PLATINUM GROUP: Shaft 1 at Ivanhoe’s Platreef reaches 750 metres

[caption id="attachment_1003722896" align="aligncenter" width="509"] The sinking headgear and infrastructure for the first Platreef shaft that has now reached 750 metres. (Image: Ivanhoe Mines)[/caption] SOUTH AFRICA – Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines says the fist shaft at its Platreef PGM-nickel-copper mine 280 km northeast of Johannesburg has reached the 750 metre level. A station is to be built at this level to provide access for initial mine development, including a ventilation shaft. Shaft 1 sinking will resume when the 750-metre station is complete. Additional stations will be established at depths of 850 and 950 metres. The final depth of Shaft 1 will be 980 metres. As mine development begins at the 750 level, a second shaft will be sunk. The first two blasts have been successfully completed for Shaft 2. The company says the Platreef deposit is located between 700 and 1,200 metres below surface. It contains 125 million tonnes of reserves that grade 1.95 g/t platinum, 2.01 g/t palladium, 0.30 g/t gold, 0.14 g/t rhodium, 0.17% copper and 0.34% nickel. Additional information is available at www.IvanhoeMines.com.