Marikana (Western Platinum Limited and Eastern Platinum Limited) is a large, established shallow to moderate depth PGM mining complex located in the Marikana district, 40km to the east of the town of Rustenburg in the North West province of South Africa.
Statistics as at 31 December 2025
Life of mine
![Calendar [icon]](https://sibanyestillwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/icon-pgm-lom.svg){kind=icon}
K3: 2032
E3: 2034
TSF* material: 2034
Rowland: 2036
Saffy: 2040
E4: 2059
K4: 2070
*Tailings storage facility
![Platinum ingots [icon]](https://sibanyestillwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/icon-pgm-production-1.svg){kind=icon}
Production 4E PGM
652,883oz
![Gold dollars [icon]](https://sibanyestillwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/icon-gold-costs.svg){kind=icon}
All-in sustaining cost
US$1,373/4Eoz
Workforce
19,633
employees and contractors
For up-to-date quarterly production figures, please refer to the latest results booklet.
Marikana currently has five operating shafts: K3, K4, Rowland, Saffy, and E3. The Merensky and the UG2 reefs are mined simultaneously at an average depth of 500m and are accessed via infrastructure consisting of shallow incline and deeper vertical shafts. The K3, K4 and Rowland vertical shafts target both the Merensky Reef and UG2 reef horizons, while the E3 shallow incline and the Saffy vertical shaft target only the UG2 reef. The vertical shaft complexes account for the largest portion of the Mineral Reserves.
As at 31 December 2025, Marikana had 4E PGM Mineral Reserves of 18.8Moz and 4E PGM Mineral Resources. of 110.4Moz.
A closer look
- In 1987, the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Limited (Lonhro) commissioned the sinking of the Rowland Shaft
- By 1989 the Karee mine shafts were operational
- In 1998, Lonhro PLC split and Lonhro Africa PLC was formed
- In 1999, Lonhro PLC was renamed to Lonmin PLC
- In 2000, Lonmin PLC sold off all non-PGM assets and became a primary PGM producer
- In 2001, the eastern declines were sunk, Saffy shaft was commissioned and Lonmin entered into a JV with Anglo American Platinum for the Pandora property
- By 2003, the Hossy Shaft was commissioned with the K4 Shaft commissioned in 2006
- In 2011, the K3 Shaft decline was sunk
- in 2012, the K4 Shaft was placed on care and maintenance
- In 2016, Saffy Shaft began to produce at full capacity
- In 2018, Lonmin acquired 100% of the Pandora JV from Anglo American Platinum
- In 2019, Sibanye-Stillwater acquired Lonmin Plc
- In 2021, the resumption of the K4 Project was approved
- In 2024, the 4B Shaft was closed
Major infrastructure consists of
- Five vertical shafts, of which four are in production and one is on care and maintenance
- Five incline shafts of which one is in production (E3) and the remainder are on care and maintenance
- Eight PGM concentrator plants (two on care and maintenance)
- A smelter plant, a base metal refinery plant and a precious metal refinery plant
- Three hospitals/medical centres
- Workshops, office blocks, a laboratory, and equipment stores
- Accommodation quarters and hostels
- Water treatment plants
The Mineral Reserves are mined using predominantly conventional underground mining methods. The E3 shallow incline shaft extends to a depth of approximately 400m below surface; the K3, Rowland and Saffy vertical shafts extend to approximately 900m below surface, and the K4 vertical shaft to 1,130m. 42% (46.4Moz) of the total Mineral Resources are above shaft bottom infrastructure (AI), and 58% (64.0Moz) are below shaft bottom infrastructure (BI).
The fresh ore mined at the Marikana operations is processed through four of the eight concentrators on site (of which two are on care and maintenance and two treating tailings material), with a combined fresh ore milling capacity of approximately 600,000t per month. The concentrate is dispatched to the smelter where a sulphide-rich matte is produced for further processing at the Base Metal Refinery (BMR). At the BMR, base metals (nickel and copper) are extracted and the resulting PGM-rich product is sent to the Precious Metal Refinery (PMR) in Brakpan for final treatment. The PMR produces the final refined precious metal products.
