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Harmony shuts its gold refinery Posted: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 [miningmx.com] -- HARMONY GOLD is no longer refining its own gold and is instead sending its gold to the Rand Refinery, said Bernard Swanepoel, Harmony's CEO. It was Harmony’s proud boast that it was the only gold company in South Africa that had its own dedicated refinery and gold fabrication facilities. The operation is called Musuku Beneficiation Services. "The refinery was at the end of its life and we either had to build a new plant or find someone else to refine our gold," he told Miningmx in an interview. Harmony approached international refineries as well as Rand Refinery to see who offered the best option. A three-year agreement has been signed with Rand Refinery, which has been receiving material since 1 July, Swanepoel said. "The Rand Refinery proposal was more attractive than us re-building our refinery," he said. The eight-year-old solvent extraction refinery accounted for nearly all of Harmony's South African gold output. Harmony is retaining its fabrication facilities. Harmony set up its refinery some eight years ago despite there being the Rand Refinery in Johannesburg, which refines and smelts gold for other gold mining companies in South Africa. The decision has benefited Rand Refinery, which is operating below its annual capacity of 1,200 tonnes. Last year, Rand Refinery produced 390 tonnes of gold and this year it is forecasting production of about 460 tonnes. This increase comes mainly on the back of Harmony’s gold being refined at the plant. The increased volume will be of enormous value to Rand Refinery, which charges a fee per kilogram for refining, so its income will increase. It will have more product to deal with, so its equipment utilisation will improve.Free news alerts: click here to subscribe
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