Anglo American Platinum PGMs production in line with prior year
In its PGMs Production Report for the third quarter ending 30 September 2021, Anglo American Platinum says the total PGM production remained in line with prior period (Q3 2020) at 1,116,200 ounces, with platinum production 1% higher at 519,100 ounces, offset by a 3% decrease in palladium production to 342,600 ounces.
Natascha Viljoen, CEO of Anglo American Platinum, said: “We have delivered a strong safety and production performance in the third quarter, with our own-managed operations being fatality-free for the year to 30 September 2021. I am particularly proud of the commitment and dedication our teams across the operations have shown in limiting the impact of Covid-19 on our employees, communities and workplace safety, as illustrated by the significant improvement in our safety record, including in relation to recordable injuries. However, we will not rest until we achieve zero harm across our business.
“The completion and successful integration of our debottlenecking project at Unki demonstrates how we are maximising value from our portfolio of high-quality assets, resulting in an annual run-rate increase of 50,000 PGMs ounces. Similarly, the strong performance of the ACP shows the increased resilience we are embedding across our business, with operational stability our major focus.
“We are on track to achieve our production and sales targets for the year, while carefully managing the ongoing risks posed by Covid-19 and the potential for Eskom power outages. Our efforts to mitigate these risks include an extensive workplace vaccination programme, with over 22,000 employees and contractors receiving at least one vaccine dose.
“We have also progressed our plans to build a 100 MW solar plant at Mogalakwena, which will progress us towards our target of achieving carbon neutrality across our business by 2040, thereby further increasing our business resilience and making a real difference for our stakeholders, particularly for those local to our operations.”
2021 FULL-YEAR GUIDANCE
PGM production guidance (metal-in-concentrate) remains unchanged at 4.2? 4.4 million PGM ounces.
Refined PGM production (excluding tolling) guidance and PGM sales guidance (excluding trading activities) remains unchanged at 4.8? 5.0 million PGM ounces. Guidance is subject to the consequences of Covid-19 and Eskom power outages in Q4 2021.
