Mar 27 2015
African Thunder Platinum Limited is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of certain South African PGM assets. ATP has been funded by a consortium of experienced mining investors, Aberdeen International, and Pala Investments.
Aberdeen and Pala have become shareholders of ATP. Macquarie Bank Limited will also shortly become a shareholder of ATP.
Highlights
- Acquisition of two PGM assets completed:
- 69.75% of Smokey Hills, a formerly-producing PGM mine and processing plant located on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld; and
- 49% of Kalplats, a highly-prospective PGM project located in the Kraaipan Greenstone belt.
- Smokey Hills fully-funded to production:
- Re-start of mining commenced in January and commissioning of the processing plant is expected to start shortly; and
- Ramping-up production during 2015 to over 50k oz of annualized PGMs expected by Q4 2015.
Smokey Hills
Smokey Hills is located on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The mine was on care and maintenance from September 2012 to September 2014 and in October of this year, preparations began to restart operations at the mine.
The mine is expected to ramp up over 2015 and achieve full production by 2016. Annual production (on a recovered basis) is expected to range between 52,000 oz 4E (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold) and 64,000 oz 4E over six years of full production based on current mine plans. Cash costs are expected to be low relative to other South African platinum producers. Smokey Hills is a shallow underground mine with access achieved through six portals developed prior to closure in 2012.
The existing Smokey Hills plant comprises a standard UG2 milling and flotation circuit with a 60,000 tonnes per month nameplate capacity. The site is well-serviced by local infrastructure. Smokey Hills is easily accessible by paved road, with water and grid power to site, plus additional standby diesel generating capacity to provide back-up power as needed.
Based on a National Instrument 43-101 compliant independent mineral resource and reserve estimate completed on the property by Minxcon Projects based in South Africa, Smokey Hills has an estimated measured and indicated mineral resource of 4.18 million tonnes at 5.62 g/t 4E for a total of 755,000 oz 4E. The proportion of each element is 44% Pt : 45% Pd : 10%Rh : 1% Au. A geological loss of 6.83% has been applied to the mineral resource to account for potholes which is consistent with orebodies in this area. The resource and reserve have not been modified to reflect any socio-economic, legal or political risks. The resource and reserve totals take into account material mined to date. The Smokey Hills property has a proven and probable mineral reserve of 3.48 million tonnes at 4.40 g/t 4E for a total of 492,000 oz 4E. The mineral reserve reflects a minimum stoping width of 115 cm, a 4E basket price of US$1,129 per ounce and a ZAR/USD exchange rate of 10.72.
Kalplats
Kalplats is a shallow platinum-palladium resource located on the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt, in Northwest Province, South Africa. It is a unique platinum project in that it is geologically distinct from the Bushveld-type deposits typical of South Africa. Mineralization is steeply dipping, and historical work focused exclusively on near-surface mineralization that could be mined in an open pit. Based on a historical pre-feasibility study disclosed in October 2009 by Platinum Australia and prepared by DRA with an effective date of September 2010, the project has a historical inferred resource of 137.4 million tonnes at a grade of 1.53 g/t (3E, platinum + palladium + gold) for a total of 6.7 million oz 3E on a 100% basis. The joint venture partner is African Rainbow Minerals Platinum Pty, and ATP will be the operator.