Port Elizabeth – Afrimat says it is ramping up production at its mines according to market demand, even though a change in government lockdown regulations allow opencast mines to scale up to full employment.
During level 4 lockdown, certain mines may restart operations, of which opencast mining may scale up from a baseline of 50% to full employment, said the group.
“All Afrimat mines are opencast mines and therefore may operate at full capacity. However, due to the restrictions on certain markets, Afrimats is ramping up operations according to market demand and in line with regulations from government and therefore certain Afrimat mines are not operating at full capacity,” read the statement.
The group added that it expects headline earnings per share (helps) in its year to end-February to rise by 44% from the prior period’s 234.1c, having given guidance of an increase of 38%-58% in April.
Afrimat also reported a “healthy contribution” from its Demaneng iron ore mine.
The group benefited from rising iron ore prices in 2019, and Demaneng produces high-grade ore. The company acquired the mine, then known as Diro Iron Ore, in 2019 for R400m.
