| Thu 17 Apr 2008, 7:00 | | PAM - Palabora - First Quarter 2008 - Operations O |
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PAM
PAM
PAM - Palabora - First Quarter 2008 - Operations Overview And Production
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 2008 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
FULL
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q YEAR
2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2007
Palabora mine
Tonnes hoisted (`000 2,917 3,065 3,041 2,822 2,699 11,846
tonnes)
Ore treated (`000 2,886 3,025 3,046 3,958 3,181 12,915
tonnes)
Average ore grade: 0.71 0.70 0.68 0.69 0.71 0.70
copper (%)
Copper concentrates 82.1 56.0 48.6 52.5 73.9 239.2
produced
(`000 tonnes)
Average concentrate 27.4 31.5 31.0 30.7 29.9 29.8
grade:
copper (%)
Copper in 22.5 17.6 15.0 16.1 22.1 71.4
concentrates (`000
tonnes)
Palabora
smelter/refinery
New concentrate 73.6 74.2 73.9 74.1 66.4 295.8
smelted on site (`000
tonnes)
New copper anodes 21.2 22.9 24.0 22.7 18.1 90.7
produced
(`000 tonnes)
Refined new copper 20.8 22.9 24.0 24.0 18.3 91.7
produced
(`000 tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite concentrate 262 321 361 363 446 1,306
(`000 tonnes)
Nickel contained 5 12 43 45 42 96
(tonnes)
Copper sold as 9 1 - 0.7 1.8 11
concentrate (`000
tonnes)
Vermiculite plant
Vermiculite produced 50 50 50 50 50 200
(`000 tonnes)
Palabora Mining Company, a member of the Rio Tinto Group of Companies, situated
in the Ba-Phalaborwa area of Limpopo, operates a large block cave copper mine
and smelter complex.
Daily production from the underground mine averaged 29,657 tonnes for the
quarter. In total, 2,698,821 tonnes of ore were hoisted during the quarter with
a copper grade of 0.71%, marginally higher than the previous quarter`s grade.
Total tonnes of ore were 7.5% lower compared with the first quarter of 2007 and
4% sequentially mostly due to load shedding.
Production volumes were affected in all areas of copper production line by the
power shortages in January and February. Palabora`s power supply has been
restored to 95%, the underground production and the attendant processes are
operating as planned.
Ore treated increased by 10% year on year in line with improved mine output and
20% lower sequentially mainly due to a combination of load shedding and
exclusion of oxide ore.
Copper concentrate tonnage was 10% lower than the corresponding period in 2007
mainly due the transfer of less low-grade stock (14,863) from the concentrator
to the smelter for sale and 41% higher for the quarter compared with the fourth
quarter of 2007 due to reprocessed reverberatory furnace bottoms material which
contributed additional 14,400 tonnes of concentrate and transfer of 13,560
tonnes of low-grade concentrate from 2007 paddock inventory to smelter. These
contributions offset the impact of power supply disruptions in January.
Copper in concentrate was 2% lower than the corresponding period in 2007 and
increased by 37% in the quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2007. This
was mainly driven by additional 4,366 tonnes of copper from reprocessed
reverberatory furnace bottoms material and 2,897 tonnes of copper from 2007 low
grade stocks transferred to the smelter.
New anode production was 15% lower than the corresponding period in 2007 and 20%
lower sequentially due to load shedding.
The refined new copper produced was in line with smelter output (new copper
anodes produced).
Magnetite
Coarse export magnetite volumes increased by 38% due to increased railing
capacity to Maputo.
Vermiculite Operations
Vermiculite production was consistent during February and March. The production
short fall due to power supply disruptions and heavy rains in January has been
recovered. There was a 2% increase in production at the end of March.
Phalaborwa
16 April 2008
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited
Date: 17/04/2008 07:00:06 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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