[miningmx.com] — EASTERN Platinum (Eastplats) on Wednesday reported a full year net profit attributable to equity shareholders of $5.7m compared to a net loss of $209.4m previously.
Production at the company’s Crocodile River Mine (CRM) was 130,338 platinum group metal ounces for the year to ended December, an increase of 11% compared to 117,909 PGM ounces in 2008.
“We are pleased to end the year strongly with record quarterly production after a challenging third quarter that was disrupted by industry-wide labour action,” said
Eastplats president and CEO Ian Rozier.
Rozier said despite this disruption, all aspects of the mining operations at CRM improved in 2009 compared to 2008, with increased production, increased recoveries, and operating cash costs down by 16%.
With the addition of new ounces from the Crocette section within the next twelve months, the company’s growth plans for CRM to be a 200,000 ounce per year producer are back on track.
“We are also currently evaluating alternatives for the development of our Eastern Limb projects in order to significantly increase the growth profile of the company. With an increasing production profile at CRM, low cost operations, no debt, and with all our assets intact, Eastplats is very well positioned to benefit quickly as PGM prices continue to improve”, said Rozier.
