June 11 (Reuters) – Aquarius Platinum said it would
suspend operations at its Marikana operations in South Africa,
citing low platinum prices, and said trading conditions in the
industry were expected to remain difficult in the short to
medium term.
Aquarius Platinum, the world’s fourth-largest primary
platinum producer, said it wanted to preserve the ore reserves
at the mine until extraction was economically feasible.
The Marikana 4 shaft and the Marikana concentrator plant
would be placed on care and maintenance, the company said.
The management functions at the Marikana pooling and sharing
agreement (PSA2), an agreement between the company and Anglo
Platinum, would be consolidated with those of the PSA1 at
Kroondal.
The platinum mining industry has been hit by rising costs
and falling prices amid weaker demand, with the spot platinum
price falling about 15 percent in the last three months.
“The macro is unlikely to improve materially in the
short-term until there are significant supply cuts from the
majors, especially Anglo and Impala,” Numis Securities’ Andy
Davidson said.
Aquarius Platinum shares were up 2 percent at 75 pence at
0715 GMT on Monday on the London Stock Exchange.
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