Anglo American mine suspends work as it becomes unviable
WORK at a mine co-owned by Anglo American and Aquarius Platinum is to be suspended, after low platinum prices have made the venture unviable.
Aquarius said it would suspend operations at its Marikana operations in South Africa, and said trading conditions in the industry were expected to remain difficult in the short to medium term.
Aquarius Platinum, the world’s fourth-largest primary platinum producer, said it wanted to preserve the ore reserves at the mine until extraction was economically feasible.
The site will be placed on care and maintenance.
The platinum mining industry has been hit by rising costs and falling prices amid weaker demand, with the spot platinum price falling about 15 per cent in the last three months.
“The macro is unlikely to improve materially in the short-term until there are significant supply cuts from the majors, especially Anglo and Impala,” said Andy Davidson of Numis.