Chromite concentrate production at the Dilokong chrome mine (DCM) project has continued to exceed expectations, Jubilee Platinum PLC (LON:JLP) revealed.
Production climbed to 9,670 tons in July, which was up 29% month-on-month, while project revenue from the sale of concentrate was 33% higher than in June at £692,000. July’s earnings were 46% higher than in June at £520,000.
The DCM project is run by Jubilee’s subsidiary, the Jubilee Tailings Treatment Company; Jubilee said earnings attributable to the parent company from the DCM project in July clocked in at £293,000, up 30% from June.
The DCM Project has continued to outperform the original design numbers both in terms of revenue and earnings from chromite concentrate sales as well as operational performance. The month of July saw further improvements in operational performance that more than offset the slight drop in the saleable value per ton of chromite produced.
Jubilee said its subsidiary is only processing current surface material at DCM at the moment and has not commenced processing of third party, which would offer the potential to significantly enhance the operational performance numbers.
Enriched platinum material, which is produced by recovering chromite from the surface material and skimming off low-value waste, continues to be stockpiled at DCM pending the outcome of the platinum processing option study. The option study focuses on toll processing as an alternative to the company building its own platinum plant at DCM, and will be concluded shortly, Jubilee revealed. If the option study proves successful there will be no need to build a dedicated platinum plant and platinum revenues will be received at least one year earlier.
Meanwhile, construction work on the Hernic platinum group metals-bearing chrome tailings project is in full swing. Leon Coetzer, chief executive of Jubilee, said construction of the project was on schedule and on budget.
The project will be the largest platinum group metals beneficiation plant of surface chrome tailings in South Africa and is capable of producing annual revenues of £18.2mln at an average metal basket price of US$906 per ounce.
"Increased production month to month is very encouraging for the company and endorses previous decisions to focus on chrome and platinum. The enriched platinum material stock pile continues to grow and we are progressing options to turn stockpile to cash,” Coetzer told investors.
The company said it had run into a snag with the release of money held in escrow relating to the sale of assets to Siyanda Resources Proprietary.
Jubilee had expected to receive the money – about £510,000 – by now, but release has been delayed by what Jubilee termed “an unsubstantiated warranty claim” by the purchaser of the assets.
Jubilee has refuted the legitimacy of the claim and told shareholders it will take all necessary steps to ensure the release of the money from escrow.