adminmore than 20 percent of the group’s attributable output.
South Africa-based Aquarius Platinum has a 50/50 joint venture with Impala Platinum for the ownership of the Mimosa mine.
During the period under review, Mimosa’s production increased by 13 percent to 2,4 million tonnes. Overall, group attributable production rose 15 percent to 487 404 ounces for the full year.
Volumes processed increased by 1 percent to 2,3 million tonnes. The mine’s platinum group metals production increased by four percent to 208 016 ounces.
However, cash costs for Mimosa during the period grew 14 percent.
Mimosa’s revenue increased by 35 percent to US$340 million due to increased production and a higher basket price.
The overall positive performance of the Mimosa mine was notwithstanding some operational challenges that it faced during the year.
After record production levels achieved in the first quarter of the 2011 financial year, challenging ground conditions were encountered across all areas of Mimosa in the second quarter persisting for the remainder of the year, said the group.
This lowered production in the second quarter, to which the group deployed additional load haul dump machines (LHDs) and drilling rigs in order to maintain production levels. This was successful in that Mimosa achieved record production during the year under review, although it placed pressure on mining costs.
For the last quarter, Mimosa registered record production of the mineral to lift the group’s overall output, at a time when Aquarius experienced lower-than-expected volumes at its South African operations during the quarter.
Mimosa’s platinum production increased by 3 percent to 595 967 tonnes in the fourth quarter.
In terms of the group, revenue (PGM sales, interest) for the year was US$682,9 million, up 45 percent from US$472,2 million in the prior comparable period.
The increased revenue was a result of increased production, up 85 236 ounces and an 18 percent increase in the US dollar basket price achieved for South African operations and a 29 percent increase in the US dollar price in Zimbabwe.
Group attributable mine production for the period was 487 404 ounces. The group’s existing operations are expected to continue to increase production in 2012 financial year to between 545 000 and 560 000 ounces.
Online Reporter