Monday 12th July 2021, 5.30pm – 9.30pm

Your PGM revenue is largely dependant on the price of Rhodium which is now c40% off its recent highs 2 months ago. Given Rhodium price is so volatile, how do you remain certain that you can maintain or exceed the current profitability?

We have a very balanced prill split, and have generated very healthy PGM revenue when rhodium prices were a tenth of the current levels, we are simply making very healthy extra profits on the back of the high rhodium price, the basket needs to be considered, not just one part of the basket, especially given our low operating costs

Which PGMs would be most used in the hydrogen economy?

Platinum is the main use in hydrogen fuel cells, not replaceable at this stage of research on  hydrogen fuel cell technology, remember also that the minor PGM metals are used in a number of chips that run any electronic item, and we have seen the shortage the metals have caused in chip supply

Are you concerned that the riots in KZN and Gauteng could affect your operations ? And what is your view of the political risk ——-presumably this is already reflected in the share price.

These outbreaks are very sad and dealt with by the government as we speak, they are  very isolated and have no effect on our operations

The Vulcan plant should see construction completed in September 2021.  How should it ramp up and when will it be operating at 100%?

Construction is due end of FY2021, we see a 3 month ramp up to production

Given that the company has made exceptional profits this year due to the strength in the PGM basket, would the company look to re-visit the dividend policy as 15% of NPAT seems rather low given the significant cash generation this year?

We have received very positive feedback on our policy that has been consistent throughout the cycle, so a policy change has not been up for discussion thus far. We have, as you would have seen, always paid more than our policy and we could see us continuing this trend for this year, if prices continue the way they are

The bulk of Tharisa’s chrome 
production is exported to China. This 
gives the Group a significant exposure 
to a single market. This is a significant risk – what is the business doing to mitigate this? Thanks

True, but china is also wholly reliant on South Africa for its stainless steel industry, with China/Indonesia making up close to 70% of the word’s output; while there are other producing areas for chrome, no other area can deliver the volume and the volume at the cost, South Africa can. We have some 60 clients globally, we have already mitigated some of the risk by reducing our reliance of met chrome by becoming the largest chemical chrome producer globally

Please comment on the proposal by the South African government to impose a chrome tax

This is off the table for now, we are part of Chrome SA and have thus far vigorously opposed the imposition of such a tax

Can I ask why they don’t hedge / sell forward production at high resource prices? Also. why do they continue to invest given that investment is not being reflected in the share price?

 Chrome cannot be hedged, neither can rhodium, the investment in the mine is very evident in the performance of the operations

Once the open pit becomes depleted, how cost effective is the underground mining

 Those numbers will become evident closer to the time when we need to look at developing the UG, we have over 10Y to go until we reach that stage, however, the scope of work thus far sees us operating a mechanised on reef mine at very shallow levels, so no comparison to the labour intensive deep levels underground mines in our vicinity

What political risks do they foresee over the short to medium term?

We see no change to the current risk profile, as a company we have bene operating in developing economies for a long while and believe our make up as a business and our interaction with all stakeholders has ensured we are able to operate as we have, remember, the community owns 6% of the operation and are an integral part in our stakeholder make-up