South African miner Implats faces lower refined platinum production in the June 2022 half-year due to an unplanned full rebuild of one of the furnaces at its Rustenburg operations blamed in part on Eskom power supply issues.
The furnace was scheduled for a partial rebuild in the Sept qtr, but Implats says an inspection found accelerated wear due to its COVID lockdown and inconsistent power supply resulting from Eskom load shedding.
Implats is assessing the impact of the extended four-month maintenance shutdown on H2FY22 production.
The Impala Rustenburg power supply interruptions also contributed, along with other operational challenges of extended safety stoppages and intermittent industrial action, to its H1FY22 6E refined production falling to 1.62Moz (H1FY20: 1.69Moz).