Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON:JLP) Chief Executive Officer Leon Coetzer caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss acquiring a major chrome processing operation, creating value at the PGM PlatCro project and the progress of the DCM & Kabwe project.
Q1: Leon, we’ve just seen news that you’ve acquired a major chrome processing operation, could you expand on the strategic value of this latest acquisition?
A1: We announced this morning that Jubilee Metals Group had acquired the chrome beneficiation operation associated with PlatCro along South Africa’s western bushveld complex which, of course, is where a lot of chrome and platinum mines are located in South Africa.
JLP had identified PlatCro quite early on in its implementation in its mines to metals strategy that we’ve been implementing over the last 4 years and initially we took a bite by securing the PGM, the platinum palladium component of this company.
We were very happy to finally be able to execute a transaction where we now also acquire the current large existing operating chrome beneficiation plant that’s a profitable company and that we acquire there so that we now own both the chrome side and the PGM side of this company.
Very importantly, which is nice, is that the chrome side which consists of an operating plant processing 80,000 tonnes a month of ore is a very significant acquisition.
Q2: You mention the target of integrating the PGM PlatCro project, how does this create value?
A2: Well, now that we own both the PGM and the chrome side of this company, we are able to integrate the entity as a company that produces both chrome and the platinum group metals suite. So, we have a number of metals contributing to the earnings and revenue of that company and of course, it means we are able to allocate overhead and cost far more effectively into that operation.
Very importantly, it allows us to bring into the operation a number of our process enhancements, we’ve developed a fine chrome strategy with our chrome plants running at Hernic and at Dilokong we have extensive experience in bringing process enhancements into chrome recoveries.
So, combining these two companies releases tremendous upside on earnings.
Q3: Finally, how is Jubilee Metals Group progressing with the DCM and Kabwe project?
A3: It’s been a very busy quarter for us, on the one side we’re bedding down this acquisition and very importantly, at DCM where we’re commissioning our fine chrome plant, state of the art, first of its kind in the world, fine chrome plant. We’ve powered on that facility and commissioning activities is going very fast and on schedule.
At the moment, we’re targeting within the next couple of days to in fact start producing material off Dilokong, this is of course a very important link in the company. As soon as that process is stabilised, and we expect this will happen in December, our plan is to actually implement that fine chrome strategy also now in PlatCro to increase even further the chrome productions at the PlatCro facility so a very busy quarter.
Of course, Kabwe, we’re pushing ahead quite hard the implementation of the feed classification circuit, it’s running hard and to plan. We hope to be able to inform shareholder quite shortly on our targeted plans, as we’ve stated earlier, to gain access to a zinc refinery which is associated adjacent to Kabwe.
