PALABORA MINING COMPANY LIMITED - FIRST QUARTER 2004 - UPDATE ON THE UNDERGROUND
MINE
PALABORA MINING COMPANY LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Registration number - 1956/002134/06
Share Code: PAM ARC ISIN: ZAE000005245
("Palabora" or "the Company")
FIRST QUARTER 2004 - UPDATE ON THE UNDERGROUND MINE
Average copper production in the first quarter of 2004 of 153 tonnes per day was
10% higher than the fourth quarter of 2003. Although ore hoisted of 20,200
tonnes per day was 8% lower than the fourth quarter of 2003, mine rescheduling
is resulting in higher copper grades and improved cave management.
The undercut has now been completed and 18 out of the planned 20 cross cuts are
operational. Production was disrupted in both February and March by a conveyor
belt tear and a water ingress event. The secondary breaking of drawpoint
material continues to be a production bottleneck and, as previously advised,
additional secondary breaking units will be delivered over the course of the
next couple of months.
Improvement steps continue to ensure that production moves toward the previously
established targets. Work to achieve this is focussed on improvements to
equipment availability and more efficient secondary breaking. As always, the
safety of employees and contractors is being given first priority and will not
be compromised to achieve production targets.
A more complete Q1 brief will be published once all Q1 statistics are available.
More information on the Company"s performance will be available on the website
www.palabora.com.
The following table summarises recent daily underground production:
Final Quarter 2003 22,000 tonnes ore per day average
140 tons Cu per day average
First Quarter 2004 20,200 tonnes ore per day average
153 tons Cu per day average
For further information please contact the Managing Director, Keith Marshall, on
+27 (0) 15 780 2802.
Phalaborwa
2 April 2004
Sponsor :
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited
Date: 02/04/2004 11:30:07 AM Produced by the JSE SENS Department
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