Northam will finance the refurbishment of the platinum recovery circuit in preparation for Jubilee to begin delivering material in June. The goal is the creation of a 290,000 tonne stockpile by January of next year.

By February 2019, Eland is expecting it will process a minimum of 60,000 tonnes per month to produce 2,800 ounces each month of PGM.

"The structure of the agreement captures the intent of both companies to develop a lucrative partnership in the processing of PGM and chrome-rich material," Jubilee official Leon Coetzer said.

"It also opens the door to grow our partnership to engage in similar further opportunities with one of the world's largest platinum producers.

"I am looking forward to working closely with the Northam team as we share our processing capabilities and expertise to maximise value extraction from the PlatCro PGM-rich material."

Both companies will share earnings from the sale of its PGM concentrate, including platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and gold; revenue could reach R$2.4 million (US$18,762) monthly.