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Lonmin expansions wait for Eskom decisions Posted: Thu, 08 May 2008 [miningmx.com] -- Lonmin has boosted the attributable platinum resource at its Akanani project in South Africa’s Limpopo province but development of the mine is going to depend on the availability of power from Eskom. While Lonmin currently has a contract in place with Eskom for power supply to Akanani, CEO Brad Mills said in a conference call this morning that the details are still to be finalised. He hoped to have a clearer picture next month from Eskom over the availability of power for Akanani as well as the proposed expansion of Lonmin’s Limpopo Platinum mine. Mills commented, “Eskom has indicated it will start to re-evaluate growth projects in June this year and, until this review is completed, no real certainty can be given around the provision of power by Eskom to growth projects.” He said that, following the outcome of the Eskom review, Lonmin would be able to be “more definitive” in terms of when construction might start at Akanani and the mine might come into production. Turning to another group project, Pandora - in which Lonmin and Anglo Platinum are the majority JV partners - Mills said a pre-feasibility study had been completed looking at a stand-alone 240,000t/month mine using a “hybrid” mining method. That would combine mechanised development and conventional down-dip stoping. Mills said the full feasibility study would now begin, subject to Anglo Platinum’s approval. That’s despite comments made by Mills last year in which he declared Pandora to be “non-core” for Lonmin on the grounds that the deposit could not be mined using mechanised methods. Asked about this Mills confirmed that Pandora remained “non-core” in Lonmin’s view. He added, “we are the operators of Pandora and have an obligation to fully evaluate the project. For that reason we are pursuing development of Pandora and will build value in the project by completing the detailed design.” Mills refused to be pinned down on Lonmin’s specific plans for its 42,5% stake in Pandora which some observers believe could be sold. Mills re-asserted his commitment to the introduction of mechanised mining methods at Lonmin’s operations which is a policy that has drawn considerable criticism from some analysts. Their concern is that he is forcing mechanisation to be used in areas where it is not suitable because of difficult geological conditions. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
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