Impala’s key mining initiative for this year will be to maintain focus on on-reef development and capital project delivery with our goal being to produce one million platinum ounces by 2014.

Our business

Bushveld Complex

Our Business Impala Marula Two Rivers Zimplats Mimosa Impala Refining Services Resources & Reserves
 
Fact sheets
     
  November 2010
Impala Platinum fact sheet
(PDF - 504KB) Download		  
     

Resources & Reserves

Impala Platinum

The Impala mining operation is located just to the north of Rustenburg on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex. Contained within this well-layered ultramafic to mafic succession are two horizons in the Critical Zone that host economically exploitable quantities of PGMs, namely the Merensky Reef and the underlying UG2 Reef. Both reefs sub-outcrop in the mining right area and dip generally in a north-easterly direction at about 10°. The vertical separation between the Merensky and UG2 Reefs varies from about 125m in the south to some 45m in the north.

The Merensky Reef is generally composed of an upper feldspathicpyroxenite, overlying a thin basal chromitite stringer, followed by an anorthosite to norite footwall, with the mineralisation decreasing from the basal chromitite stringer into the hanging wall and footwall.

 

Resource and Reserves

  Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Statement 2012

Download (PDF - 14MB) 
     
 
   
 

The UG2 Reef is defined as a main chromitite layer, with most of the mineralisation contained within this unit, followed by a poorly mineralisedpegmatoidalpyroxenite footwall.

Impala holds contiguous mining rights and prospecting rights for a total area of 33 191ha across 20 farms or portions thereof. The prospecting area involving the joint venture with Royal Bafokeng Resources Platinum (Pty) Ltd (RBR) has this year for the first time been factored into the Mineral esource estimate. Agreement has been reached in priciple with a third party to transfer a portion of the Mineral Resources in the southern extremity on the so-called Fourth and fifth Bagokeng Area pending regulatory approvals.  The corresponding mineral Resources have been excluded from the 2010 statement.

Both the Merensky and UG2 Reefs are being exploited; the bulk of the mining at Impala is conventional breast mining. Mechanisedbord and pillar mining takes place in selected areas only, while limited open pit mining takes place at the outcrop position.

The full Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve statement

Download here (3.5MB)

 
 
  1. © Impala Platinum Limited 2012
  2. |
  3. Disclaimer
  4. |
  5. Privacy