Northam Platinum has agreed to buy Aquarius Platinum’s Everest mine on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa for R450 million in cash (the rand:U.S. dollar exchange rate as of mid-February was about 11.6:1). The Everest mine has been on care and maintenance since June 2012 due to adverse market conditions.
The mine and its associated assets are located adjacent to Northam’s Booysendal resource and include a concentrator with throughput capacity of 250,000 mt/m; a chrome spiral recovery plant; a tailings dam; and three decline shaft systems.
Northam CEO Paul Dunne said, “The consolidation of Everest provides an excellent platform for Northam to develop the Booysendal Central and Booysendal South orebodies, market conditions permitting. These assets are an ideal geographical and operational fit for Northam’s Booysendal division. Northam is confident that this transaction will add significant shareholder value, unlocking a resource of approximately 60 million PGM oz in an extremely capital efficient manner.”