In addition to the underground operations, there are also two tailings retreatment operations:
- Eastern tailings dam 2 (ETD2) is being mined with high-pressure water guns. The tailings are retreated at the bulk tailings treatment (BTT) plant
- Tailings from the EPL concentrator, post the chromite recovery unit, are pumped to the ETTP plant, where a portion of the remaining PGMs are recovered
The mineral rights for the Marikana operations comprise several mining rights, and are divided between WPL and EPL.
There are four mining rights within WPL, which have been converted to new order mining rights NW30/5/1/2/2/107MR (29.3 km², expires 03 September 2037), NW30/5/1/2/2/106MR (101.7 km², expires 03 September 2037), NW30/5/1/2/2/161MR (1.8 km², expires 20 December 2036) and NW30/5/1/2/2/190MR (0.3 km², expires 20 December 2036).
There are five mining rights within EPL which have been converted to new order mining rights NW30/5/1/2/2/109MR (38.2 km², expires 03 September 2037), NW30/5/1/2/2/110MR (0.6 km², expires 03 September 2037) and NW30/5/1/2/2/111MR (1.7 km², expires 03 September 2037). The mining rights NW30/5/1/2/2/292MR (46.2km², expires 22 January 2044) and NW30/5/1/2/2/433MR (42.9 km², expires 22 January 2044) cover the eastern half of EPL (the Pandora area).
The Schaapkraal prospecting right (held under DMPR reference number: NW30/5/1/1/2/13438PR, and valid until 27 November 2026), covers the western down-dip extension at Marikana, and is currently subject to a S102 application for ministerial consent to incorporate such right into the WPL mining right with DMPR reference number: NW30/5/1/2/2/106 MR.
Tailings deposition is managed in an integrated manner across the TSFs detailed below:
- Karee tailings dam 2 – fed from the K3 UG2 plant at 146ktpm (life of TSF until Q4 2026 at current deposition rate, after which these tailings will be diverted to the WLTR concentrator for deposition on Hoedspruit TSF)
- Karee tailings dam 3 – The TSF has been placed under care and maintenance with deposition from K3 MR plant only under upset conditions
- Karee tailings dam 4 – fed from the K4 plant at 75ktpm and the K3A Plant at 102ktpm (life of TSF until 2044 at current deposition rate)
- Western Platinum tailings dam 6 – fed from the BTT plant at 318ktpm (life of TSF until 2033 at current deposition rate)
- Western Platinum tailings dam 5 – recommissioned during 2025 for a period of 5 years, fed from the EPL Plant at 130ktpm
The Marikana TSFs have a remaining capacity of 61.5Mt. The LoM requires 102Mt TSF capacity, resulting in a shortfall of 40.3Mt. The current capacity constraints will be mitigated through the integrated consolidated surface operations strategy, which addresses tailings deposition across all the operations. Due to the synergistic nature of the operations, the short- to medium-term approach will therefore be to divert tailings to other existing Group facilities within the SA PGM operations.
The K4 project build-up phase continues with a focus on primary and secondary development. Steady state is envisioned by 2032, with planned ore production at 2.3Mtpa, yielding approximately 250koz 4E PGMs per annum.
In addition to K4, the following significant study work was advanced in 2025, with the aim of stabilising the long-term LoM production profile of the SA PGM operations.
- The PFS of the E4 UG2 mechanised project was completed, leading to the declaration of a maiden Mineral Reserve for the shallow, mechanised decline planned mining production at 1.9Mtpa, yielding approximately 118koz 4E PGMs per annum
- The PFS of the E3 UG2 mechanised project was completed during the year. It will be a brownfields expansion of the current E3 mine, down-dip to current workings, and will serve as replacement ore for E3. The plan is for the implementation of a mechanised mining section as an extension of the existing conventional mine
- Study work related to the optimum extraction strategy for the subsequent E3 and E4 projects down-dip extension (E3/E4 UG2 mechanised phase 2) is ongoing. This work will be advanced in 2026
- The PFS of the Saffy UG2 mechanised brownfields project was completed in 2024, and will be further advanced in coming years. The second phase of this project will be another downdip extension
