| Mon 17 Jan 2011, 16:31 | | PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Fourth quarter 2010 - operations |
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PAM
PAM
PAM - Palabora Mining Company Limited - Fourth quarter 2010 - 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 2010 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q FULL FULL
2009 2010 2010 2010 2010 YEAR YEAR
2009 2010
Palabora mine
Tonnes hoisted (`000 2,585 2,839 2,748 2,812 2,838 11,538 11,236
tonnes)
Ore treated (`000 2,809 2,783 2,861 2,887 3,126 11,330 11,657
tonnes)
Average ore grade: 0.67 0.66 0.64 0.64 0.63 0.67 0.64
copper (%)
65.8 61.8 57.9 61.1 65.2 270.8 246.0
Copper concentrates
produced (`000 tonnes)
Average concentrate 30.5 29.8 31.1 31.0 29.5 30.5 30.3
grade: copper (%)
Copper in concentrates 20.1 18.4 18.0 18.9 19.3 82.6 74.6
(`000 tonnes)
Palabora
smelter/refinery
New concentrate smelted 67.3 57.7 59.6 61.4 62.1 266.6 240.8
on site (`000 tonnes)
New copper anodes 14.3 12.4 14.6 14.3 14.4 65.9 55.7
produced (`000 tonnes)
Refined new copper 15.1 12.0 13.8 14.7 17.5 69.4 58.0
produced (`000 tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite concentrate 697 754 780 764 695 2,845 2,993
(`000 tonnes)
Nickel contained in 11 18 15 15 24 95 72
products (tonnes)
Copper sold as 4.5 2.5 2.6 0.5 4.3 17.5 9.9
concentrate (`000
tonnes)
Vermiculite plant
Vermiculite produced 50 54 46 51 45 196 196
(`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 30,853 tonnes for the
quarter ended 31 December 2010. The production during the quarter was 1%
higher than the previous quarter and 10% higher than the corresponding period
in 2009. In total, 2,838,502 tonnes of ore were hoisted during the quarter
with a copper grade of 0.63%, and 11,236,484 for the full year of 2010 at an
average grade of 0.64%. Production during the quarter and the 12 months to 31
December 2010 has been impacted by winder breakdowns. The North and South
winder drums are expected to be replaced in March and April of 2011.
Ore treated was 8% higher than the previous quarter and
11% higher than the corresponding period in 2009. The
increased performance during the quarter is largely due
to improved mill run rates as a result of throughput
improvement initiatives.
The copper concentrate production was 7% higher than the previous quarter due
to increased processing of high grade slag.
The copper in concentrate production was 2% higher than the previous quarter
due to increased slag processing and 4% lower than the corresponding period in
2009 due to the processing of non-copper bearing ore in the toll milling
circuit. 2010 copper in concentrate production was 10% lower at 74.6kt
compared to 2009 due to toll milling of non-copper bearing material. Toll
milling of low head grade copper material ceased in the second quarter in
2010.
The new concentrate smelted was 1% higher than the previous quarter but 8%
lower than the corresponding period in 2009.
New anode production was slightly higher than the previous quarter and the
corresponding period in 2009 respectively. New anode production for 2010 was
8% lower than 2009 at 55.7kt due to Wolff crane availability issues earlier in
the year as well as on-going smelter maintenance associated with the acid
plant shut down and the reverb bath rebuild in July.
Refined copper production was 19% higher than the previous quarter and 16%
higher than corresponding period in 2009 due to utilisation of anode inventory
from the previous quarter. Refined copper production was 16% lower at 58kt for
2010 compared to 2009 due to the smelter issues but in line with anode supply
from the smelter.
Magnetite
Total magnetite production was 10% below the previous quarter due to lower
reclamation feed rates and lower feed in the magnetite separation plant
following the Brakspruit rail bridge collapse which adversely impacted sales.
Production was 5% above the full year of 2009 at 3mt due to increased feed in
the magnetite separation plant and increased reclamation rates.
Vermiculite Operations
Production was 11% below the previous quarter as a result of wet feed ore due
to rainy weather and overruns on plant maintenance during the planned annual
shutdown. Production for the full year at 196kt was consistent with 2009.
The above information has not been reviewed or reported on by the Company`s
auditors.
Phalaborwa
17 January 2011
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Proprietary) Limited
Date: 17/01/2011 16:31:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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