Zimbabwe's Mimosa mine outshined South African mines: Aquarius

The Mimosa mine in Zimbabwe emerged as the star performer in the Aquarius Platinum stable in the June quarter while mines in SA struggled with safety issues and a strong rand, CEO Stuart Murray said yesterday.

Aquarius's third quarter output in the June quarter,  was up just 3% at 114260oz of platinum group metals (PGM), less than what the Johannesburg-listed company had expected.

The star performer was Mimosa, which is owned 50/50 by Aquarius and Impala Platinum, this was as a result of higher volumes, improved head grade and improved recoveries. The mine's cash margin for the quarter dipped to 55% from 58% in the March quarter, because of lower ruling dollar PGM prices. Mimosa delivered a record production result for the quarter.

There were continuing talks with the Zimbabwean government over its demand for 51% "indigenisation". A government minister said that 175 submissions by the mining industry had been rejected as inadequate.

The continued excellent performance from Mimosa which is owned 50/50 by Aquarius and Impala Platinum (Implats) underlines the potential of the fledgling Zimbabwe platinum mining sector and why it is so important for Aquarius and Implats to reach a workable deal on indigenisation requirements with the Zimbabwe government.