Impala Platinum (Implats) held 45.09% of its takeover target Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) by May 2, after it strengthened its bid last month with a further 10.31 million RBPlat shares.
Northam Platinum, which had also tried to acquire RBPlat, recently withdrew its bid because PGM prices had fallen from when Northam made a cash offer at the end of 2021. Northam had built up a 34.5% stake before exiting its bid. Over the past 18 months, both Northam and Implats regularly upped their stakes in RBPlat to gain control of the mid-tier platinum metals miner.
Implats said yesterday in a report for the quarter to March 31 that it had concluded purchase agreements for 2.39 million shares in RBPlat during the period, for an offer consideration of R90 and 0.3 Implats shares per RBPlat share acquired.
“The remaining conditions outstanding for Implats to declare its offer to RBPlat shareholders unconditional are the issuance of a Compliance Certificate by the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) and JSE approval to list the offer shares, respectively,” Implats said.
Implats had again extended the date for fulfilment of the conditions precedent for its offer to May 31, 2023 from April 28, and it is engaging “with key stakeholders in this regard,” it said yesterday.
On April 26, RBPlat said it would try to resolve the outstanding issues following earlier Takeover Special Committee rulings, as these had been acknowledged as the key impediment to issuing Implats with a Compliance Certificate. Northam had previously opposed the Implats bid through the Takeover Regulation Panel.
Meanwhile, Implats said it was on track to meet its guidance for its 2023 financial year with volumes trending towards the lower and costs increasing towards the upper ranges of their forecasts respectively, despite the challenging operating environment and higher load curtailments requirements.
“The increased severity of domestic and regional power constraints… was a notable impediment to operational delivery in the quarter. Our suite of capital projects was progressed across the mining and processing assets and our team continued to engage with key stakeholders to secure the outstanding conditions precedent and conclude our offer for the remaining shares in Royal Bafokeng Platinum,” CEO Nico Muller said in a statement.
Group 6E production declined 5% to 735 000 ounces in the quarter. Tons milled at managed operations improved 5% to 5.61 million tons, with higher volumes at Impala Rustenburg, Zimplats and Impala Canada offsetting lower mill throughput at Marula.
A 2% improvement in milled grade to 3.62g/t 6E was partially offset by lower recoveries, resulting in 6E production at managed operations increasing by 2% to 562 000 ounces. 6E production from the joint ventures at Mimosa and Two Rivers fell 8% to 125 000 ounces.
At Impala Refining Services (IRS), third-party 6E receipts of 47 000 ounces were 47% lower than the prior comparable quarter. Refined 6E production, which includes saleable ounces from Impala Canada, declined by 10% to 662 000 ounces.
Production in the quarter was impacted by lower group production volumes and compounded by reduced available smelting capacity due to scheduled maintenance and the increased severity and frequency of load curtailment.
“Group production remains vulnerable to the severity of regional load curtailment, which requires regular operational intervention and adjustments across our mining and processing assets,” said Muller.
The estimated impact of Eskom load curtailment on group production in the quarter resulted in the deferral of 16 000 6E ounces. Implats finished the period with 190 000 6E ounces of excess inventory.
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