CHROME and platinum group metal (PGM) miner Tharisa said basic share earnings for the 12 months ended September 30 would be between 41% and 44% higher year-on-year as rand weakness offset lower mineral prices.
Commenting in a trading statement ahead of the publication of its year-end results presentation on December 5 Tharisa guided to basic share earnings of 53 US cents/share to 54c/share. The numbers account for the purchase of a controlling interest in Karo Mining Holdings
Headline share earnings for the year will be 41 US cents/share to 42 cents representing an increase of 7% to 9% year-on-year. Headline share earnings for the previous 12 month period totalled 38.3c/share.
Spot prices for PGMs have declined a quarter from their peak but despite this nearly the entire industry remains cash positive, according to a report by Citi last week.
The 2022 financial year has been transformative for Tharisa owing largely to advances in the development of its $440m Karo project in Zimbabwe and commissioning of its Vulcan processing facilities at the Tharisa mine in South Africa.
It announced in October the launch of a $50m, three-year bond on Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Stock Exchange as part financing for the first phase of Karo which is scoped to produce 194,000 ounces a year of PGMs.
Once built, in about two years from the start of construction, Karo Platinum would make Tharisa a near-400,000 oz/year PGM producer.
For the current financial year, Tharisa has forecast chrome output of 1.75 to 1.85 million tons (2022: 1.56Mt) and PGM output of 175,000 to 185,000 ounces (2022: 179,200 oz).
