JOHANNESBURG – Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) told investors on Wednesday that the water leak at its converter plant would be repaired by next week.
Amplats, a unit of Anglo American plc, said the detailed technical investigation into the cause of the leak showed localised damage to a single cooler tube that was now being replaced.
“The repair work is expected to be completed next week, and recommissioning will then start once a detailed risk-based assurance process has confirmed it is safe to do so,” said the company.
Last week, Amplats temporarily closed the high-pressure cooling section of the Anglo Converter Plant (ACP) Phase B unit for repairs after detecting a leak.
The company confirmed that this leak was unconnected to the repair work recently completed on the ACP Phase B unit.
Amplats said that other maintenance was being carried out and additional controls put in place while the ACP Phase B unit was off-line in order to provide greater operational stability.
“A prudent approach will be taken to safely ramp-up the ACP Phase B unit. Increased monitoring will likely result in intermittent stoppages to inspect the plant until the repairs to the ACP Phase A unit are completed,” said the company.
In March, Amplats shut down its entire ACP plant due and declared force majeure with its suppliers after a chain of events, including an explosion at the ACP phase A converter plant in February.
It also detected water leaks in the furnace at the ACP Phase B unit and temporarily closed it down for repairs.
The R150 million repairs to the water leaks at the ACP Phase B unit were completed in May.
Amplats said that it expected to complete the repairs to phase A by the end of the year. ahead of its previous estimates.
In March Amplats said that it expected to complete repairs to phase A by the second quarter of 2021.
The company maintained its refined production platinum group metals (PGM) guidance.
Amplats shares closed 6.27 percent lower at R1 092.20 on the JSE on Wednesday.