Tharisa PLC (LON:THS) has taken over the operation and sales and marketing functions of Lonmin’s (LON:LMI) K3 UG2 chrome plant at the Marikana mine in South Africa.
Subsidiary Arxo Metals will run the plant and aims to boost metal recoveries to levels seen at Tharisa’s own operations, where 68% chrome was recovered in the half year to March.
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"The marketing and sales of UG2 chrome from K3 expands the basket of chrome concentrates sold by Tharisa and leverages off its established logistics and marketing platforms," said Phoevos Pouroulis, Tharisa’s chief executive in a statement.
In addition, Arxo is also commissioning a pilot plant to produce PGM-rich metal alloys to develop Tharisa's beneficiation capability, the company announced in a separate statement.
The furnace is scheduled to be commissioned at the end of September and take approximately six months to ramp up. The alloy produced will be smelted by Lonmin as part of a PGM (platinum group metals) research and development co-operation agreement between the two companies.
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"The PGM research and development co-operation agreement is in line with the group's strategic objective of moving down the value chain. Tharisa and Lonmin have a good relationship and we are pleased to be working together to our mutual benefit," said Pouroulis.