| Wed 13 Jan 2010, 13:47 | | PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Fourth quarter 2009 - Operations |
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PAM
PAM
PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Fourth 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")
FOURTH QUARTER 2009 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FULL FULL
2008 2009 2009 2009 2009 YEAR YEAR
2008 2009
Palabora mine
Tonnes hoisted (`000 3,019 2,966 3,009 2,978 2,585 11,830 11,538
tonnes)
Ore treated (`000 3,150 2,789 2,940 2,792 2,809 12,454 11,330
tonnes)
Average ore grade: 0.67 0.68 0.68 0.66 0.67 0.69 0.67
copper (%)
Copper concentrates 66.7 67.1 76.1 61.8 65.8 286.5 270.8
produced (`000 tonnes)
Average concentrate 29.6 30.5 29.9 31.1 30.5 29.7 30.5
grade: copper (%)
Copper in concentrates 19.7 20.5 22.7 19.3 20.1 85.1 82.6
(`000 tonnes)
Palabora
smelter/refinery
New concentrate smelted 70.0 72.8 68.0 58.5 67.3 261.3 266.6
on site (`000 tonnes)
New copper anodes 20.7 20.2 18.9 12.5 14.3 75.9 65.9
produced (`000 tonnes)
Refined new copper 19.1 21.0 19.5 13.8 15.1 75.9 69.4
produced (`000 tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite concentrate 469 772 617 758.7 697.2 1,951 2,845
(`000 tonnes)
Nickel contained in 19 21 33 29 11.4 100 94.9
products (tonnes)
Copper sold as 4.5 0 2.1 3.9 4.5 10.5 10.5
concentrate (`000
tonnes)
Vermiculite plant
Vermiculite produced 49 52 46 48. 50 199 196
(`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 28,090 tonnes for the
quarter ended 31 December 2009. The production during the quarter was 13% lower
than the previous quarter and 14% lower than the corresponding period in 2008.
Production was reduced by approximately 15% for the period 25 November to 15
December 2009 due to the outage of the North Winder.
In total, 11,537,854 tonnes of ore were hoisted during the year with a copper
grade of 0.67%. Overall 2009 mine production was slightly lower at 2.5% compared
with those of 2008 hoisting 11,830,413 tonnes at a grade of 0.69%.
Ore treated was relatively unchanged at 0.6% sequentially but 9% lower year on
year due to suspension of marginal ore processing.
The copper concentrate production was 6% higher sequentially due to improved
automills availability but 1.4% lower than the corresponding period in 2008
mainly due to the lower proportion of low grade concentrate reclaimed.
The copper in concentrate production was 4% higher than the previous quarter due
to a combination of better head grade and improved recovery.
New concentrate smelted increased by 15% sequentially due to lesser impact of
annual statutory boiler maintenance on reverbratory furnace feed rates than in
the previous quarter, as well as better converter availability.
New anode produced increased by a lesser percentage during the quarter due to a
lower proportion of high grade import concentrate and a lower overall grade of
Palabora concentrate. The reduction in total new anode production from 2008 is
mainly due to a lower furnace feed grade from lower imports, more statutory and
scheduled maintenance in the second half of 2009 and lower converter reliability
in the first half.
Magnetite
Magnetite production was 8% lower sequentially mainly due to 46% less lower
grade magnetite being available for sale which has been attributed to the
intersection of a higher than anticipated phreatic surface. The magnetite year
on year production increased by 46% due to a 23% increase in Palabora`s existing
magnetite products and a 36% increase realised by reclamation of lower grade
magnetite from the stockpiles.
Copper sold as concentrate
Copper sold as concentrate was erroneously reported at 9,100 tonnes in the
second quarter and has been restated and correctly reported at 2,100.
Vermiculite Operations
Vermiculite production was consistent with the previous quarter and when
compared with the corresponding period in 2008.
The above information has not been reviewed or reported on by the Company`s
auditors.
Phalaborwa
13 January 2010
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Proprietary) Limited
Date: 13/01/2010 13:47:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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