Tharisa, a chrome and platinum group metals (PGMs) miner, says it is on track to meet its 2021 production guidance, with SA’s return to level 3 lockdown not disrupting activity.
PGM production was up 14.2% year on year to 39,300oz to end-December, the group’s first quarter, with the average PGM basket price increasing 22.9% to $2,399/oz (R37,410/oz) from the miner’s fourth.
Chrome concentrate production, excluding third parties, was up 8.7% year on year to 372,300 tonnes, with prices largely stable.
Tharisa has stuck to its full-year production guidance of 155,000oz to 165,000oz of PGMs, and 1.45-million tonnes to 1.55-million tonnes of chrome concentrates.
It operates a mine near Brits in North West and has two plants, Voyager and Genesis, to recover chrome and PGMs, and had 1,868 employees at the end of September.
“The first quarter provided a solid platform for Tharisa to meet its production guidance for the current financial year with all metrics delivering strong growth versus the same period in full year 2020,” said CEO Phoevos Pouroulis.
“The consistent performance has been delivered in a strong spot market for PGMs in particular and stable chrome prices,” said Pouroulis.
The increase in Covid-19 infections remains a risk to the company, it said, adding forecasts and guidance are premised on the current level of economic activity permitted by government regulations.
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