Eastern Platinum's Crocodile River Mine to Resume Output

Eastern Platinum said it has resumed full production at its flagship Crocodile River mine in South Africa, following a probe into a fatal accident at the mine earlier this month.

The company, which produces platinum group metals (PGM) that include platinum, palladium and rhodium, posted a 29 percent fall in third-quarter output at the mine at 26,955 ounces in October.

South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources issued a stop work order at the mine after an employee of an engineering firm working on the development of the Crocodile River mine was killed in a blasting accident on Nov. 7.

Eastplats said the order has now been lifted and full production has restarted at the Maroelabult and Zandfontein sections of the project.

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company has assets on the western and eastern limbs of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, which holds about 80 percent of the world's platinum, according to its website.

Shares of Eastplats, which posted a 65 percent drop in quarterly profit on Monday, were trading down about 2 percent at 68 Canadian cents a share on Tuesday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange.