[Ferro-Alloys.com] Tharisa Minerals, the platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome coproducer, said yesterday that its mining volumes were affected by unprecedented rainfall not seen in the history of the mine.

In its production report for the first quarter of the 2023 financial year, released yesterday, the group said rainfall in the first quarter was 27% higher than in previous years.

Tharisa Minerals CEO Phoevos Pouroulis said output in the quarter was hampered by unprecedented rainfall in the open pit where it mines in the North West.

“While the changes we have made to the pit layout provided significantly better drainage, access to the pit was nevertheless hampered due to the high water level, directly resulting in pit flexibility being compromised. Our stockpile management strategy was implemented over the past 24 months (and) resulted in minimising the impact on our normal output,” he said.

According to the group, the rain led to a decline in its mining volumes to 1.08 million tons in the quarter that ended December 31, compared to mining volumes of 1.31 million tons in the quarter that ended September 30 and 1.41 million tons mined in the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

Tharisa reported that its platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, and gold (6E) platinum group metals production dropped to 42 700 ounces in the period under review, compared to the 45 300 ounces of PGMs produced in the preceding quarter and the 47 700 ounces produced in the comparable quarter of 2021.

Tharisa said chrome concentrate production also dropped to 383 100 tons in the reported quarter, compared to 416 200 tons in the prior quarter and 401 800 tons produced in the comparable quarter of 2021.

Despite this, Tharisa said it kept its full-year production guidance unchanged at between 175 000 and 185 000 ounces of platinum group metals and chrome concentrate production of 1.75 million tons (Mt) and 1.85Mt. Pouroulis said: “Despite operational headwinds at the Tharisa Mine, the company delivered a solid quarter of PGM and chrome production, underpinning our commitment to delivering guidance of between 175koz (kilo-ounces) and 185koz PGM and 1.75Mt and 1.85Mt chrome concentrates.”

The group said chrome prices remained strong, with a spot price of about $260 per ton at the time of writing. “Stockpiles in China remain at the lower end of seasonal levels despite lower ferrochrome production in the latter part of the quarter. Demand for chrome remains resilient, and shipments are being executed as rapidly as possible given transport logistics constraints in South Africa,” the group said.

Tharisa said the quarter also saw significant progress in the development of Karo Platinum, which will be its second Tier 1 PGM asset, with groundbreaking and the commencement of the development of the necessary infrastructure and mine construction, supported by the first bond issue on the Victoria Falls Exchange in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, the group said that it was on track to increase the output from the Vulcan plant by the second half of the 2023 financial year, which ends on September 30, after optimisation work.

• [Editor:tianyawei]