| Wed 14 Oct 2009, 10:14 | | PAM - Palabora - Third Quarter 2009 - Operations Overview And Production |
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PAM
PAM
PAM - Palabora - Third Quarter 2009 - 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")
THIRD QUARTER 2009 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
2Q 3Q 9MTHS 9MTHS
3Q 4Q 1Q
2008 2008 2009 2009 2009 2008 2009
Palabora mine
Tonnes hoisted 3,086 3,019 2,966 3,009 2,978 8,811 8,953
(`000 tonnes)
Ore treated (`000 3,096 3,150 2,789 2,940 2,792 9,303 8,521
tonnes)
Average ore grade: 0.66 0.67 0.68 0.68 0.66 0.69 0.67
copper (%)
Copper concentrates 56.5 66.7 67.1 76.1 61.8 219.8 205.0
produced (`000
tonnes)
Average concentrate 30.3 29.6 30.5 29.9 31.1 29.7 30.5
grade: copper (%)
Copper in 17.1 19.7 20.5 22.7 19.3 65.3 62.5
concentrates (`000
tonnes)
Palabora
smelter/refinery
New concentrate 52.5 70.0 72.8 68.0 58.5 191.3 199.4
smelted on site
(`000 tonnes)
New copper anodes 14.9 20.7 20.2 18.9 12.5 55.3 51.6
produced (`000
tonnes)
Refined new copper 17.0 19.1 21.0 19.5 13.8 56.8 54.3
produced (`000
tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite 562 469 772 617 758.7 1,482 2,148
concentrate (`000
tonnes)
Nickel contained in 13 19 21 33 29 81 84
products (tonnes)
Copper sold as 1 4.5 0 9.1 3.9 6 13
concentrate (`000
tonnes)
Vermiculite plant
Vermiculite produced 50 49 52 46 48.0 150 146
(`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.
Daily production from the underground mine averaged 32,374 tonnes for the
quarter ended 30 September 2009. The production during the quarter was slightly
below the previous quarter`s tonnes and 3% lower than the previous quarter`s
grade. The tonnes hoisted for the 9 months ended 30 September 2009 were 2%
higher than the corresponding period in 2008. In total, 2,978,448 tonnes of ore
were hoisted during the quarter with a copper grade of 0.66%, and 8,953,233 for
the first 9 months of 2009 at an overall grade of 0.67%.
Ore treated was 5% lower than the previous quarter and 10% lower than the
corresponding period in 2008. The reduction was due to the autogeneous mill
motor unit number 2 failure that occurred during the third quarter. The root
cause of the motor failure has been identified and corrected.
The copper concentrate production was 19% lower than the previous quarter
attributed to the absence of 12,6kt tonnes of low grade concentrate reclaimed
from pond inventory. The copper concentrate production is 10% higher than the
corresponding period in 2008 mainly due to increased processing of smelter
reverb furnace slag.
The copper in concentrate production was 15% lower than the previous quarter and
13% higher than the corresponding period in 2008 mainly due to reason given
above. The quarterly decrease is attributed to the absence of 3,2kt of copper
contained in low grade concentrate reclaimed from pond inventory.
Cathode produced for the quarter was impacted by lower anode volumes supplied by
the smelter, however, cathode produced was greater than anode supplied as in-
process inventory was reduced.
Lower anode volumes in the tankhouse process and iron contamination negatively
impacted on saleable nickel sulphate production. .
Magnetite
Magnetite production in the third quarter was 23% higher than the previous
quarter as a result of improved cycle time of the magnetite reclaiming process.
The production was 35% higher compared with the corresponding period in 2008 as
a result of commissioning the stockpile reclaiming process in October 2008 and
improved magnetite recoveries.
Production is expected to be maintained at third quarter levels for the
remainder of the year.
Vermiculite Operations
Vermiculite production for the quarter was 4% higher sequentially and 4% lower
compared with the corresponding period in 2008. The lower production was mainly
due to unplanned maintenance during the month of August.
The above information has not been reviewed or reported on by the Company`s
auditors.
Phalaborwa
14 October 2009
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Proprietary) Limited
Date: 14/10/2009 10:14:02 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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