[miningmx.com] – CAN Northam Platinum CEO, Paul Dunne, give the firm the same kind of fire-in-the-belly momentum Stuart Murray imparted to Aquarius Platinum?
The two companies are obviously not carbon copies, but both Murray and Dunne were former Impala Platinum (Implats) executives who left the company under strained conditions. Dunne, as was the case with Murray, has a point to prove.
Murray was thought to have been so miffed at being passed over for the top job at Implats that he joined Aquarius Platinum with a desire to up-end the status quo in the platinum sector which was dominated then, as now, by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Implats.
So it was that he constructed a serious of smart, entrepreneurially-driven pool-and-share deals with Implats rival, Amplats, and took Aquarius Platinum from a junior hopeful into a seriously successful mid-tier platinum producer.
Murray also never tired of goading Implats once describing the company as the “dribbling cousin’ of Amplats. He also dubbed his company the King Rat of the platinum sector, a moniker intended to position Aquarius as the largest of the rats and mice in the platinum industry.
Dunne was formerly head of Implats’ operations until a fall-out with the company’s CEO, Terence Goodlace in November. The way Implats’ head of corporate affairs described it at the time, there was a lot of pressure at the company, as in the industry.
“We’re going through a difficult realignment process at Rustenburg. It’s certainly hot in the kitchen,’ said Theron.
Dunne had disagreed with Goodlace’s approach to mining at Rustenburg and had tried to summon a vote of no confidence in Goodlace from among some of his colleagues, according to an industry source. A year earlier Goodlace had been heavily critical of the lack of development at Rustenburg.
In the end, Dunne left Implats after almost 16 years at the company. Re-emerging at Northam Platinum, he set down a highly ambitious expansion strategy aimed at doubling production to one million ounces a year and seeking consolidation on all of its borders.
Said Dunne: “We are at a point of inflexion in the platinum industry’, referring to restructuring in the platinum sector following the five-and-a-half month strike by AMCU earlier this year.
He declined to say which particular assets that may interest Northam, but believes that the company’s Booysendal project, now in ramp-up phase, has “… colleagues north to south with an obvious desire to consolidate … so we have aspirations there’.
“And it’s time for Northam. It has got two very solid assets and Zondereinde is not the black hole of Calcutta,’ said Dunne believing the mine can be expanded, as can Booysendal, allowing Northam to grow organically as well as by acquisition – a process that can be achieved simultaneously.
“Booysendal is a world class asset and will be operating at nameplate capacity. So Northam is in a position where it can flex its muscles,’ said Dunne.
Dunne also wants to extend Northam’s long-standing relationship with Heraeus, a 160-year old family-owned business with buys platinum concentrate from Northam, refines it and then trades the metal.
“They have growth aspirations and so do we. They have a refinery and we have a smelter so it’s a good partnership and we have the same goals.
“We are looking for different business opportunities that we can do jointly,’ he says, suggesting that Northam may attempt to participate in the downstream end of the platinum business.
