JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African platinum producer Lonmin will lift production to 80 percent of normal levels by the end of its financial year in September as it recovers from a five-month strike, the company said on Friday.
The longest and costliest strike in South Africa’s history, which ended in June, has already cost Lonmin $322 million due to lost production, security costs and forfeited contracts, the company said in its quarterly production report.
“Ramp up to full production has started and we are making good and steady progress in terms of our plans to return to full production,” chief executive Ben Magara said.
A return to full production for the world’s No. 3 platinum producer, which produced 751,000 ounces in 2013, is expected in the first quarter of its next financial year, the company said.Lonmin said output for its 2014 financial year was expected to be around 340,000 ounces, less half of what it produced the previous year.
That lost production of over 400,000 ounces is worth close to $600 million at current spot prices for the precious metal used to make catalytic converters in automobiles.
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