Platinum Australia upbeat on Smokey Hills operation 4th March 2011

Platinum Australia is confident of increasing production at its Smokey Hills operation on the eastern edge of South Africa's Bushveld Complex.

This is thanks to mining contractor JIC Mining Services taking on more staff after dismissing 85 per cent of the Smokey Hills workforce following wildcat strikes last year.

Platinum Australia expects to achieve its planned production level of 60,000 tonnes per month by June as JIC Mining takes on some local workers and transfers 300 staff from other operations.

A further 100 to 150 workers are to be taken on in the coming months to help the Smokey Hills complex get back to full operating capacity.

Despite the depleted workforce, Platinum Australia says the Smokey Hills processing plant has continued to operate normally, treating primarily stockpiled chrome tailings under an agreement with Ingonyama Platinum.

This has allowed the Smokey Hills Mine to achieve a positive earnings result of approximately £250,000 for the first two months of the quarter, with further improvement expected in March.

Source:
Smokey Hills output to rise as contractor moves to hire staff (03/03/11)