Mining Intelligence and News
South Africa

Zandfontein (CRM) Mine

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Summary

Mine TypeUnderground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Chrome
  • Platinum
  • Palladium
  • Rhodium
  • Gold
  • PGM
Mining Method
  • Hydraulic mining
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Breast mining
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotCrocodile River Mine (CRM) is a shallow long-life hybrid platinum group metals (PGM) mine on the Western limb of the Bushveld complex near Brits.

Operations at the CRM up to March 31, 2025 included mining and processing of ore from the Zandfontein underground section of the CRM, producing PGM and chrome concentrates. The PGM concentrates produced from the Barplats Zandfontein underground section are delivered to Impala Platinum under related offtake agreements. Chrome concentrates produced from the Zandfontein underground section are stored on-site at the CRM and sold directly to third parties.

The Retreatment Project is a proprietary operation producing chrome concentrates. Since 2017, Barplats has grown to over 1,500 employees and contractors engaged in supporting the Retreatment Project and the restart of the Zandfontein underground operations. The current Retreatment Project ceased operations as of March 17, 2025 as the original CRM tailings were fully processed.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Eastern Platinum Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Barplats Mines Ltd (operator) 100 % Direct
The Eastern Platinum Ltd. holds directly and indirectly an 100% interest in CRM, through Barplats Mines Ltd.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Intrusion related
  • Magmatic

Summary:

The Project is located on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex in a structurally complex area close to the town of Brits. The geology of the Project Area is located within and adjacent to the Brits Graben and mines the UG2. The Merensky Reef in this area is not currently considered economically viable. The graben and associated faults result in the mine being split into three main sections/mining blocks.

The UCZ of the RLS outcrops extensively, striking in an east-west direction and dipping to the north from about 15° to 25°. Both the Merensky Reef and the UG2 outcrop in the area, with a middling of approximately 200 m. The UG2 occurs from outcrop down to a known depth of at least 2,000 m below surface.

The UG2 at CRM typically consists of a single chromitite layer some 1.35 m to 1.5 m thick. The leader hanging wall layers are generally absent or have coalesced with the main band to form a virtually homogenous chromitite. A very thin chromitite stringer (~1 mm thick) occurs at varying heights above the top of the chromitite in the immediate hanging wall. However, variations in the thickness of specific lithotypes do exist between individual drillholes, and several disturbances to the layering by pothole structures and mafic pegmatites have been encountered during mining and in some drillholes.

Both the Merensky Reef and the UG2 Reef outcrop in the area, with a middling of approximately 220 m. The UG2 Reef occurs from outcrop down to an estimated depth of at least 2,000 mbs. The Merensky Reef is seen as uneconomical in the Project Area, thus the UG2 was investigated.

Nature Of, And Controls On, Mineralisation
The mineralised units of the Project Area form part of the Bushveld Complex, a large layered igneous intrusive body. In a large, layered intrusion such as the Bushveld Complex, the sulphide droplets that segregate out of the parental magma will eventually settle out of the magma, and once magma convection ceases are deposited on already consolidated layers of the magma chamber to form sulphide-rich zones.

The Merensky Reef has traditionally been the most important PGM producing horizon in the Bushveld Complex. In addition to PGM mineralisation associated with the Merensky Reef, all chromitite layers in the Critical Zone of the Bushveld Complex contain elevated concentrations of PGM. The UG2 is the only chromitite layer where significant mining of PGM takes place. The UG2 of the Western Bushveld Limb is generally less than 1 m thick, and is comprised of 60% to 90% chromite, however in the Project Area the thickness of the UG2 tends to average 1.3 m to 1.5 m. The PGMs are interstitial to the chromite grains, and are concentrated at the base and middle of the chromitite layer.

The UG2 at CRM has on average a 4E prill ratio of 62:27:10:1, derived from the drillholes with individual prill analyses. The prill Split Ration is calculated from the mining cut width ratios of elements. The mining cut selection is based on the UG2 reef width plus 20 cm footwall. The footwall cut was included as mineralisation occurs below the base of the UG2.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

CommodityProductUnits202420232022202120202019
Chrome Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe533
PGM Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
PGM Metal in concentrate koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Operational metrics

Metrics202420232022202120202019
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe1,778,525 tons

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Mine Financials

Units2024202320222021202020192018
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 39.2   0.4  
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe -2,384  
Pre-tax Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1.8   -24.4  
After-tax Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1.7   -24.3  

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 23, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 22, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2024
...... Subscription required 2023
...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020
...... Subscription required 2019
...... Subscription required 2017

Aerial view:

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