Platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome miner Tharisa performed well, operationally, in the quarter ended March 31, CEO Phoevos Pouroulis says.

The company produced 35 300 oz of PGMs in the quarter – the second quarter of its 2024 financial year – compared with the 35 700 oz produced in the first quarter of the financial year.

Chrome concentrates production was, however, lower, at 402 700 t, compared with the 462 800 t produced in the first quarter.

LSE-, JSE- and A2X-listed Tharisa, nevertheless, maintains its full-year production guidance at between 145 000 oz and 155 000 oz of PGMs and between 1.7-million and 1.8-million tonnes of chrome concentrates.

"We continue to drive improvement in recoveries and efficiencies, which is highly sensitive to the variability and oxidisation of the feed into our processing plants," Pouroulis comments.

Further, Tharisa points out that PGM prices have stabilised after a pricing correction driven in the main by negative sentiment around long-term demand drivers, while the chrome market remained robust, with continued tight supply:demand fundamentals.

The PGMs basket price for the quarter under review averaged $1 343/oz, compared with $1 344/oz in the first quarter.

The average metallurgical-grade chrome concentrates price also "held steady" at $286/t, compared with the average price of $291/t in the first quarter.

Other highlights for the quarter under review include the ongoing development at the Karo platinum project, in Zimbabwe, and the launch of Tharisa's Redox One energy storage solution.

"A milestone in our innovation strategy was the official launch of Redox One, which is at the forefront of developing long-term energy storage solutions, using proprietary proven technology, to deliver a 'Mine-to-Megawatt' solution at a competitive storage cost compared to existing technologies.

"As we celebrate ten years of our JSE listing today . . . we have delivered deep value for our stakeholders, and building off our multi-generational resources, we look to unlock latent value in process optimisation and novel downstream technologies," Pouroulis says.