RBPlat’s cash operating costs rise on the back of hikes in production and inflation

DESPITE raising capital expenditure by 4.2 percent to R335 million, Royal Bafokeng Platinum’s cash operating costs for the quarter to end March firmed on the back of increased production and inflation while there was a marginal decrease in head grade.

This as RBPlat waded into controversy yesterday when it evicted former workers, dismissed in 2017 from an employee estate in Rustenburg.

As many as 25 households – some of whom acknowledged that they are aware they are not supposed to be staying in the estate – were affected by the evictions. Others cited unfair dismissal and lengthy court processes to end the dispute. Labour relations have been thorny for South African miners. Far from the evictions and dispute with the former employees, RBPlat, in which Impala Platinum has raised its stake to about 37 percent, said in its January to March 2022 quarterly report released yesterday that total capital expenditure for the period increased by 4.2 percent.

Capital expenditure for expansion purposes was, however, 43.4 percent lower at R66m “in line with project progress at the Maseve concentrator upgrade” and at its tailings storage facility expansion.

The company’s cash operating costs picked up 21.7 percent to R2 billion compared to the contrasting period in 2021. It attributed the increase in expenditures to “increased production and industry-related inflation” during the period.

RBPlat posted a 7.7 percent hike in platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and gold metals in concentrate production to 124 000 ounces for the quarter