deposits in the Bushveld Complex."

Mr McConnachie added that Sylvania, which currently has five producing pgm plants, is well under way with expanding output at its existing projects and plans to commission a sixth operation during 2012.

Source:

Sylvania to boost PGM output to 60 000 oz next year (01/06/11) 

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