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African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), the diversified mining company owned by Africa's first Black billionaire Patrice Motsepe, has suspended operations at its struggling Bokoni platinum mine after posting a sharp drop in annual earnings.
The company said Friday the shutdown will allow it to work on a revised mining plan for the Limpopo-based mine, after mounting losses and rising costs. ARM booked a R2.2 billion ($125 million) impairment at Bokoni, citing delays in ramping up operations and a change in mining method.
Headline earnings, which strip out one-off items such as impairments, fell 47 percent to R2.7 billion ($153.6 million) for the year ended June 30, down from R5.1 billion ($289.6 million) a year earlier. Basic earnings slid to R330 million ($18.8 million) from R3.1 billion ($176.8 million).
Bokoni mine struggles
ARM acquired Bokoni from Anglo American Platinum and Atlatsa Resources in 2022 for R3.5 billion ($199.6 million). The mine had already been under care and maintenance since 2017 after years of losses.
Since the purchase, ARM has been running the mine using an existing 60,000-metric-ton-per-month concentrator under an “early ounces” plan meant to generate cash while preparing for a larger expansion. But last year’s steep collapse in platinum group metal prices forced the company to delay its planned 240,000-metric-ton-per-month development project.
ARM suspends Bokoni mine amid surging costs
“Without this larger scale, the lower production volumes obtained from the early ounces project could not achieve the required economies of scale,” ARM said in a statement.
Despite output rising 62 percent to 45,579 ounces of platinum group metal concentrate in the year, cash costs jumped 48 percent to $2,051 an ounce. That left operations unable to cover fixed costs, leading to the suspension of mining and milling at the end of June.
ARM said it will now focus on developing ore reserves at Bokoni while studying the feasibility of a smaller 120,000-metric-ton-per-month mine, which could later be expanded to 240,000 tons. The study is expected to be completed in early 2026.
ARM faces broader pressures
Founded in 1997, ARM has grown into one of South Africa’s leading mining groups, with interests spanning iron ore, manganese, coal, copper, gold and platinum group metals. Iron ore and PGMs remain key to earnings, but falling prices have pressured results in recent years.
In July, ARM announced plans to cut jobs as it prepared to permanently shut its loss-making Cato Ridge Works plant, underscoring the headwinds facing the manganese industry and South Africa’s wider mining sector.
Motsepe, Africa’s first Black billionaire and the wealthiest Black person in Southern Africa, owns nearly 46 percent of ARM. While mining remains his core business, he has steadily diversified investments into financial services, energy and sports, building a portfolio aimed at cushioning against the volatility of global commodity cycles.
