Sylvania Platinum re-treats chrome tailings (waste rock left by South African chrome mines) to recover platinum group metals, and it is now adding a chrome-selling business. In the year to June 2026 it produced a record 95,885 ounces and earned $66m, up from $7m two years earlier. The driver was a higher metal price, while its new Thaba chrome joint venture is ramping up more slowly than planned.
Squeezing platinum out of other miners' waste
Sylvania runs the Sylvania Dump Operations (SDO): six plants in South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex that process chrome tailings from host mines. It says this makes it the largest PGM producer from chrome tailings re-treatment. The metals are platinum, palladium and rhodium, plus a few by-products. A new centralised filtration plant now sends dry concentrate to the smelter.
Since FY2023 the group also holds the Thaba Joint Venture, which treats run-of-mine ore and old chrome tailings from its partner. It adds chrome concentrate sales to the PGM revenue. Sylvania also holds PGM mining rights in the Northern Limb, including the Volspruit and Aurora projects. Sales are in US dollars, while costs are mostly in rand. Management says the group sits in the lowest quartile of the industry cost curve. 15 Sep 2026 24 Feb 2026 10 Sep 2024
Prices fall, profit shrinks
FY2024 showed how exposed Sylvania is to metal prices. The average basket price fell from $2,086 to $1,339 an ounce. Revenue dropped from $130m to $82m and net profit from $45m to $7m. A union strike at the Western plants in February 2024 and a weaker ore mix at Lannex cut output to 72,704 ounces, below the 74,000-75,000 guidance.
The company stayed cash-generative and kept paying dividends and buying back shares. Eileen Carr succeeded Stuart Murray as chair at the end of 2023. A Volspruit study lifted that project's pre-tax value to $69m. The shares slid from 72p in October 2023 to 41.8p in December 2024. 10 Sep 2024 22 Feb 2024 20 Aug 2024 9 Nov 2023
Record ounces, and a chrome plant that runs late
In FY2025 better feed grades pushed output to a record 81,002 ounces, ahead of the original guidance of 73,000-76,000. Sylvania funded the Thaba JV plant in full, and cash fell from $98m to $61m. Thaba's dates then slipped. In September 2024 steady state was expected by the end of June 2025. In September 2025, after power-supply problems, it moved to Q3 FY2026. In February 2026 the aim became nameplate throughput by the end of Q4 FY2026.
Chrome guidance for FY2026 fell in steps. It was 100,000-130,000 tons in September 2025, 60,000-90,000 in January 2026 and 50,000-55,000 in April 2026. The year produced 50,317 tons. 9 Sep 2025 10 Sep 2024 24 Feb 2026 29 Apr 2026 15 Sep 2026
Prices surge in FY2026
The basket price rose to $2,404 an ounce in FY2026 from $1,507. Production guidance rose from 83,000-86,000 ounces to 90,000-93,000 in January 2026, and the year ended at 95,885. Revenue more than doubled to $226m and EBITDA reached $114m. The dividend rose to 6p a share and $16.2m went to dividends and buybacks. The business had no debt and $67m in cash.
The market's reaction was uneven. The shares reached 126p in February 2026, fell to 73.7p by July and closed at 95.0p in August. Q4 revenue was $48.5m against $78.7m in Q3, which management put down to lower commodity prices. In HY1 the company also wrote off $12.3m on its Hacra exploration asset, which is not in its development plan. 15 Sep 2026 27 Jan 2026 31 Jul 2026 24 Feb 2026
Prices drive profit; Thaba has not delivered yet
The SDO has beaten its guidance in each of the last two years and cost control held up. In rand terms the SDO cash cost per ounce fell 3% in FY2026. But profit swings with the basket price, as FY2024 and FY2026 show.
Thaba is the weak spot. Its ore feed averaged 0.86 g/t PGM and 23.55% chrome oxide. It produced only 979 PGM ounces, and its PGM recovery was 23%. Management says expected feed grades are now potentially lower than first anticipated, and it updated the geological model after the year-end. 15 Sep 2026 24 Feb 2026
“While elements of the project have been successfully commissioned, there remain areas where focus is required during this next year in order to achieve our anticipated return.” 15 Sep 2026
A steady CEO, a new CFO and a delayed JV
Jaco Prinsloo is CEO. Eileen Carr has chaired since January 2024. Lewanne Carminati left as CFO after 16 years at the company, and Ronel Bosman took over on 1 December 2025. Martin Preece, a mining executive, joined as a non-executive director in February 2026.
On PGM output, management has beaten or raised guidance as the facts show. Thaba is a different record, with start dates and chrome guidance moved back more than once. Prinsloo and his wife sold 555,000 shares at 126.5p in February 2026, and he kept about 1.16m. Carr bought 25,000 shares at 81p in March 2026. 2 Sep 2025 2 Feb 2026 2 Mar 2026 24 Mar 2026 30 Sep 2026 15 Sep 2026 29 Apr 2026
Cash-rich, with Thaba still in ramp-up
At 30 June 2026 Sylvania held $67m in cash and no debt. It has declared a 4p final dividend and launched a $1.5m buyback on 15 September 2026. Heavy capital spending continues on new tailings storage facilities at Lannex and Tweefontein. At Aurora, a drilling campaign at the La Pucella target is under way.
Thaba had 12,788 tons of chrome concentrate awaiting dispatch at year-end. The latest close was 93.0p on 9 October 2026. 15 Sep 2026
FY2027 targets
For FY2027 the group targets 85,000-95,000 ounces of 4E PGMs and 110,000-140,000 tons of attributable chrome concentrate. The PGM range sits below FY2026's 95,885 ounces. The chrome range is more than double the 50,317 tons produced.
Management plans to focus on mine planning, grade control and plant stability at Thaba. First Aurora drilling results are due in HY1 FY2027, and the new tailings facilities are due around mid-FY2027. The company has not said what return Thaba must reach. 15 Sep 2026 24 Feb 2026
Written by AI from Sylvania Platinum Ltd's own announcements since Oct 2023 · every paragraph links to its sources