Implats concentrate production increases by 16%, record financial results

Impala Platinum (Implats) delivered meaningful progress in achieving operational excellence, with an improved safety performance coupled with an industry leading recovery in underlying mined volumes from Covid-related production interruptions.

Each operation delivered volume gains and the Group benefitted from a full annual contribution from Impala Canada, which was acquired in December 2019. 6E concentrate production from mine-to-market operations, including the joint ventures at Two Rivers and Mimosa, increased by 16% to 2.93 million ounces.

In the prior year, total production losses of 248 000 ounces 6E in concentrate were directly attributed to the impact of Covid-19 on mine-to-market operations. Third-party 6E concentrate receipts increased by 9% to 358 000 ounces.

In aggregate, total 6E concentrate production of 3.29 million ounces increased by 16%. Capital expenditure in the prior year was impacted by reduced capital development and limited project progression due to national Covid-19 lockdowns.

For the year under review, capital expenditure increased by 43% to R6.4 billion, reflecting the inclusion of Impala Canada for the full reporting period, and accelerated spend at Zimplats following the early approval of the expansion projects at Mupani and Bimha and the ongoing spend on the Mupani and third concentrator projects.

Impala delivered R16.8 billion in free cash flow, (FY2020: R8.4 billion) a 99% increase from the prior year as higher rand PGM pricing and the sales mix offset the impact of a 2% decline in sales volumes of 1.23 million 6E ounces (FY2020: 1.25 million 6E ounces).

Impala made a gross profit of R25.2 billion (FY2020: R8.9 billion) and contributed R17.3 billion to Group headline earnings (FY2020: R6.5 billion).