[miningmx.com] – AN accident at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde mine could see its No. 1 shaft out of commission for up to six weeks forecast by an analyst to be worth 10,000 ounces or nearly 6% of total output.
Northam said in an announcement today that on July 27 a counterweight in one of the shaft’s hoisting compartments detached and fell some 2,000 metres where it damaged the steelwork between the shaft’s 12 and 13 levels. There were no injuries.
“The shaft will be out of commission for up to six weeks for repairs,” said Northam in its announcement. “During this time the mine’s production will be reduced by approximately 50%. No 2 shaft remains fully operational,” it said.
“Assuming an 11 shift fortnight at the mine over 48 weeks of production in the financial year, the closure could see up to 10koz of platinum (5.9% of total) production lost,” said Gerhard Engelbrecht, an analyst for Macquarie Research.
“If a six week closure is the worst case scenario, earnings in FY15E could be reduced by up to 3% as a result,” he added.
Northam Platinum said that a further investigation into the cause of the incident would be conducted with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).
Shares in Northam were barely disturbed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The stock has provided a positive 26%, 12-month return.
Platinum production from Zondereinde mine declined by 16.4% per cent to 141,000 ounces in the six months ended December 31 following an 11-week strike by the National Union of Mineworkers.
The industrial action saw Northam burn through some R600m raised by a rights issue in 2013 and a total loss of revenue of R750m. The outcome was an interim loss of R92.7m.
