London-listed platinum producer Lonmin - which has its primary operations in SA - said on Thursday that it was investigating options to improve its power supply, including self-generation.

The company issued its results for the six months to end March in London.

"One of the key issues facing the mining industry in SA today is the availability and security of electricity supply," it said in a statement accompanying its results.

Since the beginning of February, Lonmin had been operating within 90 percent of normal consumption - a restraint placed on it by Eskom.

"In order to manage that constraint, we have scheduled planned maintenance to coincide with periods when our power consumption peaks," Lonmin said.

Energy saving initiatives

"In addition, we have rolled out energy saving initiatives across the business including maximising the efficiency of the compressed air networks in our shafts, running a number of energy saving programmes for electrical equipment and better managing our internal network."

Lonmin said that on 24 April, Eskom had given notice that it could increase its power utilisation to 95 percent of normal consumption, giving the miner increased operational flexibility for the remainder of the financial year.

"Eskom has indicated that they will provide more definitive information to the mining industry on power availability in June of this year ... Once we have more clarity around this, we will develop plans with the aim of ensuring that we have adequate power to match our growth requirements."

Turning to safety, the mining company said that its performance had improved further but that it had regrettably suffered one fatality at its Marikana operations during the period under review.

Lonmin estimated that platinum sales for the 2008 financial year would be around 775 000 ounces of platinum. This estimate took into account current electricity constraints, "but any deterioration of the current power supply situation or any further significant safety stoppages are risks to this target".

Sapa