Anglo American Platinum announces the temporary shutdown of the entire Anglo Converter Plant (ACP), part of the chain of processing facilities, and the need to declare force majeure (an unanticipated, uncontrollable event).
The Company’s ACP phase A converter plant, at Waterval smelter in Rustenburg, was damaged following an explosion within the converter on 10 February 2020. Nobody was injured in the incident and work has started to repair phase A, which is expected to be completed by Q2 2021.
As per normal business procedure, the phase B unit was commissioned to take over from the phase A plant and was in the process of ramping up to steady state, when water was detected in the furnace. Notwithstanding extensive testing being conducted to determine the source of the water, and a number of circuits being isolated, water continued to be observed in the furnace. This poses a high risk of explosion and the company has determined that it has no other option but to temporarily shut down the phase B unit, to ensure the safety of all employees and to avoid a catastrophic event. It is anticipated that the repair works to fix the phase B unit will take approximately 80 days.
As a result of the temporary closure of the entire ACP, Anglo American Platinum has had to declare force majeure to customers, suppliers of third-party purchase of concentrate and suppliers of tolling material, as it is unable to complete the processing of material during the converter repair. Production from own mines will continue, and the concentrate from the mines will continue to be smelted at one of the four smelter complexes. However, production from own mines, as well as third party materia,l will not be able to be converted to refined production while the ACP is undergoing repairs.
Initial estimates of the impact on AAP refined production are shown here:
