Santacruz Silver Mining reports fatality at Tres Amigos mine in Bolivia
Tres Amigos mine, a part of the Caballo Blanco Group of mines, has resumed operations after it was shut down following the incident.
Brazil-focused Jandaga Mines raised 2.25 million pounds ($2.9 million) from listing its shares in London on Thursday, taking advantage of investors’ concerns over buying into South African platinum businesses.
Jandaga floated 45 million shares, giving it a value of about 9.9 million pounds. The shares, placed at 5 pence, were trading at 5.34p by 1500 GMT.
Executive chairman, Brian McMaster, said the company will spend the money developing its Pedra Branca mine. It also has exploration licences to find more platinum, nickel and copper.
South African mining companies, which produce 70 percent of the world’s platinum, are hamstrung by soaring costs and low precious metal prices as well as new rules requiring higher black ownership that they say discourage investment.
South Africa’s mainly underground mines can be as deep as nearly 2 km (1.2 miles), making them costly to mine.
Jandaga Mines’ shallow, open-pit Pedra Branca project in Brazil aims to produce 30,000 ounces of platinum group metals per annum within 12-18 months.
McMaster said even with the pressures on South African miners, such as Lonmin and Impala Platinum , Pedra Branca was an attractive investment because its costs were low and production was due to begin next year.
“Regardless of what happens in South Africa our story still makes sense,” he said. Even at today’s platinum prices the mine would be profitable.
The price of platinum, used to reduce emissions in diesel cars, has lagged a general rebound among other commodities. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Louise Ireland)
