HISTORY

Platinum was first discovered in the area by renowned explorer Hans Merensky on the nearby farm Maandagshoek (now Modikwa Platinum) in the 1920’s.  During 2001, Assmang elected to dispose of its platinum interests at the Dwarsrivier Chrome mine.  Two Rivers Platinum, the incorporated Joint Venture between Avmin and Implats secured the platinum rights in December of that year.  Subsequent corporate activity involving Avmin, ARM and Harmony resulted in the transfer of Avmin’s share in Two Rivers to a new, empowered platinum entity, ARM Platinum, a division of ARM. 

The joint venture partners began development of the Two Rivers project in June 2005.  The concentrator plant was commissioned early in FY2007 and in FY2008 the mine successfully made the transition from project to operation.  Platinum in concentrate production is forecast to increase to 150,000 ounces by FY2013.

GEOLOGY

Both the Merensky Reef and underlying UG2 Reef occur on the property.  The UG2 outcrops in the Klein Dwarsrivier valley over a north-south strike length of 7.5 kilometres and dipping generally to the west at about 10°.  The extreme topography results in the UG2 occurring at a depth of 935 metres on the western boundary.  The vertical separation between the Merensky and UG2 Reefs is around 140 metres. 

MINING

The UG2 orebody mine is accessed via a decline shaft system comprising a footwall conveyor decline and two on-reef declines – one for vehicle access and the other a chairlift installation for the transport of employees.  Underground mining operations are fully mechanised and the bord and pillar mining method is employed where stoping widths average around 1.8 metres. 

A mining section consists of eight 12 metre rooms with pillar sizes increasing depth below surface. Afeasibility study on the exploitation of the Merensky reed is currently being undertaken.

METALLURGY

Two Rivers has a concentrator plant on site, where initial processing is done.  It comprises a standard MF2 design as generally used in the industry.  Modifications to the plant have resulted in tonnes milled increasing to 2.9 million.  Concentrate is transported by road to Implats’ Mineral Processes in Rustenburg where further processing takes place in terms of an agreement with Impala Refining Services (IRS).

BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) is South Africa’s largest Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) controlled mineral resources company, with 57% of the organisation owned by black interests.  As such Two Rivers complies with the BEE equity component of the Mining Charter while all other aspects of the Charter are dealt with at an operational level. The operation subscribes to the transformation of South African business by actively promoting BEE ownership and employing local SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises).

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Two Rivers is committed to social development initiatives and engages in, develops and builds community relationships.  It takes responsibility for economic, social and environmental issues that impact its people, communities and environments and is involved in a number of community projects in the area.  The Two Rivers Platinum Community Forum was established primarily to share information about the mine with local communities and to set up a focus and network for social upliftment projects.