Jubilee Metals Group plans R16bn sale of chrome, PGM operations

Platinum metals group will dispose SA mining operations, to focus on Zambian copper business

- EDWARD WEST

JUBILEE Metals Group plans to dispose of its chrome and platinum group mining operations in South Africa - it is one of the five top chrome producers worldwide - for up to $90 million (R15.8 billion), so that it can focus on its copper business in Zambia.

This appears similar, albeit at a smaller scale, to the strategy being adopted by former South African mining goliath, Anglo American, which has already divested of its South African platinum and coal assets and will also soon sell its diamond assets, to focus on its new core assets: copper, premium iron ore, and crop nutrients.

Jubilee Metals, which owns and operates several chrome and PGM processing plants across the Western and Eastern Limbs of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, said on Tuesday that the operations were being sold to One Chrome. A shareholder meeting was scheduled for August 28, where a resolution to approve the transaction will be voted on by shareholders.

Jubilee first announced its plan to sell its chrome and PGM operations on June 5, after it received an unsolicited offer from One Chrome, which is a private mining resources group with related companies operating in South Africa.