Platinum furnace closed

JOHANNESBURG – The world’s third biggest platinum producer, Lonmin Plc, shut down its biggest furnace after a leak was detected, but it gave no indication yesterday about any impact on production.

“It’s too early to say,” said Alex Shorland-Ball, vice president of investor relations, when asked whether production would be affected. The company will have to wait a few days so the No.1 furnace – the largest of four at the Marikana operation – could cool down so it could be examined for any damage.The four furnaces at Marikana process all of Lonmin’s mine output in South Africa, with the largest one smelting 20 000 tonnes per month and the other three handling around 10 000 tonnes, she added.Lonmin has most of its operations in South Africa but its main listing in London.In January, Lonmin said it was on track to meet its full-year target of around one million ounces of platinum sales and around 1,9 million ounces of total platinum group metal (PGM) sales.In the year to September 2005, Lonmin produced 916 420 ounces of platinum for a pretax profit of US$323 million.Lonmin shares fell 0,8 per cent to 27,13 pounds by 1055 GMT compared to a slightly firmer FTSE 100 index.-Nampa-ReutersThe company will have to wait a few days so the No.1 furnace – the largest of four at the Marikana operation – could cool down so it could be examined for any damage.The four furnaces at Marikana process all of Lonmin’s mine output in South Africa, with the largest one smelting 20 000 tonnes per month and the other three handling around 10 000 tonnes, she added.Lonmin has most of its operations in South Africa but its main listing in London.In January, Lonmin said it was on track to meet its full-year target of around one million ounces of platinum sales and around 1,9 million ounces of total platinum group metal (PGM) sales.In the year to September 2005, Lonmin produced 916 420 ounces of platinum for a pretax profit of US$323 million.Lonmin shares fell 0,8 per cent to 27,13 pounds by 1055 GMT compared to a slightly firmer FTSE 100 index.-Nampa-Reuters