Tharisa adjusts lower end of production guidance

THARISA adjusted its platinum group metal (PGM) and chrome production guidance for the year ended September,pushing down the lower end of its forecast by 5%.Commenting in a third quarter production update on Wednesday, Tharisa CEO Phoevos Pouroulis said the adjustment was “prudent”. The lower end of guidance had been set at 140,000 ounces of PGMs and 1.65 million tons (Mt) of chrome concentrate.The main problem at the Tharisa mine, situated in South Africa’s North West Province, is a lack of mining flexibility,which has resulted in lower head grade. The mine was hit by heavy rains in the first quarter,which were so torrential that a number of other platinum miners reported interruptions to production.Despite this, Pouroulis said there had been a meaningful improvement in the current quarter. PGM production came in at 34,500 oz, while chrome concentrate production was 395,700 tons. These volumes took year-to-date production for PGMs and chrome to 96,900 oz and 1.15Mt respectively. Yet the group is faced with above-average production targets for the current (final) quarter of the year in order to meet guidance, hence the downgrade.On a more positive note, the platinum market has vastly improved, pulling palladium along with it, both thought to be in deficit this year.“PGM prices continued their upward trend, driven by real physical demand for refined platinum and industrial buying, while supply cutbacks and pipeline destocking underpinned the widening gap in the supply-demand fundamentals,” said Pouroulis.The average PGM contained metal basket price for the quarter was 10.8% better at $1,574/oz**,** while metallurgical-grade chrome concentrate contract prices averaged 24% better quarter-on-quarter at some $293/t (CIF China). Chrome is currently at $265/t, a level at which the market is in balance, Tharisa said.Pouroulis was hopeful of continued strength in platinum. “While prices are now more supportive of industry profitability, long-term sustainability of higher prices is necessary to induce wide-scale project development,” he said.The company has its $391m, 400,000 oz a year Karo Platinum project in Zimbabwe to finance. Tharisa said it was making progress.Project rollout saw group cash on hand fall about $36m to $150.9m, while debt rose to $121.5m. The outcome was a lower net cash position of $29.4m (31 March 2025: $79.3m). “With commodity prices improving, our balance sheet continues to remain robust,” said Pouroulis.The post Tharisa adjusts lower end of production guidance appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com