Johannesburg — THE share price of platinum processor Braemore Resources jumped 8%, or 5c, to 65c on the JSE yesterday after the company said it was in talks that could lead to a takeover offer.
The rise in the share price was unusual on a day when resources stocks across the board, and platinum shares in particular, were battered by a weaker platinum price and a stronger dollar. Braemore drew attention to recent volatility in its share price in the range of about 65c-88c in the past four weeks.
Speculation on Interactive Investor's discussion forum focused on Ruuki, the Finnish group that recently bought Mogale Alloys. Ruuki told Bloomberg in an interview two weeks ago that it was pursuing platinum acquisitions in SA, and was "actively pursuing discussions with several players".
Among larger platinum houses, Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum or Lonmin could be interested in adding Braemore's new technology to their existing smelting and refining facilities. Northam Platinum, which uses Heraeus in Port Elizabeth for its precious metals refining , could be considering expansion of its processing facilities to deal with additional output from its planned Booysendal project.
All platinum refiners have battled with high chrome content in platinum ore, which creates processing problems, as increasing amounts of UG2 reef are being mined. Braemore Resources is testing technology developed by Mintek, called ConRoast, intended to deal with higher-chrome ore in a more environmentally friendly way.
