Johannesburg - Anglo American Platinum Ltd on Monday confirmed its plans to divest its Union and Rustenburg mines by selling or listing them as stand-alone companies. Chief Executive Chris Griffith also said the company was assessing its Bokoni and Pandora joint ventures and would now focus investment on Mogalakwena, Amandelbult, Unki, Twickenham, as well as its joint venture assets Mototolo, Modikwa, Kroondal and BRPM Mines.
“The next stage of our strategy… is the repositioning of the portfolio announced at the interim results in July, a process that is underway. At the heart of this repositioning is the view that both management time and capital are finite, and that it is better to exit certain assets that can thrive in the hands of a new owner so that they can become successful in their own right,” Griffith said in the group’s annual report.
Amplats said this strategy would allow it to focus on capital efficiently and to implement business improvements.
“We recognise though, that there are no quick fixes or rapid exits. We are working closely with stakeholders to ensure the optimal outcomes for the assets we intend to exit, with care and consideration for employees, communities and the South African platinum industry as a whole,” Griffith said.
During last year’s five-month long strike, 424 000 ounces of platinum production was effectively lost.
“The build-up to steady-state production in the third quarter resulted in a further loss of 108 000 platinum ounces, bringing the total strike-related impact to 532 000 ounces,” said Griffith. This translated into a marginal decrease in sales of around 205 000 platinum ounces of platinum, or 9% from 2013, as a result of careful management of the production pipeline in advance of the anticipated strike he added.
“Given the largely uninterrupted supply of platinum to customers, it was not a surprise that the platinum price did not spike during the strike, as other producers too continued to supply metal to the market,” Griffith said.
ANA