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- A skills shortage at Impala's Lac Des Iles operation in Canada are impacting its maintenance programme.
- Impala says the skills shortage in Canada was impacting the broader North American mining industry.
- In South Africa, power supply, community unrest and strikes were some of the challenges seen in its first quarter.
Impala Platinum (Implats) is battling a skills shortage at its Canada operations, and a combination of an unstable power supply and an unprotected strike contributed to a decline in production at its Rustenburg operations in the past quarter.
At Rustenburg, milled production decreased by 12% to 2.59 million tonnes. Its total platinum group metals concentrate volumes decreased 6% to 809 000 ounces during the quarter.
"Production was affected by unprotected industrial action among the contractor workforce, compounded by unstable power supply, increased safety stoppages, cable theft and community disruptions," the company said.
Impala said its Canada business continues to "face a critical skills shortage and logistical constraints", which are said to be regional challenges that impact the broader North American mining industry, and not unique to the Ontario region, where its Lac Des Iles mine is located.
At the mine, Impala said the skills challenge was impacting the operation's maintenance programme, resulting in poor underground equipment availability and absolute volumes produced
Impala has operations in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada.
At the Two Rivers mine, production volumes were affected by a safety stoppage, following a fatal accident in September.
Power supply interruptions are some of the challenges facing companies, with a growing number of mineral producers developing alternative renewable energy projects in a bid to curb reliance on Eskom. Self-generation regulations allow entities to develop up to 100MW of power without seeking a licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).
This week, Impala announced that it had entered into talks with Royal Bafokeng Platinum to buy its entire business, in a move that would see the company consolidate its local operations.
