Eastplats has more than doubled its reported interim profit, benefitting from higher chromite prices.

Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) is reworking mine tailings from the Crocodile River mine in South Africa, targeting UG2 mine tailings for its chromium and platinum group metal (PMG) resource. The UG2 chromitite reef is a lower-grade chromite horizon in the Bushveld Complex, which is better known for its PGM content without which it would not be extracted from deep underground mines. Eastplats began reclaiming chromite from its Zandfontein tailings retreatment project in December 2018 and added secondary PGM recovery in 2020. The tailings retreatment project is exhausting historical tailings, which should reach end-of-life in early 2024, at which point, the company will look to restart underground mining at the Crocodile River Mine, which will be able to feed hot tailing to the chromite recovery plant.

Chromite supply has tightened from a glut that overhung the industry in 2019, which has kept prices elevated well above typical cost-curve-driven prices. Chromite supply is dominated by South Africa, which accounts for over 60% of global supply and by-product chromite concentrates from UG2 PGM tailings have ramped up over the last two decades to add to South Africa's dominance. The outlook of chromite supply is closely linked to the PGM industry at present. The recovery of chromite out of tailings is low, as the ore is crushed to very fine grains to liberate the PGMs often mineralised within chromite grains. However, the ferrochrome industry in China has adapted over the last two decades to consume these lower-cost fines and several operations in South Africa are looking to increase recovery, which can have a significant upside if the logistics and handling of ultra-fines can be addressed successfully. However, the PGM industry in South Africa is facing headwinds with a lack of investment weighing on its future, and with it the availability of UG2 tailings for chromite recovery.