Impala Platinum (Implats) said the increased severity and frequency of load curtailment by power utility Eskom, necessitating adjustments to hoisting, concentrating and smelting rates in South Africa, had knocked its operational momentum during the quarter.
Looking ahead, while the mining firm said its key guidance parameters for 2023 had been maintained, it warned that group unit costs and capital expenditure remained vulnerable to a sustained depreciation of the rand owing to the translation of the dollar cost base at both Impala Canada and Zimplats.
Implats’ CEO, Nico Muller, said on Friday in the firm’s production report: "In addition, socio-economic pressures are being compounded by rising global inflation, which in South Africa has been further aggravated by the recent rand depreciation.
"Despite these headwinds, we expect revenue to remain robust. Recent discussions with our core customer base confirm our expectations for the rising demand for our key products over the coming year. PGM (platinum group metals) pricing remains volatile and vulnerable to macroeconomic news flow. We are determined to maximise the tailwinds of strong prevailing PGM prices and deliver our guided business performance in the 2023 financial year, for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”
Gross tonnes milled at managed operations improved by 2% to 5.85 million tonnes during the quarter, with volume gains at Impala Rustenburg and Zimplats, stable production at Marula, and marginally lower mill throughput at Impala Canada.
Implats said milled production at Impala Rustenburg increased by 2% to 2.65 million tonnes, but milled head grade declined by 4% to 3.85g/t owing to changes in the ore mix across the shaft complex. As a result, 6E in concentrate production declined by 2% to 310 000 ounces.
"The operating environment at Impala Rustenburg remains challenging: production momentum was impacted by unprotected industrial action among the contractor workforce at the end of the 2022 financial year," it said.
Tonnes milled in Zimplats increased by 3% to 1.73 million tonnes, with the third concentrator plant commissioned towards period-end. Milled grade declined by 1% owing to changes in ore mix as production ceased at Rukodzi Mine in the fourth quarter full year 2022.
"Marula sustained record milling volumes of 522 000 tonnes, but the grade of 4.49g/t declined by 5% owing to the impact of increased development tonnage from the Phase 2 extension project," it said.
Mimosa-milled volumes were impacted by intermittent power interruptions and the decision to reduce milling rates to nameplate capacity, to assess the impact on recoveries, as part of the ongoing plant optimisation process.
"While tonnes milled were 3% lower at 680 000 tonnes and milled grade declined 2% to 3.78g/t, yield improvements resulted in stable 6E concentrate production of 61 000 ounces," the miner said.
Two Rivers milled volumes benefited from expanded processing capacity and the increased processing of lower-grade material.
"Milled throughput increased by 10% to 933 000 tonnes, milled head grade declined by 4%, with 6E concentrate production rising by 4% to 80 000 ounces," Implats said.
On Friday, the Implats share price gained 0.16% to reach R187.29.
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