Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats) subsidiary Rustenburg Platinum Mines (RPM) has signed an agreement to acquire Glencore Operations South Africa’s 39% interest in the Mototolo joint venture (JV).
The proposed transaction will enable Anglo American Platinum to increase its stake in the JV to 89%, with the remaining 11% owned by Kagiso Tiso Holdings.
Located 30km west of Burgersfort in Limpopo in the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld complex, the Mototolo is mechanised platinum mine that operates under a mining right covering 9km².
Under the terms of the deal, the company is required to make upfront cash payment of around ZAR0.8bn ($59.36m) on a cash-free basis.
The transaction also includes an additional consideration to be paid in monthly instalments over a six-year period.
Calculated based on the Rand platinum group metals (PGM) prices over the Mototolo JV life of mine, the additional consideration is estimated to be about ZAR1bn ($74.2m).
The company noted that the total consideration for the acquisition will be capped at ZAR22bn ($1.63bn).
Anglo American Platinum CEO Chris Griffith said: “The acquisition of Glencore’s stake in the Mototolo JV increases Anglo American Platinum’s interest in a mechanised, low-cost, high quality resource, creating another major PGM hub for the company.
“The transaction unlocks significant optionality for the company in its wholly-owned Der Brochen resource.”
The combination of Mototolo and adjacent Der Brochen will allow the company to extend the life-of-mine from the existing life of mine of five years to more than 30 years.
In a statement, the company said: “The acquisition of Glencore’s stake in the Mototolo joint venture unlocks the potential of the Der Brochen resource by utilising the immediately down-dip triangle and south of the Mototolo operations as a major long-life, low cost mechanised hub.”
The completion of the transaction is slated for the fourth quarter of this year and is conditional on certain conditions, including Competition Commission approval.
