home
Operations
Kroondal
Kroondal Platinum Mine was conceived in 1996 and commenced production in August 1999. Located on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex, near Rustenburg, in North West Province, South Africa, it is Aquarius’ largest mine. Kroondal exploits the UG2 Reef and comprises four operating decline sections - Kopaneng, Simunye, Bambanani and Kwezi which access the Kroondal and Townlands ore bodies. Kroondal also has two concentrator plants (K1 and K2) and has a combined capacity of 570,000 tonnes per month. Since 2003 Kroondal has partnered with Anglo Platinum in a 50:50 pool and share agreement (P&SA1). Kroondal has an offtake agreement for the processing and refining of its concentrate with Anglo Platinum.
more........
Marikana
Commissioned in late 2002, Marikana is Aquarius’ second operating mine in South Africa. It is located on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex, approximately 8km east of Kroondal, in North West Province. Marikana mines the UG2 reef in the Marikana and 4 shaft ore bodies by means of underground operations accessed via the 4 and 5 shafts; 1 and 2 shafts are currently on care and maintenance. The open-cast operation was mined out in FY 2011. The concentrator plant at Marikana has a monthly processing capacity of 220,000 tonnes. Since 2005 Marikana has partnered with Anglo Platinum in a 50:50 pool and share agreement (P&SA2). Marikana has an offtake agreement for the processing and refining of its concentrate with Anglo Platinum.
more........
Everest
Everest Platinum Mine (Everest) is Aquarius’ sole wholly owned operation. Construction commenced in October 2004 utilising the proceeds of our 2003 Black Economic Empowerment transaction with the Savannah Consortium. It was commissioned in November 2005. Everest is located on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, near Mashishing in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The Everest operation comprises three decline shaft systems – North Decline: a belt, people and vehicle access way system and South Decline: a belt and people access way. The third access way, via the Valley Box Cut, was commissioned during FY2011 and will be used as a people and vehicle access way for the lower sections of the mine. The concentrator plant at Everest currently has a monthly processing capacity of 250,000 tonnes.
more........
Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge is an underground mine accessed via two decline shafts, situated on the south-western extension of the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, in the province of Mpumalanga, South Africa. The mine ceased operations during FY2011 as a result of an insufficiently high prevailing Rand basket price to justify further capital expenditure. At the time of suspension of operations, the Blue Ridge mine had reached a depth of 275m below surface.
more........
Mimosa
In southern Zimbabwe, we hold a 50% interest in the Mimosa Mine. The mine is located in the Wedza sub-chamber of the southern portion of the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe, 150km from Bulawayo and 30km from the town of Zvishavane. The mine, the lowest cost mining operation in the Aquarius stable, is a relatively shallow underground operation accessed via a decline shaft, delivering ore to a surface concentrator with a monthly capacity of 185,000 tonnes. The mine is overseen by joint venture partners Aquarius and Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats). Mimosa has an offtake agreement with Centametal AG of Switzerland. In terms of this contract, concentrate produced by Mimosa is delivered to IRS in South Africa for processing and refining.
more........
CTRP
The Chromite Tailings Retreatment Plant (CTRP) is located adjacent to the Kroondal mine. It is an innovative and environmentally sound operation that processes old mine dumps and current tailings from the beneficiation process used at neighbouring chromite mines. CTRP is jointly owned by Aquarius (50%), which also manages the plant, GB Mining (25%) and Sylvania South Africa (25%).
more........
Platinum Mile
In 2008, we acquired a 50% interest in Platinum Mile Resources (Pty) Ltd which operates a tailings retreatment facility located on Anglo Platinum’s RPM’s lease area, adjacent to the Kroondal Mine, which processes certain tailings from RPM. The concentrate produced by Platinum Mile is sold to RPM with which it has a profit share arrangement. In FY 2011 we consolidated our ownership of Platinum Mile, now holding 91.7%
more........
exploration & projects
An active exploration programme is underway at and around existing Aquarius operations. During FY2011, a total of 13,466m were drilled in South Africa, mainly on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, and 91 boreholes were drilled in Zimbabwe. Current projects and prospects currently contribute 95Moz to Aquarius’ PGM resource base.
more........
