Impala Platinum Holdings Limited expects a substantial increase in full-year earnings for the period ending June 30.

The South African miner projects headline earnings between 21.8 billion and 23.8 billion South African rand ($1.35 billion to $1.47 billion).

This forecast represents a sharp increase from the 700 million rand reported in the previous year.

Higher prices for platinum group metals primarily drove the expected earnings growth.

The company also benefited from reversing a ZAR 8.1 billion impairment charge related to its Impala Rustenburg operations.

Basic earnings are forecast to range between ZAR 30 billion and ZAR 32 billion.

Impala Platinum will release its full financial results around September 3.