A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Engineering to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built
Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2019 / The report considers survival mechanisms used by Platinum Group Metal
(PGM) producers over the period 2008 to 2017 when mining operations
were considered marginal for an extended period. Various methods to
build cost curves for the PGM industry were tested, with co-product
costing, inclusive of sustaining capital, selected. Industry cost curves
were developed for the period, showing that a significant portion of
producers were marginal from 2014 to 2017, with Impala lease area,
Rustenburg mines and Lonmin marginal for more than two years in that
period. Survival was achieved through cross-subsidisation, utilising cash
reserves, deferring sustaining capital, re-capitalisation and working capital
management, before ultimately restructuring through sale or closure took
place. While industry cost curves were effective at indicating operational
competitiveness in a particular year, a mechanism to indicate relative
financial strength (ability to sustain this position) needs to be sought. / TL (2020)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/29430 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Schmitz, Peter |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (148 leaves), application/pdf, application/pdf |
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