Implats warns of supply crisis

Implats has to spend a final R2,6bn on its new, low-cost 16 and 20 shafts to bring them into production by 2020, when a supply deficit is expected to worsen. The new Impala Rustenburg mines will lift output from between 700,000oz and 710,000oz in 2016 to 830,000oz.

Source: Business Day/Martin Rhodes

"There is an absolute lack of investment in the platinum industry. We're not too far from 2020, 2021, and 2022 when supply from this country is going to drop off a cliff," Goodlace warned in his final results presentation as CEO of Implats.

He is the second platinum CEO to warn of the fall in South African platinum supply.

Last week, Paul Dunne, head of Northam Platinum, said a decade of underinvestment in mines and projects meant supply would be at or below 4-million ounces in 2016 and next, well off the 5.6-million ounce peak reached in 2006.

While platinum prices have yet to respond to the fundamental supply issues, Goodlace said he believed there would be a "big surprise in the future".

In dollar terms, the average platinum price fell to $1,627 an ounce from $2,199 an ounce a year ago, but in rand terms, the fall was less precipitous, sliding to R23,413 an ounce from R25,091 an ounce a year earlier as the rand weakened against the dollar.

Implats, which has mines in SA and Zimbabwe, reported a loss of R70m for the year to end-June compared with a R3,66bn loss the previous year, as refined platinum output grew 13%, to 1,44-million ounces. Implats, which did not declare a dividend, said headline earnings had fallen by two-thirds to 12c.

"With the exception of Impala Rustenburg, all other operations delivered remarkable performances in an extremely challenging operating environment, with many setting new safety and production records," Implats said.

The wholly owned Impala Rustenburg mines generate most of the company's output, and had two major safety incidents during the year.

Implats recorded savings of R1,4bn for the year. The key contributors included cutting staff to save R286m, renegotiating contracts to save R306m, and deferring capital and operating efficiencies to recover R241m.