JOHANNESBURG (Bloomberg) — Bermuda-based Aquarius Platinum Ltd. said its Marikana and Everest mines passed a national safety audit ordered by South African President Thabo Mbeki after the country's mineworker death toll climbed for the first time in six years.

Safety-related work stoppages, together with strikes and equipment repairs, cut output by 12,000 ounces of platinum-group metals in the quarter ended December 31, Hamilton-based Aquarius said in a statement yesterday. Higher prices for the metals offset the decline, it said.

Rising prices helped companies including Anglo Platinum Ltd. and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the world's largest miners of the metal, make up for production losses as the government forced work stoppages to investigate mine accidents. President Mbeki on October 5 ordered the audit after a spate of accidents.