Amplats to rebuild Waterval furnace, expects production loss of up to 100 000 oz

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) expects its production for the 2016 financial year to be between 70 000 oz and 100 000 oz lower than previous estimates, owing to the R125-million rebuild of one of its furnaces.

A leak of molten furnace matte was detected at the furnace at Amplats’ Waterval smelter, in Rustenburg, on September 10.

A preliminary assessment of the damage has shown that the rebuild of the furnace should be brought forward as the most prudent means of mitigating future potential operational risks. This will also push Amplats’ capital expenditure for the year to about R4-billion.

“While the extent of the damage to the furnace has yet to be fully quantified, early indications are that the rebuild and associated production ramp-up are likely to take about three to four months to complete,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The company’s remaining smelters are operating at full capacity and smelting losses associated with this unplanned shutdown will not be recovered during the year.

There will be a build-up of concentrate stocks during the rebuild, which will be released as refined metal in the future.

Meanwhile, Amplats stated that its mining and concentrating activities would remain unaffected and would not impact the previously guided range of produced metal in concentrate of 2.3-million to 2.4-million platinum ounces.