COMPANY PROFILE

Geology and History Some two billion years ago, a series of violent volcanic eruptions, which took place over a period of millions of years, gave rise to a rich body of minerals, which became known as the Palabora Igneous Complex. The unique ore body outcropping at a small saddleback hill, later to be called Loolekop, contains a unique variety of minerals - copper, phosphates, magnetite, uranium, zirconium, nickel, gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Two other volcanic pipes nearby contain vermiculite and phosphate. Smelting of copper iron occurred in the district prior to the discovery. We know from the artifacts found in the area, that copper of remarkable purity was produced in the Phalaborwa area as early as the 8th century. Development of modern mining activity started at the beginning of the century when several geologists in the noted the occurrence of the phosphate bearing mineral, apatite, in the vicinity of Loolekop.   Palabora Mining Company Limited extracts and beneficiates copper and vermiculite from its mines in the Limpopo Province. The company was incorporated in South Africa in August 1956. It is South Africa’s only producer of refined copper. The mining of the company’s copper ore-body commenced in 1956. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the company’s open-pit copper mine and associated processing plants produced over 2, 7 million tones of copper.   During the early 1990s, the company embarked on a series of feasibility studies on underground mine. In 1996, it announced that it would proceed with the development of an underground block caving mine with a production rate of 30 000 tonnes per day. Products The primary product of the company is copper, together with by-products, which include magnetite, nickel sulphate, anode slimes, sulphuric acid and vermiculite. The Industrial Minerals division produces and markets vermiculite.  Operations   The copper operations comprises an underground mine, a concentrator, a copper smelter with anode casting facilities and an associated acid plant, an electrolytic refinery tank house, arod casting plant and by-product recovery plants.   The vermiculite operation comprises an open-pit mining operation and recovery plant. Overseas subsidiaries in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Singapore performs the marketing of vermiculite. Mission statement It is the primary aim of the Company, a member of the world-wide Rio Tinto Group, to achieve excellence in all aspects of its activities and to develop the Company’s resources and assets in a social and environmentally responsible way for the maximum benefit of its shareholders, employees, customers and the community in which it operates. It is the Company’s firm belief that efficient and profitable operations go hand-in-hand with high-quality products and comprehensive and effective safety, health and environmental protection programmes.