Palladium price peaks at new record high, rhodium roaring

Bavura Holdings, in which Nigerian billionaire Benedict Peters is a major shareholder, would sign an agreement to mine platinum on Zimbabwe's mineral-rich Greak Dyke.

South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. faces a tough choice: back Sibanye Gold’s takeover of Lonmin, and take a hit on its investment, or scupper the deal and risk having to pony up more cash for the platinum miner.

Gold deliveries to central bank unit Fidelity Printers and Refiners, which buys all the country's gold, declined to 6.5 tonnes from 7.3 tonnes during the January-March quarter.

Sibanye Gold reiterated that its increased offer for Lonmin is final, but kept its option open to sweeten the deal for the platinum producer should a rival bid emerge.

The transaction would create the world’s No.2 platinum producer as Lonmin is the world’s third-largest while Sibanye-Stillwater is the fourth.

The company also expects to halve the amount of job cuts previously announced in the gold division to around 3,000.

A plan to build Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum mine at a cost of about $4 billion is floundering because a military stake in the project has deterred potential backers.

A rise in producer profits is likely to provoke higher wage demands from labour unions including the militant AMCU.

Higher prices for a basket of Lonmin's metals and a weaker South African rand helped the London-listed miner to an annual pre-tax profit in 2018, its first since 2013.