The mining company based in South Africa, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), announced the suspension of operations in its Bokoni Platinum mine in the middle of the intention to revise the operational plan of the mine.
The suspension comes as a result of a declared decrease in basic annual income, with an arm citing a significant deficiency charge linked to the mine.
Arm reported an alteration of R2.2 billion ($ 125 million) in Bokoni, attributing it to a delay in improving mining operations and a change in mining methodology.
This led to a decrease in basic profits of the ARM 330 m for the financial year ending on June 30, down compared to R3.1 billion rands the previous year.
The profits of the company also fell to 2.69 billion rands of R5.08 billion rands, influenced by the fall in prices of raw materials for iron ore and coal.
In 2022, Arm acquired Bokoni from Anglo American and Atlatsa Resources for R3.5 billion. The mine was under care and maintenance since 2017 after a series of financial losses, according to a Reuters report.
Initially, Arm operated Bokoni using an existing concentrator of 60,000 tonnes per month (TPM) as part of an “early ounce” plan to widen operations.
However, the slowdown in metal prices from the Platinum group in 2023 led to the postponement of a 240,000 TP development project.
Consequently, current mining and milling capacities were not sufficient to cover fixed costs and maintain profitability, resulting in the suspension of operations in late June.
Arm said: “Without this larger scale, the lower production volumes obtained from the project of the first ounces could not achieve the required scale.
“Consequently, ore extraction and milling operations were suspended at the end of the F2025, allowing Bokoni to refocus capital and strategic efforts on the development of the ore reserve to support sustainable future production.”
Despite a 62% increase in the production of metal concentrates from the Platinum group in Bokoni to 45,579 OZ during the year, mine cash costs increased by $ 48% / OZ.
Arm is carrying out a feasibility study to assess a progressive development strategy, starting with a new concentrator factory of 120,000 TPM and potentially widen at 240,000 TPM.
Emphasis is placed on the optimization of the note, the effectiveness of capital and long -term lasting yields of high quality resources of Bokoni.
“African rainbow minerals interrupt operations in Bokoni Platinum Mine” was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a brand belonging to Globaldata.
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