- Eastern Platinum (ELR) files an updated technical report on the Crocodile River Mine
- This particular platinum group metal mine is 70 km north-northwest of Johannesburg in the North West Province
- The planned re-start will focus on the Zandfontein Section
- The plan aims to be practical with a production ramp-up to steady-state production volumes planned
- Non-sustaining capital costs of $21 million included a 15 per cent contingency applied to capital expenditure estimates costing $1,537 per 4E oz
- Eastern Platinum Limited (ELR) is up over 6.50 per cent, trading at C$0.24 at C$1.03 pm ET
Eastern Platinum Limited (ELR) has filed a Technical Report on the Crocodile River Mine (CRM), North West Province in South Africa.
This particular platinum group metal mine is 70 km north-northwest of Johannesburg in the North West Province and 7 km south of the town of Brits and situated on the western limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex.
The area is known for its structural complexity, the Brits Graben. The mine lease area includes one operating mining section and two development sections.
Placed under care and maintenance back in 2013, the report is updated and ready to re-start underground mining. Mining will start in the Zandfontein Section of CRM.
The company plans to state the current resources and reserves supported by the report shortly with the filings.
Zandfontein underground M&I resource is 28 Mt with 3.96 Moz and a reserve of 14.58 Mt with 1.72 Moz for the current project plan of 22 years. The resources are effective as of January 1, 2022.
Based on updated resources and reserves that were provided, the planned re-start will focus on the Zandfontein Section.
Eastern Platinum is prepared for this robust project that lies ahead. The project consists of a hybrid mining method selected from the trade-off study from 2021.
This mining method was selected considering the geological complexity of the Zandfontein orebody and the requirements for selecting a suitable, technically and economically viable mining method.
The company believes that the above method is well suited to the orebody and allows for minimum off-reef development. The plan aims to be practical with a planned production ramp-up to steady-state production volumes.
The study was conducted on a “standalone underground” operation and an “including the remaining and processing of the Tailings Storage Facility operation.
Non-sustaining capital costs of $21 million included a 15 per cent contingency applied to capital expenditure estimates costing $1,537 per 4E oz with a contingency of 20 per cent applied to mining operating costs.
“Now, the company will secure the required funding to get the Zandfontein underground mining restarted in 2022,” said Diana Hu, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Eastplats.
Eastplats owns many PGM and chrome assets in the Republic of South Africa.
All of its properties are situated on the western and eastern limbs of the Bushveld Complex, a geological environment that hosts approximately 80 percent of the world’s PGM-bearing ore.
Operations at the Crocodile River Mine currently include re-mining and processing its tailings resource to produce PGM and chrome concentrates from the Zandfontein tailings dam.
Eastern Platinum Limited (ELR) is up over 6.50 per cent, trading at C$0.24 at C$1.03 pm ET.
