By: OrePulse

Valterra Platinum says its Mogalakwena mine in South Africa's Limpopo province holds 285 million ounces of platinum-group metals on a four-element basis, giving the operation a resource life of more than 300 years at its targeted production rate.

The company is targeting annual production of 900,000 to 1 million ounces on a six-element basis at Mogalakwena, one of the world's largest open-pit PGM mines. Willie Theron, Valterra's executive head of mining operations, described the resource as "definitely the PGM mining industry's most exciting endowment," adding that, in terms of its scale: "that's how massive that resource is."

Mogalakwena's ore carries a one-to-one platinum-to-palladium ratio, with minimal chrome and rhodium content but significant copper, nickel and gold. The mine also produces close to 100,000 ounces of gold a year, accounting for nearly 70% of the group's total gold output. The orebody dips at roughly 45 degrees before flattening, and contains clay material that requires different processing methods to recover the platinum-group metals.

By comparison, the company's Amandelbult mine, on the north-western limb, works a 1.5-meter-thick UG2 reef with a two-to-one platinum-to-palladium ratio and superior rhodium and chrome content, and currently generates more revenue for the group than Mogalakwena.

Valterra is also planning the Sandsloot Underground project beneath the mine's former open pit, targeting a grade of four to six grams per tonne.