Marikana sparkling

Marikana mine is pumping out more platinum than it has done in six years.

Marikana owner Lonmin surprised the market yesterday with positive results and buyers jumped in, pushing the share up to its highest level in a year.

The company boosted production by 10.5% to 751000oz in the year. And its sales of 696000oz exceeded its forecast of 660000oz.

Lonmin also reported a sharp turnaround in profitability, turning a loss before tax of nearly $700-million into a $140-million profit.

CEO Ben Magara said: "Despite the constraints faced at the start of the financial year, our ramp-up was impressive and we met production expectations, with costs well under control and with many areas of the business recording their best performance in years."

In morning trading, the stock was up more than 8%, but enthusiasm waned a little and by late afternoon, it was up 5.5% to close at R56.55.

The platinum industry has had a tough time since the financial crisis and recession of 2008-2009.

Weaker vehicle sales in Europe have dampened demand for catalytic converters, in which platinum is a key component.

Labour strife in South Africa has also pushed the country's miners onto front pages worldwide.

Anglo Platinum announced yesterday that a strike at its Dishaba mine in Limpopo ended the previous day.

Impala Platinum is still in negotiations with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union.

The trade union announced last month that it was planning to strike but it has not set a date.

Amcu is the largest union on South Africa's platinum mines after overtaking the ANC-aligned National Union of Mineworkers.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has threatened to halt exports of raw platinum to South Africa to force mining companies to build a refinery in the country, as a two-year deadline has expired, according to state media.

The threat, if carried out, could affect Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum Holdings, both of which have operations in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has the world's second-largest known platinum reserves but mining companies send the raw product to South Africa for processing. - Additional reporting by Reuters