Impala, which has operations in South Africa, Zimbabwe and
Canada, will release its interim results on March 2.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya
Editing by David Goodman)
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Impala Platinum's output of
refined platinum group metal (PGM) fell 9% year on year in the
second half of 2022 as power cuts and a furnace rebuild hit
smelter operations, the South African mining company said on
Friday.
In a production update, Impala said it had lost an estimated
38,000 refined PGM ounces, nearly 3% of total refined output,
owing to so-called load shedding by state power utility Eskom.
Impala's refined output declined to 1.476 million ounces in
the six-month period, down from 1.617 million ounces in the same
period last year.
"Smelting capacity in the period was constrained by the
increased occurrence and severity of load curtailment and
exacerbated by the commencement of the scheduled rebuild of the
No.4 furnace in Rustenburg," Impala said.
Concentrate production was unchanged at 1.616 million ounces
and the miner closed the half year with 140,000 ounces of excess
inventory.
Bigger rival Anglo American Platinum on Thursday
reported a 25% decline in refined PGM output last year, blaming
dealys to the rebuild of its Polokwane smelter, power outages
and lower mine output and grades.
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