[miningmx.com] -- PETMIN expects to lift the reserves at its Somkhele, anthracite coal mine, giving a life of mine of 27 years and it is looking into expanding the plant at the project in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.
The JSE- and AIM-traded junior coal and silica miner, which has four key projects, said it planned to take advantage of the strong coal price to place spot cargoes at "improved" US dollar prices for the anthracite coal it mines at Springlake.
In November 2007, Petmin agreed a transaction with Kermas to jointly acquire the Veremo iron ore project in South Africa. Kermas owns Samancor, the world's second-largest ferrochrome producer. When the Veremo transaction is concluded in April this year, Petmin will own 25% of the project.
Petmin's COO Bradley Doig was appointed as a director of Veremo. Petmin is managing an updated bankable feasibility study for the project.
Petmin reported a 145% rise in net profit to R93m in the six months to the end of December compared to R39m in the same period last year as it increased production at its Springlake Colliery and Somkhele, which started production in June last year.
"Development of the colliery's (Somkhele) Area 1 is progressing well and first production from this section is expected in the second half of this year," said Petmin.
Revenue for the six months increased by 92% to R306m compared to R160m for the same six months in the last financial year and gross profit rose by 134% to R56m.
Petmin's proven reserves at its SamQuarz silica mine in Mpumalanga province should increase from the current 10 million tonnes of quartzite to approximately 45 million tonnes, giving the operation at current mining rates a 36-year life of mine when an updated SAMREC-compliant report of reserves and resources is completed in second half of this year.
Silica is used in the production of glass and and SamQuarz also makes a flux product used in ferrochrome and ferromanganese production.
© 2008 Petmin Limited