Costs were well managed with AISC increasing by only 5% year-on-year to R16,985/4Eoz (US$1,004/4Eoz), despite lower production and above inflation electricity tariffs and wage adjustments. Higher state royalty tax arising from the increase in revenue and profitability were partly offset by financial benefits accruing to the Marikana smelting and refining operations from the processing of Purchase of Concentrate (PoC) from Rustenburg, Kroondal and Platinum Mile following the declaration of Force Majeure (FM) by Anglo American Platinum (Anglo Platinum) during March 2020 after breakdowns at its converter plants (ACP).
The average 4E PGM basket price of R36,840/4Eoz (US$2,179/4Eoz) for Q3 2020 was 81% higher than for Q3 2019. This was primarily driven by significant price gains in rhodium (166%) and palladium (41%) period-on-period and a 15% weaker rand exchange rate. Rhodium and palladium respectively contributed approximately 42% and 30% of the spot 4E PGM basket revenue for Q3 2020, despite comprising just 8% and 30% of the 4E prill split. The record average 4E basket price combined with the steady increase in production post the COVID-19 lockdown, enabled a 217% increase in adjusted EBITDA for the SA PGM operations to R9,287 million (US$549 million) for Q3 2020, with the adjusted EBITDA margin more than doubling from 25% for Q3 2019 to 58% for Q3 2020.
Notably, the R9,287 million adjusted EBITDA generated during this quarter accounts for 72% of the R12.8 billion aggregated initial acquisition cost of Kroondal, Rustenburg and Marikana. Considering the higher prevailing average PGM basket price in Q4 2020 to date, combined with the return to normalised production rates during October, the outlook for Q4 2020 is extremely positive.
PGM production of 154,904 4Eoz from the Rustenburg operation was 14% lower than for Q3 2019. Underground production was 17% lower due to the ongoing build-up of production post the COVID-19 lockdown. This was partly offset by an 18% increase in production from the surface operations, which were less affected by COVID-19 related restrictions. AISC for the Rustenburg operation increased by 19% year-on-year to R18,864/4Eoz (US$1,116/4Eoz), primarily due to lower production, compounded by above inflation increases in wages and electricity tariffs, with higher royalty tax adding approximately R1,624/4Eoz (US$96/4Eoz). At normalised production levels and adjusting for the higher royalty tax, AISC would have been R14,813/4Eoz (US$876/4Eoz), well within SA inflation. The combined AISC margin for the Rustenburg operation increased from 31% for Q3 2019 to 59% for Q3 2020.
The Kroondal operation delivered another solid operational performance despite COVID-19 constraints. Despite being a primarily mechanised operation, a relatively higher proportion of Kroondal’s labour complement comes from neighbouring countries and other SA provinces which, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions on travel, resulted in a more delayed recall of employees, compounded by the need to quarantine or isolate returning employees. As a result, 4E PGM production of 53,299oz was 21% lower for Q3 2020 than for Q3 2019. Absolute costs were well managed, with above inflationary electricity tariff and wage increases being absorbed, but due to the lower production volumes, AISC increased by 18% to R12,805/4Eoz (US$757/4Eoz) year-on-year, considerably less than the 93% year-on-year increase in the average PGM basket price.
PGM production from the Marikana operation for Q3 2020 of 177,717 4Eoz was 26% lower than for Q3 2019. The production decline was again primarily due to the gradual production build, with the buildup at the conventional Marikana shafts slower than at the more mechanised Rustenburg operation. The Marikana operation also employs a higher proportion of foreign nationals and employees from other provinces than the Rustenburg operations, which further delayed the production build up. Restructuring of the Marikana operations and closure of three Generation 1 shafts, which produced 10,537 4Eoz for Q3 2019, also contributed to the decline in production year-on-year. AISC of R16,779/4Eoz (US$992/4Eoz) was 7% lower than R17,955/4Eoz (US$1,224/4Eoz) for Q3 2019 despite significantly lower production. This partly reflects the ongoing realisation of cost synergies from the integration of the Marikana operation into the SA PGM operations, as well as one-off benefits from processing of PoC from Rustenburg, Kroondal and Platinum Mile (due to the Anglo Platinum ACP FM) at the Marikana smelting and refining operations.
Revenue from chrome sales amounted to R309 million for Q3 2020, 6% lower than revenue of R330 million for Q3 2019 due to lower volumes produced and lower prices year-on-year. Chrome sales of 429kt for Q3 2020, compared with 591kt for Q3 2019 with the average chrome price for Q3 2020 of US$138/t, 6% lower than the Q3 2019 average price of US$147/tonne.
Mimosa was largely unaffected by COVID-19 and continued to perform steadily. Attributable 4E PGM production of 31,572 4Eoz was 23% higher than for Q3 2019.
SA gold operations
The post lockdown production build up at the SA Gold operations progressed smoothly and ahead of plan. Gold production of 8,987kg (288,938oz) for Q3 2020 was flat year-on-year, with production building up during both Q3 2020 and Q3 2019 following significant operational disruptions in prior periods. During H1 2020 operations were suspended due to COVID-19 and during H1 2019, the production was significantly affected by the five-month AMCU strike. AISC of R715,345/kg (US$1,316/oz) remained elevated due to lower production, above inflation electricity tariff and wage increases.
Gold production (excluding DRDGOLD) of 7,473kg (240,262oz) was similar to the comparable period in 2019, with AISC of R746,127/kg (US$1,372/oz), 9% higher than for Q3 2019.
The average gold price for Q3 2020 of US$1,845/oz was 27% higher than for the comparable period in 2019, which together with the 15% depreciation of the average rand: dollar exchange rate year-on-year boosted the average rand gold price received for Q3 2020 by 47% to a record level of R1,002,945/kg. The inherent leverage of the SA gold operations to the rand gold price was clearly evident with the adjusted EBITDA margin for the SA Gold operations expanding to 37% compared with 14% for Q3 2019 and adjusted EBITDA increasing 282% to R3,218 million (US$190 million) for Q3 2020.