| Thu 15 Jan 2009, 10:14 | | PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Fourth quarter 2008 - Operations |
|
PAM
PAM
PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Fourth 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")
FOURTH QUARTER 2008 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
FULL FULL
4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q YEAR YEAR
2007 2008 2008 2008 2008 2007 2008
Palabora mine
Tonnes hoisted (`000 2,822 2,699 3,026 3,086 3,019 11,846 11,830
tonnes)
Ore treated (`000 tonnes) 3,958 3,181 3,027 3,096 3,150 12,915 12,454
Average ore grade: copper 0.69 0.71 0.71 0.66 0.67 0.70 0.69
(%)
Copper concentrates 52.5 73.9 89.4 56.5 66.7 239.2 286.5
produced
(`000 tonnes)
Average concentrate 30.7 29.9 29.2 30.3 29.6 29.8 29.7
grade:
copper (%)
Copper in concentrates 16.1 22.1 26.1 17.1 19.7 71.4 85.1
(`000 tonnes)
Palabora smelter/refinery
New concentrate smelted 74.1 66.4 72.3 52.5 70.0 295.8 261.3
on site (`000 tonnes)
New copper anodes 22.7 18.1 22.3 14.9 20.7 90.7 75.9
produced
(`000 tonnes)
Refined new copper 24.0 18.3 21.6 17.0 19.1 91.7 75.9
produced
(`000 tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite concentrate 363 446 475 562 469 1,306 1,951
(`000 tonnes)
Nickel contained (tonnes) 45 42 26 13 19.3 96 100
Copper sold as 0.7 1.8 3.2 1 4.5 11 10.5
concentrate (`000 tonnes)
Vermiculite plant
Vermiculite produced 50 50 50 50 49 200 199
(`000 tonnes)
Palabora, 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.
Copper
Daily production from the underground mine averaged 32,816 tonnes for the
quarter. Production during the quarter was 2% lower than the previous quarter
but 7% higher than the corresponding period in 2007. In total, 3,019,151
tonnes of ore were hoisted during the quarter with a copper grade of 0.67%.
Overall 2008 mine production remained at similar levels to those of 2007
hoisting 11,830,413 tonnes at a grade of 0.69%.
Ore treated was 1.8% higher sequentially in line with improved mine hoisting
rate, but 4% lower year on year mainly due to not processing oxide ore as was
the case in 2007.
Copper concentrate production was 18% higher sequentially and 20% higher year
on year mainly due to a combination of the reclaiming and transferring of
9,300 tonnes of low grade concentrate from pond inventory for sale and an
increased rate of re-processing of smelter secondary material.
Copper in concentrate produced was 16% higher sequentially and 20% higher
year on year mainly due to aforementioned reasons.
Concentrate smelting rates and anode production recovered to almost normal
levels in this quarter, following the previous quarter`s outages (both
planned and unplanned) in the acid plant, reverb, and waste heat boiler.
Continued emphasis was placed on concentrate production for sale in the
quarter as was the case in the previous quarter. The refined copper produced
was in-line with the smelter output (new copper and anodes production).
The commissioning of the new nickel sulphate refining process commenced
during the third quarter. Contained nickel has increased as ramp-up of the
plant was realised.
Magnetite
Magnetite production was 16.5% lower than the previous quarter mainly due to
the depletion of infill dam (upgraded) stockpile material and the
commissioning of the new reclaim circuit. However, the production was 49%
higher year on year.
Vermiculite Operations
Vermiculite production was consistent with the previous quarter and when
compared with the corresponding period in 2007.
The above information has not been reviewed or reported on by the company`s
auditors.
Phalaborwa
15 January 2008
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited
Date: 15/01/2009 10:14:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the
JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or
implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or
completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers,
employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature,
howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
information disseminated through SENS.
