Platinum Mile

Overview

Platinum Mile is tailings processing facility located near Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa. 

Tailings are derived from the underground mining of the PGM/chromite reefs at adjacent mines.

Environmentally, the plant has a beneficial impact as it cleans up old tailings dumps, which are remnants of earlier chromite activities in the area. 

Aquarius Platinum is the majority owner of the tailings retreatment operation that produces profitable low cost PGM ounces. In 2011, it produced 22,833 (3PGM+Au) at a $694 cash cost per ounce. Concentrate produced here is sold to Amplats with whom there is a profit sharing agreement in place. 

Aquarius was also exploring the possibility of securing additional feed for Platinum Mile from Kroondal’s K1 and K2 plants, and a feasibility study to determine the viability of this was currently under way.

Location

Platinum Mile is tailings processing facility located near Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located adjacent to the Kroondal mine on Anglo Platinum’s Rustenburg Platinum Mine tenements.

Kroondal is located approximately 120 kilometres north-west of Johannesburg, on the Western Limb of the world-renowned Bushveld Complex, near Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa.

The mainstay of the economy of North West Province is mining, which generates more than half of the province's gross domestic product and provides jobs for a quarter of its workforce.

Rustenburg - the 'resting town' in Afrikaans and Dutch - is situated at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Platinum mining in Rustenburg began in 1929, shortly after the discovery of the Platinum Reef by Hans Merensky.

Climate is temperate humid subtropical with very warm summers and mild winters.

Geology & Mineralization

The Platinum Mile operation recovers platinum group metals and gold from tailings resulted from the underground mining of the PGM/chromite reefs at adjacent mines- i.e. Merenski and UG2 reefs.

Mining & Operation

Platinum Mile continued to focus on the retreatment of Merensky reef tailings rather than UG2 reef tailings during the year, in order to capitalize on higher PGM grades and beneficial rates of recovery.

Processing

Tailings are processed through a conventional flotation circuit. In 2011, cash cost per produced ounce was $694. Concentrate produced here is sold to Amplats with whom there is a profit sharing agreement in place. 

The 2011 decline in volumes processed for the year resulted from the halt in UG2 tailings supplied to Platinum Mile. 

Aquarius was also exploring the possibility of securing additional feed for Platinum Mile from Kroondal’s K1 and K2 plants, and a feasibility study to determine the viability of this was under way.

Environment & Community

By re-processing old tailings left behind by mining operations the company helps clean the environment in a region that was heavily affected by mining. 

Platinum Mile had no fatalities and a DIIR that remained at zero for the 2011 year.