5th Nov 2020 09:03
(Alliance News) - Anglo American Platinum Ltd on Thursday said it has made the pre-emptive decision to close the Anglo converter plant, or ACP, phase B unit following a series of water leaks.
Anglo American Platinum shares were up 1.1% at ZAR1,157.68 each in Johannesburg on Thursday morning. Anglo American PLC shares were down 3.3% in Johannesburg at ZAR372.30 and also 3.3% in London at 1,808.40 pence.
The ACP is part of the chain of processing facilities and is located in Rustenburg, South Africa.
The platinum miner with operations in South Africa said this has resulted in a temporary build-up of work-in-progress inventory.
As a result, Anglo American Platinum has lowered its refined production and sales guidance for 2020 to around 2.5 million platinum group metal ounces, previously forecasted to be between 3.1 million and 3.3 million ounces.
There is no change to other guidance, the company said.
Anglo American Platinum said it was necessary to maintain a safe operating environment, protect employees and protect the integrity of the plant and surrounding processing assets.
Anglo American Platinum Chief Executive said: "Whilst the ACP management team has done extraordinary work to keep the unit operating safely over the past several months, we have taken this pre-emptive decision to now close the ACP phase B unit to ensure we protect our employees, operating environment and the integrity of our assets. Whilst this early closure will result in a temporary build up in work-in-progress inventory, we continue to make good progress with the rebuild of the main ACP phase A unit, which we expect to complete towards the end of this year."
By Greg Roxburgh; [email protected]
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