Modern Mining January 2024

TOP PROJECTS: PLATINUM

Waterberg Mine: An economic, social and environmental masterclass

With plans to fully mechanise its operation mining critical green metals, PGM’s Waterberg operation is shaping up to be extremely profitable, while also significantly uplifting the surrounding communities.

L ocated on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, Platinum Group Metals’ (PGM) Waterberg project represents a large-scale platinum group metal resource which, given its shallow nature, the company notes has an attractive risk profile. What makes the project exciting is the fact that it lends itself to fully mechanised production, meaning the mine has the potential to have one of the lowest operating costs in the PGM sector. This is a joint venture project in which PGM holds 37.05%, Impala Platinum Holdings has 15%, HJ Platinum Metals holds 21.95% and BEE partner Mnombo Wethu Consultants holds 26%. PGM itself holds a 49.90% ownership in Mnombo, giving it an effective interest of 50.02% in the Waterberg JV. HJ Platinum Metals is a Japanese special purpose cor poration comprising JOGMEC (Japan, Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation) and Hanwa Co. Describing the initial discovery, Frank Hallam, CEO at Platinum Group Metals, notes that it was made in the Bushveld Complex in a completely new section, as far back as November 2011, with initial exploration funded by JOGMEC. Following this, he indicates that a pre-feasibility

study had been completed by 2016. The company then announced the results of its definitive feasibility study in September, 2019. Ultimately, he says, PGM was granted a mining right for the Waterberg project by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in early 2021. High production, low cost “The Waterberg JV will be a large scale, low cost PGM development that we anticipate will deliver key metals, including palladium, platinum, gold and rhodium. The deposit is palladium dominant, with a strong gold credit and a very desirable low chrome concentrate, with base metal content that is ame nable to existing smelters,” he says. Hallam explains that PGM drilled around 490 mother holes, with a hit ratio of around 99%, demonstrating that it had a very predictable and well-understood deposit. Exploration included air borne geophysics, ground mapping and sampling in a series of studies that culminated in a definitive fea sibility study – indicating a life of mine of 45+ years, and an annual production at peak of some 420 000 ounces.

Frank Hallam, CEO at Platinum Group Metals.

Core samples from the Waterberg project.

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28  MODERN MINING  January 2024