Aim-listed Sylvania Dump Operations (SDO) produced 17 926 oz of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (4E) platinum group metals (PGMs) in the quarter ended March 31 – the third quarter of the company’s 2023 financial year.
Production for the quarter was ahead of expectations, CEO Jaco Prinsloo says.
“Traditionally, quarter three is a lower quarter in terms of production as a result of the slower startup after the December break at the host mines and the shorter February month.
“In comparison with quarter three of full-year 2022, production increased by 13.2% due to various interventions at the operations which have assisted in improving the recovery efficiencies at some of the plants,” he points out.
“With the strong production performance for the year to date and positive results following the post-commissioning optimisation of the Tweefontein MF2, the company is pleased to increase the annual PGM production guidance to between 72 000 oz and 74 000 oz of 4E PGMs for full-year 2023,” he adds.
Further, Prinsloo notes that, despite a 21% year-on-year decrease in the 4E basket price - particularly reflecting the rhodium and palladium prices - having impacted on revenues for the quarter, the company remains in a strong cash flow and cash position.
SDO recorded $26.5-million in net revenue for the quarter.
Group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the period were $9.8-million.
The group cash balance was $144.2-million at the end of the quarter.
As mentioned, the Tweefontein MF2 was successfully commissioned and contributed to improved metal recoveries.
Measures taken to optimise blending are also contributing to improved results, especially at the Eastern operations.
OUTLOOK
The Lannex MF2 construction is in progress, with commissioning scheduled for the first half of full-year 2024, which is expected to further improve PGM recovery efficiencies.
The recent relogging and additional sampling data collected at Volspruit will be subject to an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) during quarter four, which will include a rhodium resource over 100% of the project area.
Available data from a recently completed La Pucella study and historical exploration are being analysed to develop an exploration strategy to prove continuity over the entire Aurora strike length.
Work on the Hacra project continues towards an MRE, using updated data from the recently completed relogging programme.
The group says it maintains strong cash reserves to allow funding of capital expansion and process optimisation projects, upgrade its exploration and evaluation assets and return value to shareholders.