Eastern Platinum’s initial phase of Zandfontein underground is fully operational
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Eastern Platinum Limited has announced that the initial phase (“soft start”) of the Zandfontein underground operations at the Company’s flagship Crocodile River Mine (“CRM”) is now fully operational. CRM is located within the Bushveld Complex, host to approximately 80% of the world’s PGM-bearing ore, in northeastern South Africa.
“It is my pleasure to announce that the soft restart of the Zandfontein underground operations is complete and is fully operational,” commented Wanjin Yang, CEO of Eastern Platinum. “We can now begin to ramp up underground mining efforts and bring run-of-mine (“ROM”) material to the surface, where we will begin the first batch of ROM processing in Q2 2024. I would like to thank all employees for achieving this milestone and our shareholders for their continued support.”
The Company plans to achieve a mining run rate of 40,000 tons per month by the end of 2024, with the aim of processing up to 235,000 tons of ore from underground production this year.
Eastplats owns directly and indirectly a number of platinum group metal (“PGM”) and chrome assets in the Republic of South Africa. All of the Company’s properties are situated on the western limb (Crocodile River Mine) and eastern limb (Kennedy’s Vale, Spitzkop, Mareesburg) of the Bushveld Complex, the geological environment that hosts approximately 80% of the world’s PGM-bearing ore.
Operations at the Crocodile River Mine currently include re-mining and processing its tailings resource to produce PGM and chrome concentrates from the Barplats Zandfontein tailings dam.
