SOUTHERN AFRICA The northern limb of the Bushveld Complex has never been explored until recently A prosperous new PGM district Over 100 years of South African PGM Bushveld Complex history is being questioned as NYSE/TSX- listed platinum junior Platinum Group Metals (PTM) reveals the northward extension of the complex, the emergence of a new PGM mining district and the introduction of a world-first mine set to start producing from the region only four years from now, says CEO Michael Jones. Laura Cornish writes. IN SHORT Platinum Group Metals will soon showcase the emergence of a new platinum district which until recently was never known to exist. S outh African mining investor appetite hasn’t disappeared entirely, contradictory to what some international researchers and analysts are saying – and PTM is proof. Although internationally listed, the company is focused entirely on the development of its two PGM projects in the country – the Western Bushveld Joint Venture (WBJV) project and its Waterberg Joint Venture (JV) and Waterberg extension projects. “Considering we were the second largest capital raiser on the TSX in 2013 with US$355 million brought in from shareholders, second only to Barrick Gold (who raised $234 billion), we are proof that investors are taking notice of the positive changes in South Africa. It also made the country the number two mining destination in the world last year,” says Jones, who was speaking at the 2014 PDAC convention in Toronto, Canada. “At the previous Mining Indaba DMR minister Susan Shabangu promised the industry only 12 months for a mining right. Our WBJV mining application was fully granted in just 11 months. South Africa is a great place to build a mine and we have every confidence of government’s support to see our major large-scale Waterberg project materialise,” Jones continues. 28 MINING REVIEW AFRICA ISSUE 4 2014 WHERE AND WHEN? Up until November 2011, the mining sector believed South Africa’s PGM belt extended no further than what is known today as the Eastern and Western Limbs of the Bushveld Complex. The region has produced all of the country’s major platinum mines, most originally detected thanks to outcropping or basic reef continuation geological knowledge. This changed however when PTM, together with its Japanese partner JOGMEC (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation), revealed the Bushveld Complex reef extended further to the north, covered only by 100 m of sedimentary rock. “We have picked up about 700 km² in mineral rights in the Northern Limb of what we think is the best terrain in the world. Thanks to airborne geophysical data compiled by South Africa’s Council of Geoscience, we are confident of the project and how it is challenging the current Bushveld Complex boundaries.” WHAT? The Waterberg Joint Venture Unlike the Western Limb, associated with ‘deep’ level platinum mines, this new mining district is entirely different. It will be relatively shallow and comprises never-before- mined higher grade, multiple thick mineralised layers (between 3 and 50 m thick) which is conducive to mechanised mining methods. “The Waterberg has similar traits to Anglo American Platinum’s Mogalakwena and Zimplats’ Ngezi – large-scale, thick, near surface mining, ideally suited to automation.” The completion of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the property, which has been NI43-101 filed, has revealed the Waterberg JV project, in which it owns 49%, could deliver a steady-state production of about 655 000 ozpa of platinum (30%), palladium (60%) and unusually, gold (10%) – based on a current inferred resource of 17.5 Moz or 167 Mt. It is the reef/layer thickness which truly differentiates and defines the PTM project, Jones explains. “Typical 1 m thick PGM reefs are very challenging to mine. Our reefs stretch up to 60 m in width, meaning all our development can be done JOGMEC partnership • State agency with mandate to explore for strategic minerals • Partner since 2010 on Waterberg JV with 37% interest • Tender process underway to sell stake to a qualified Japanese industrial firm or trading house • Process scheduled to complete in H1, 2014 with a new partner going forward