Platinum group metals miner Impala Platinum (Implats) achieved a marginal increase in its platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and gold (6E) concentrate production to 3.5-million ounces for the financial year ended June 30, from 3.48-million ounces in the 2025 financial year.
Impala Rustenburg’s production increased by 4% year-on-year to 1.74-million ounces of 6E, with production from the South and Central shafts having increased by 3% year-on-year and stock-adjusted volumes of 1.31-million ounces at a five-year high.
Implats notes that saleable production from the North shafts improved by 6% year to 435 000 oz of 6E and benefitted from the sustained ramp-up in production at Styldrift
Further, production in matte at Zimplats, in Zimbabwe, was stable at 606 300 oz of 6E, with about 24 000 oz of 6E concentrate inventory accumulated during furnace maintenance.
Concentrate volumes benefitted from improvements in both mined and milled volumes and increased by 5% to 660 400 6E ounces
Meanwhile, at Impala Canada, 6E concentrate volumes were 10% lower year-on-year at 212 800 oz, reflecting the planned tapering of production rates at the operation.
Implats’s group-wide gross refined 6E production increased by 5.5% year-on-year to 3.56-million ounces, while sales volumes increased by 4% year-on-year to 3.51-million ounces, both on the back of improved rand PGM pricing.
The miner notes that its South African processing assets had delivered a “particularly strong” performance and that the group had benefitted from significant, broad-based appreciation of dollar pricing for both precious and base metals in the period. Rand appreciation provided only a marginal offset to achieved pricing and, as a result, sales revenue rose by more than 50% to about R38 100/oz of 6E sold.
It further points out that, although the group’s lost-time injury frequency rate and the total-injury frequency rate had improved by 9% and 17% to 3.13 and 6.72, respectively, four fatalities had occurred at its managed operations in the 2026 financial year.
Implats will publish its audited financial results for the year on September 3.