Sharenet Sites 
Sharenet Sites
Another quarter of solid production from Tharisa Minerals large scale open pit mine
Tharisa plc
(Incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus with limited liability)
(Registration number HE223412)
JSE share code: THA
LSE share code: THS
ISIN: CY0103562118
('Tharisa')
Another quarter of solid production from Tharisa Minerals large scale open pit mine
Tharisa today reported another quarter of solid mining and production performance, with its
strategy of increasing specialty grade chrome production coming to fruition.
Highlights for the three months ended 30 June 2016
- Significant recovery in commodity prices
- Average PGM basket price US$745/oz (Q2 FY2016: US$ 685/oz), an increase of 9%
- Average metallurgical grade chrome concentrate price US$105/t (Q2 FY2016:
US$81/t), an increase of 30%
- Specialty chrome production increases to 27%
- Reef mined continues to exceed the required run rate of 4.8 Mtpa
- Processing performance in line with previous quarter
- PGM production of 33.5 koz
- Chrome production of 307.1 kt
Phoevos Pouroulis, CEO said:
“This quarter’s production is further evidence that Tharisa has evolved from a development
asset to a stable producer and its continued solid mining and processing performance
positions it for a year of record delivery into an improving commodities market. We will
continue to focus on optimising our operations and delivering profitable production as we
target year-end guidance of 129.4 koz PGMs and 1.25 Mt chrome concentrates.”
Market update
The average PGM basket price for the three months ended June 2016 of US$745 an ounce
showed a US$60 an ounce improvement on the US$685 price achieved in the quarter to end
March 2016. This 9% increase in price also translated into an increase in the Rand basket
price despite the marginal strengthening of the ZAR against the US$. The average PGM
basket price for the quarter was ZAR11 164 per ounce, compared to ZAR10 849 per ounce in
the preceding quarter.
Metallurgical grade chrome prices also improved over the quarter with an average
contracted selling price of US$105 per tonne CIF main ports China achieved during the
quarter. This marked improvement on the US$81 per tonne CIF contracted selling price
concluded in the March 2016 quarter comes as Chinese ferrochrome producers began
restocking as port stockpiles were depleted to near all-time lows in the weeks leading up to
the Chinese new year in February 2016. Current contracted selling prices for delivery in July
2016 are approximately US$150 per tonne CIF main ports China.
Production update
The production update for the quarter ended 30 June 2016 is as follows:
Nine Nine
Quarter months Quarter Quarter months
ended ended ended ended ended
30 June 30 June 30 June 31 March 30 June
2015 2015 2016 2016 2016
1 132.9 3 080.9 Reef mined kt 1 235.4 1 234.2 3 594.0
m³ waste/m³
10.7 10.2 Stripping ratio reef 7.4 7.1 7.0
1 105.0 3 303.8 Reef milled kt 1 192.2 1 199.6 3 389.2
PGM flotation feed
880.6 2 592.8 tonnes kt 929.6 942.3 2 637.7
PGM rougher feed
1.65 1.65 grade g/t 1.64 1.74 1.67
33.5 90.9 6E PGMs produced koz 33.5 36.0 93.5
71.8 66.0 PGM recovery % 68.5 68.5 66.2
Average PGM
contained metal
887 924 basket price US$/oz 745 685 708
Average PGM
contained metal
10 732 10 828 basket price ZAR/oz 11 162 10 849 10 713
17.3 18.2 Cr?O? RoM grade % 17.7 18.3 18.1
Nine Nine
Quarter months Quarter Quarter months
ended ended ended ended ended
30 June 30 June 30 June 31 March 30 June
2015 2015 2016 2016 2016
57.7 57.0 Chrome recovery % 61.6 63.9 62.4
23.9 25.0 Chrome yield % 25.8 27.7 26.9
Chrome concentrates
263.8 827.0 produced kt 307.1 332.3 911.5
Metallurgical
240.9 756.8 grade kt 225.6 259.9 724.2
22.9 70.2 Specialty grades kt 81.5 72.4 187.3
Metallurgical grade
chrome concentrate US$/t CIF
159 157 contract price China 105 81 105
Metallurgical grade
chrome concentrate ZAR/t CIF
1 919 1 828 contract price China 1 589 1 262 1 573
Average exchange
12.1 11.7 rate ZAR:US$ 15.0 15.8 15.0
Mining
Tharisa’s mining operations, which are characterised by the large shallow open pit, produced
a steady quarter with reef mined of 1 235.4 kt contributing to the current RoM levels ahead
of the processing plants at the planned level of 200 kt (being half of the monthly nameplate
processing capacity of the plants). This stockpile allows for improved reef layer blending and
better feed grade consistency into the plants.
The stripping ratio at 7.4 on a per m3 basis, is below the life of open pit average stripping
ratio of 8.9 on a m3 basis as the focus was on interburden waste stripping.
Processing
Tharisa maintained its PGM production while growing its specialty grade chrome concentrate
output. The Voyager Plant chrome processing circuit was modified in H1 FY2016 to facilitate
increased production of higher value specialty grade chrome concentrates on the back of
prevailing depressed metallurgical grade chrome concentrate prices. This flexibility has
allowed chrome production to be distributed to more globally diversified markets. PGM
production has not been affected by this shift.
PGM production totalled 33.5 koz, with PGM recoveries at 68.5%. Total chrome concentrate
production was 307.1 kt at a recovery rate of 61.6%. Of that production 81.5 kt was specialty
grade material, which generates a pricing premium to metallurgical grade products.
Tharisa remains on track to achieve its targeted recoveries of 70% for PGMs and 65% for
chrome recoveries.
With all of its developmental capital spent, Tharisa is de-risked and in production.
Outlook
Tharisa maintains its year end production guidance of 129.4 koz PGMs and 1.25 Mt chrome
concentrates, of which 300 kt will be specialty chrome concentrate.
With RoM and plant throughput at steady state Tharisa will continue to focus on improving
the RoM grade and recoveries for both PGM and chrome concentrates.
The above information has not been reported on or reviewed by Tharisa’s auditors.
Paphos, Cyprus
12 July 2016
JSE Sponsor
Investec Bank Limited
Investor Relations contact:
Sherilee Lakmidas
+27 11 996 3538
+27 79 276 2529
slakmidas@tharisa.com
Date: 12/07/2016 02:00:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE').
The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of
the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
information disseminated through SENS.
