Platinum miner Lonmin has become the sole owner of Pandora joint venture (JV) in South Africa after completing the acquisition of Anglo American Platinum’s (AAP) 42.5% interest and Mvelaphanda Resources’ 7.5% interests.
The agreement to acquire AAP’s interest was signed in November last year, while the agreement for Mvelaphanda’s interest was reached in May this year.
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The ownership of 100% interest in the project is expected to ensure synergies for Lonmin, allowing it to extend mining at its Saffy Shaft without having to spend R2.6bn ($190.46m) of capital expenditure.
Under the initial plan, the company anticipated that the extension would require R1.6bn ($117.21m) over the next four years.
Alongside ensuring cost savings, the transaction provides future opportunities to develop Pandora’s potential.
Lonmin CEO Ben Magara said: “This is an excellent strategic fit for us, which equips us with a valuable contiguous asset with long-term development potential and allows us to maintain production levels at Saffy while significantly reducing our capital expenditure requirements at this operation over the short and medium term.”
Pandora recovers platinum group metals (PGMs) from the UG2 and Merensky reefs hidden in the Pandora mining area.
Ore produced at the operation by the JV is sold to Lonmin for processing and refining.
As of 30 September 2016, the gross assets of the Pandora JV stood at R1.1bn ($80.58m).
