On November 18, 2025, the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, officially opened the Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel-rhodium-gold-copper mine. The opening ceremony took place ahead of the 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, scheduled from November 22 to 23, 2025.
A delegation of national, provincial, and local dignitaries attended the opening ceremony, led by the President, and including former President and Ivanhoe Mines board member, Kgalema Motlanthe, as well as Dr Phophi Ramathuba, Premier of Limpopo Province.
The delegation was greeted by board members and senior management from Ivanhoe Mines and Ivanplats, representatives from Ivanplats’ historically disadvantaged, broad-based, black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) partners, and representatives from the Japanese partnership consortium, consisting of ITOCHU Corporation, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), and Japan Gas Corporation.
President Ramaphosa first unveiled a commemorative plaque and conducted a ribbon-cutting at the concentrator, marking the official opening of the Platreef Mine, before pressing the button to start the concentrator’s operations. This was followed by a ceremony attended by over 2,000 people, including Platreef’s workforce, of which 70% are from local communities and nearly 30% are female.
Ivanhoe Mines’ Founder and Executive Co-Chairman Robert Friedland said: “This will be the largest mine in the African continent for precious metals…today we just have Phase 1, the baby mine…the first little bubble…in two years, the giant shaft will begin, the largest shaft in Africa…all of this is because of the vision we received from President Ramaphosa in the early days.”
He added: “150,000 historically disadvantaged, local black people are actually equity owners in this mine…26% of this mine is operated by independent trusts on behalf of local people and over 60% of our workers are from this community…and all of our miners are proud South Africans.” He also thanked the Japanese consortium which owns a 10% stake in the project.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, also spoke at length during the opening ceremony: “The commencement of production at Platreef is in many ways a culmination of a long journey that began with the initial exploration more than 27 years ago. Robert said this as a baby step [for Ivanplats], but I see a giant step for the community of Mokopane and a gigantic step for our country, South Africa, and we should give a big round of applause for this progress. Today, having finally reached the production phase, is a testament to decades of hard work, resilience, and persistence. This is an important moment for Ivanplats, for the mining industry, and for our country as a whole.”
He added: “This mine begins its life opening a new page in our country. This is the first mine that is really opening with the full involvement of the community, not only as workers but as equity owners, as owners of this wonderful resource that is going to be mined here…so this mine is breaking new ground, it is breaking history, and it is opening up a new chapter of how mining should really be done in our country.”
The Platreef Mine’s Phase 1 concentrator commenced the final stages of hot commissioning on October 29, 2025, with the first feed of platinum-palladium-nickel-rhodium-gold-copper ore. The first production of concentrate took place during the ceremony on November 18, 2025.
As announced on May 8, 2025, underground development of the thick, high-grade Flatreef platinum-palladium-nickel-rhodium-gold-copper orebody on the 850 m level commenced on April 30, 2025. Since then, to October 30, 2025, a total of 391 m of reef development in ore has been completed, and of the total 21,702 t of ore blasted, 15,369 t have been hoisted to surface. Reef development on the 750 m level has also recently commenced. Development ore continues to be hoisted to surface via Shaft #1 and stored in surface stockpiles. The lower-grade development ore stockpiles will be used to feed the 0.8 Mt/y Phase 1 concentrator during the initial stages of ramp-up.
Equipping of Shaft #3, which will more than quadruple available hoisting capacity to up to 5 Mt/y, continues to progress well and is on schedule for completion and commissioning in March 2026. Long hole stoping (production mining) is expected to commence in early Q2 2026, once Shaft #3 is operational.
The underground delineation drilling program, which commenced last year ahead of developing the first long-hole ore blocks, has progressed very well, with a total of 16,110 m drilled to date. All assays reconcile well with Ivanplats’ geological models and mine plan.
Recruitment continues ahead of the ramp-up of Phase 1, with the Ivanplats workforce now over 2,200 employees and contractors, including more than 70% locally based and 26% female. The workforce will continue to grow as the project team has recently started development work on Phase 2.
On November 11, 2025, the Masodi Wastewater Treatment Works, in Mokopane, Limpopo Province, was officially opened. The opening ceremony was attended by senior government officials, key private-sector leaders, and senior management from Ivanplats. The state-of-the-art wastewater treatment works have significantly improved sanitation and public health in Mokopane and surrounding communities since its completion in 2024. Municipal wastewater is recycled at the facility, enabling the water to be reused for industrial purposes. The wastewater facility will also significantly benefit Mokopane’s local economy, enabling the start-up and future expansions of the Platreef Mine, which otherwise would not be possible in the water-scarce region. The Masodi Wastewater Treatment Works was developed through a pioneering public-private partnership formed between the Mogalakwena Local Municipality and Ivanplats.
The Ivanplats’ project team has commenced work on Phase 2 development, with the concentrator expansion targeted for completion in Q4 2027. DRA Global of Perth, Australia, was recently appointed as the engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contractor for the mine and the 3.3 Mt/y Phase 2 concentrator. DRA Global was the EPCM contractor that delivered the construction of the Phase 1 concentrator on schedule in June 2024. Earthworks on the Phase 2 concentrator site, located adjacent to the Phase 1 concentrator, are scheduled to commence in Q1 2026.
In addition, Shaft #2’s concrete headgear is now completed, and the expansion of the shaft to a diameter of 10 metres will commence following the appointment of the contractor in Q4 2025. Raise boring of Shaft #2 to its initial diameter of 3.1 metres was completed in Q4 2024.
On February 18, 2025, two independent studies were completed on the three-phase development of the Platreef Mine. This included an updated Feasibility Study on the Phase 2 expansion to 4.1 Mt/y of processing capacity, as well as a Preliminary Economic Assessment covering a new Phase 3 expansion to 10.7 Mt/y of processing capacity. The excellent results from both studies Ivanhoe says reinforce the multi-generational Platreef Mine’s industry-leading margins.
