SYLVANIA Platinum – which produced 72,704oz of platinum group metals (pgm) from retreating dump material in the year to end-June – has finalised a scoping study on developing its own pgm mine near Mokopane in Limpopo Province.
CEO Jaco Prinsloo commented in an exploration update issued to the London Stock Exchange that, “I am encouraged by the results of the updated scoping study on our Volspruit project. This now benefits from the inclusion of the South ore body and additional rhodium contributions that were excluded from previous studies.”
Prinsloo said the updated study showed a significant increase in project pre-tax net present value (NPV) to $69m for a 14-year life-of-mine (LOM) compared with a $27.3m NPV and a nine-year LOM for the October 2022 study although the internal rate of return was slightly reduced at 17%.
He added the peak capital and all-in operating costs have increased because of an “improved understanding and updated costs for the processing plant and related infrastructure.”
Sylvania has two other exploration projects on the northern limb of the platinum bearing Bushveld complex – Hacra and Aurora.
Prinsloo said that Sylvania would “evaluate various disposal options” for Hacra because of the depth of the mineralisation while further studies would continue at Aurora to declare an updated mineral resource estimate and then commission a scoping study.
He commented, “the results from the recently completed – and ongoing – studies continue to improve our understanding of the occurrence and value of resources at our respective exploration assets and provide guidance on where future efforts need to be focused to optimise future value for the company.”
