R. Michael Jones, President/CEO/Director of Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (PLG), said the first production from its Western Bushveld Joint Venture Project 1 Platinum Mine (WBJV1) in South Africa is scheduled for 2015. He was speaking at the Denver Gold Forum in Denver, Colorado.
Platinum Group Metals Ltd.’s WBJV1 platinum mine is located near Rustenburg, South Africa. The company is also focused on the exploration and initial engineering on the newly discovered Waterberg platinum deposit, located near Mokopane, South Africa, where Alacer is the operator of the Waterberg joint venture project with the Japanese Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and Mnombo Wethu Consultants (Pty) Ltd. It has also expanded its exploration to the prospecting rights covering 530 square kilometers immediately adjacent and north of the Waterberg JV Project property, known as the Waterberg Extension Project.
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Platinum Metals Group Ltd. has moderated the pace of its Project 1 mine construction while it works on finalizing a US $195 million project loan mandate, updated project finance plans for Project 1, and tests the scale of the Waterberg discovery, Jones said. In the short term, Jones said Platinum Group is particularly focused on exploration drilling with large scale step outs over 20 kilometers underway on the approximately 87% owned Waterberg Extension Project.
Jones said the WBJV Project 1 Platinum Mine is a large scale, high grade, shallow development with steady state production projected at 275k ounces 4E/year with a 20-year mine life. The company, which has multiple construction operations at WBJV, has invested approximately $300 million USD in the mine to date, Jones said, and holds an 83% interest. Construction continues at the site, with expansion plans already on the board.
Platinum Group also touted its Waterberg location, focused on the exploration and initial engineering on the platinum deposit located near Mokopane, South Africa. Jones said it believes the location has an updated resource of 29 million ounces 4E inferred on a combined basis as of June, 2014. Drilling with 24 rigs continues to upgrade and expand the deposit, which Jones described as “a thick mechanized discovery, growing, open and near surface.”
The South African PGM mining industry is undergoing a restructuring, in part because of strikes, historic overproduction and muted price response to the strikes. The WBVJ Project 1 has 1,600 workers, 23% locals, Jones said.
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