JUBILEE Metals took its acquisition of platinum group metal- (PGM-) bearing tailings to about 1.2 billion tons today after announcing a second transaction totalling 944,000 tons of the material.
This adds to 255,000 tons acquired earlier this week, as well as an agreement to supply 16,500 tons a month of PGMs to a chrome producer. All the PGM tailings will be processed at Jubilee’s Inyoni plant currently undergoing a 45% expansion to 75,000 tons monthly.
The latest acquisition of PGM tailings is in the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa’s North West province.
“The Eastern Limb has been a key focus of Jubilee to expand our PGM reach and operational capacity and this material further solidifies our presence there,” said Leon Coetzer, CEO of Jubilee Metals in a statement.
The transaction cost is linked to the prevailing PGM basket price and is payable monthly in advance of uplifting the material and transporting it to Inyoni, the company said. Jubilee will start to remove the PGM material this month and has targeted a minimum rate of 30,000 tons per month, equal to 1,600 PGM ounces per month.
Jubilee said previously it was considering building a dedicated processing facility in the Eastern Limb to enable it to expand.
Shares in the company are up 35% year-to-date and more than 350% higher over the past 12 months, largely owing to major increases in the PGM rand basket price.
