THARISA turned in a strong operating performance for the half-year period ended March registering an 11.4% and 15% increase in platinum group metal (PGM) and chrome output to 77,000 ounces and 733,000 tonnes respectively.
The sales price for PGMs also improved some 19.6% to $909/oz during the period owing to a strong run in the trading prices for rhodium and palladium.
The contracted metallurgical grade chrome concentrated prices fell to $193t from $278/t, although the chrome spot price is over $200/t. “Global growth in stainless steel production remains robust with independent market research company forecasting a further rise in worldwide output of nearly 5% in calendar 2018,” Tharisa said.
Full-year output of 150,000 ounces of PGMs and 1.4 million tonnes in chrome concentrate was “well within reach”, said CEO Phoevos Pouroulis in a market update today. “Tharisa Minerals has again shown encouraging improvements in production volumes and recoveries,” he said.
“We are exceeding targeted recoveries and we are well on our way to achieving our production outlook for the 2018 financial year. We remain focused on our Vision 2020 projects which will deliver further upside as we optimise and expand our operations,” Pouroulis said.
