| Thu 19 Apr 2007, 8:59 | | PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Production |
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PAM
PAM
PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Production overview and statistics
PALABORA MINING COMPANY LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Registration number - 1956/002134/06
JSE Code: PAM & ISIN: ZAE000005245
("Palabora" or "the Company")
FIRST QUARTER 2007 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q FULL
2006 2006 2006 2006 2007 YEAR
2006
Palabora mine
Tonnes hoisted (`000 2,672 2,771 2,832 2,917 11,018
tonnes) 2,743
Ore treated (`000 2,646 2,633 2,668 2,783 2,886 10,730
tonnes)
Average ore grade: 0.71 0.70 0.72 0.72 0.71 0.71
copper (%)
Copper concentrates 51.5 43.0 53.4 61.0 82.1 208.9
produced
(`000 tonnes)
Average concentrate 29.9 30.5 29.4 28.5 27.4 29.4
grade:
copper (%)
Copper in 15.4 13.1 15.7 17.4 22.5 61.5
concentrates (`000
tonnes)
Palabora
smelter/refinery
New concentrate 42.0 83.3 87.7 75.5 73.6 288.5
smelted on site (`000
tonnes)
New copper anodes 10.0 24.0 22.4 22.2 21.2 78.6
produced
(`000 tonnes)
Refined new copper 14.3 21.9 22.9 22.1 20.8 81.2
produced
(`000 tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite concentrate 251 296 299 281 262 1,127
(`000 tonnes)
Refined nickel 35 28 25 32 21 120
sulphate (tonnes)
Copper sold as 5 6 - 5 9 16
concentrate (`000
tonnes)
Vermiculite plant
Vermiculite produced 48 48 52 50 50 198
(`000 tonnes)
Palabora, situated in the Ba-Phalaborwa area of Limpopo, operates South Africa`s
largest copper mine. After 40 years of mining from a large, open-pit operation,
the ore is now extracted in an underground operation located immediately below
the open pit. Overall copper production is supplemented by imported copper
concentrates from Zambia.
Daily production from the underground mine averaged 32,416 tonnes. The
production was 3% higher than the prior quarter and 6% higher than the
corresponding period in 2006. In total, 2,917,430 tonnes of ore were hoisted
with a copper grade of 0.71%, marginally lower than the previous quarter.
The ore treated increased by 9% year on year and by 4% compared with the fourth
quarter of 2006 in line with improved mine output.
Copper concentrate tonnage was 35% higher in the quarter compared with the
previous quarter due to a 4% higher milled tonnage and the transfer of 24,863
tonnes of low-grade stock from the concentrator to the smelter for sale.
There was an increase of 6% in concentrate grade during the quarter from
flotation compared with the fourth quarter of 2006. This was offset by the
reclaimed low grade concentrate from the 2006 pond inventory which resulted in a
net decrease of 3.6% in copper concentrate delivered to the smelter.
Smelting capacity was affected during the quarter as a result of the Eskom power
outage for several hours in January 2007 which continued to impact on copper
recovery for a few days. The reverb furnace was also shutdown for 3 days in
February for a planned maintenance.
Vermiculite Operations
Vermiculite production in the first quarter was 4% above the corresponding
quarter in 2006. The main contributing factor for higher production was the
increase in recovery of the finer material. Along with this, the quality of
superfine and micron grade improved. Overall plant recovery for the quarter was
at 68.7%, which was slightly lower than the previous quarter.
Magnetite
The magnetite production during the quarter was in line with rail logistic
capacity to both ports of Richards Bay and Maputo with a seasonal reduction in
deliveries of heavy medium fines to coal washeries due to wet season mining
conditions.
Phalaborwa
19 April 2007
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited
Date: 19/04/2007 08:59:45 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
