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S.Africa's ARM pivots to chrome and copper after platinum cost depression

African Rainbow Minerals (ARM). is pursuing chrome and copper opportunities after. weaker platinum group metal (PGM) and coal rates drove its. yearly profit 43% lower, the diversified miner stated on Friday.

ARM's heading incomes slumped to 5.08 billion rand. ($ 286.89 million) in the year ended June 30, from a restated. 8.98 billion the previous year, primarily due to lower PGM and coal. prices.

The business's board has approved the building of a. chrome healing plant at its Bokoni platinum mine, where the. platinum increase will be phased and determined due to the lower. prices.

The basket price of PGMs fell about 40% last year and the. slide has continued into 2024.

South African platinum miners are significantly turning to. chrome, which is a by-product of their primary production, to. balance out the effect of low PGM costs.

That is additional earnings. It begins top of what you. already have in regards to fixed costs, for that reason diluting your. general operating expense, ARM CEO Phillip Tobias stated throughout a. results call.

If you take a look at the patterns, you would have seen that China. has been purchasing a great deal of chrome ore, he included.

Other miners, consisting of Sibanye Stillwater and. Harmony Gold have recently diversified into crucial. metals such as lithium and copper, which are vital for renewable. energy systems.

In May, ARM got a 15% stake in Rise Copper,. which has two copper expedition projects in Canada.

We want to act. It becomes part of ARM's strategy of. diversity into copper, Mike Schmidt, ARM's executive for. growth and tactical advancement, stated throughout the same call.

Tobias stated the ARM board considered its 12% shareholding in. Harmony Gold to be more tactical now due to the gold. miner's copper assets.

Consistency expects to begin producing from its Eva Copper. project in Australia by 2028. It also jointly owns the. Wafi-Golpu gold-copper job in Papua New Guinea with Newmont .

(source: Reuters)