| Amandelbult Section (managed – 100% owned) |
| SAFETY |
| During the year, Amandelbult Section embarked on a
safety initiative focused on eliminating injuries from the
workplace and outcomes will be shared across the
Group. The lost-time injury frequency rate reduced
from 3.19 in 2006 to 2.85 in 2007. Three fatalities were
experienced in 2007 compared to five in 2006. |
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| PRODUCTION |
| Production of equivalent refined platinum ounces
decreased by 3% to 576,700 ounces from 595,200
ounces in 2006. The decrease was due to lower grades
from higher UG2 mining (55% in 2007 compared to
51% in 2006) and the continued lower grades
encountered on the Merensky horizon. However,
tonnes milled increased marginally to 6,981,000 from
6,974,000, due to the increased UG2 mining. The effect
of the increased UG2 and lower Merensky grade
resulted in a decrease of 3% in the 4E built-up head
grade from 5.29 g/t to 5.13 g/t. The Merensky grade is
expected to progressively improve as the transition
zone is breached and the No 2 shaft upgraded stope
support measures become fully effective. The
immediately available ore reserves decreased to 17.6
months at the end of 2007 from 18.3 months at the
end of 2006 due to lower than expected performances
from specialised development contractors. Immediately
available face length remains constrained on the
Merensky horizon at the mine's deeper sections. |
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| Mark Farren |
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| COSTS |
| Total cash on-mine costs rose by R737 million or 30%
to R3.2 billion. Cash on-mine cost per tonne milled
increased by 30% to R453 in 2007. Cash on-mine cost
per equivalent refined platinum ounce increased by
35% to R5,486 due to higher support costs associated
with an increase in support density to meet new safety
standard requirements, above-infiation wage increases
and substantial infiationary increases on key commodities.
This was further exacerbated by increased mining
labour numbers to meet anticipated higher production
levels. |
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| CAPITAL EXPENDITURE |
| Total capital expenditure increased to R1.2 billion in
2007 from R0.7 billion in 2006. The mine incurred
R0.3 billion on the East Upper UG2 expansion project.
Ongoing capital expenditure increased by
R94 million over 2006. |
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| OUTLOOK |
| The East Upper UG2 expansion project production deliveries are expected to commence in 2009 and is expected to yield 106,000 equivalent refined platinum from 2012. |
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| Projects |
| Amandelbult Section projects |
The East Upper UG2 project has commenced
and the project is on schedule. The project will
use existing Merensky mining infrastructure at No 2
shaft and the upper section of No 2 shaft area, namely
at the 44 east raise bore and sub-incline, the 50 east
footwall and 62 east footwall shaft inclines. The project
will reach steady-state production in 2012, producing
106,000 platinum ounces per annum.
In support of the Amandelbult East Upper UG2 mining,
expansion of the UG2 concentrator from 75,000 to
210,000 tonnes per month is required. Execution began
in February 2007 with commissioning planned for the
fourth quarter of 2008. Design and procurement is well
advanced and civil construction is in progress.
As a consequence of the tonnage increase, a new
tailings dam (3B), holding dam and upgraded tailings
handling and pumping systems are required. The tailings
dam feasibility study was approved in December 2006,
with construction under way and commissioning planned for the third quarter of 2008. The tailings
handling and pumping system upgrade has also started
and will be in operation from quarter one of 2008.
The No 4 shaft project feasibility study is complete and
being reviewed. The project aims to replace diminishing
Merensky reef resources, and provides a moderate
expansion of UG2 chromitite production output at
Amandelbult. The project is designed to co-extract
both the Merensky and UG2 reefs. Design production
capacity for the project is 250,000 tonnes per month. |
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