A shame they had to go down the tubes at a time when they hadn't...

A shame they had to go down the tubes at a time when they hadn't as yet completed the work necessary to gain full value out of the two large exploration JV's. I'm hoping that the administrators can at least keep enough cash on hand to take these to a stage that one or more can be sold at a reasonable value to cover debts and move on. When I first bought into PLA they were ramping their strength as being bringing an Australian open-cut approach to the near surface deposits at Kalplats etc, coupled with the Panton Process to increase recovery at low grades. The greedy rush to get into production via Smokey Hills forced them underground, into a low grade reef with marginal returns and into a field (underground mining) where the company, of its own admission, had no skills or advantage.Its pretty clear from the Lonmin disaster that putting so many locals underground was, and always will be, a pretty volatile game that requires serious local skills, not those found in a board sitting across the ocean in Australia.

So it is open cut or bust, and Smokey Hills should probably be fully decomissioned as a mine (not care and maintenance) as it will never work until the locals undergo a serious attitude readjustment (not in our lifetime I suspect). Take the processing mill up to Kalplats when its ready and off we go again..open cut, much fewer staff...if PLA can survive that long!