| Tue 2 Aug 2005, 8:32 | | Lonmin Plc - Third Quarter Production Report |
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Lonmin Plc - Third Quarter Production Report 2 August 2005
Lonmin Plc
Share code: LON
Isin: GB0031192486
Lonmin Plc
4 Grosvenor Place
London
London
SW1X 7YL
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)20 7201 6000
F: +44 (0)20 7201 6100
www.lonmin.com
Third Quarter Production Report 2 August 2005
Lonmin today announces its production report for the third quarter to 30 June
2005.
Brad Mills, Chief Executive Officer said:
`Refined production has accelerated during the third quarter and the smelter has
continued to perform strongly achieving record levels of throughput. This
improvement in production has been achieved at the same time as controlling our
costs and we have today lowered our full year cost guidance to around R2,450 per
PGM ounce sold for our Marikana operations. The smelter`s strong performance
during the period has helped to substantially reduce concentrate inventories
built up after the November incident. This smelter performance has created
higher material flows than normal in our Base Metals and Precious Metals
refineries. We are now forecasting that we will not be able to fully process
all of this extra material before year end resulting in somewhat higher than
normal year end stock positions. We expect this situation to be fully reversed
in the first quarter of next year. We now expect Platinum production for the
fiscal year to be around 910,000 ounces (including around 10,000 ounces from our
new Limpopo Division)`.
Mining
Mining Quarter Quarter Nine Nine
to 30 to 30 months months to
June 05 June 04 to 30 30 June 04
June 05
Tonnes Marikana Underground (000) 2,640 2,702 8,067 8,348
milled*
Opencast (000) 452 883 1,932 2,465
Total (000) 3,092 3,585 9,999 10,813
Limpopo Underground (000) 16 - 16 -
Opencast (000) - - - -
Total (000) 16 - 16 -
Lonmin Underground (000) 2,656 2,702 8,083 8,348
Platinum
Opencast (000) 452 883 1,932 2,465
Total (000) 3,108 3,585 10,015 10,813
Tonnes Marikana Underground (000) 2,636 2,684 8,041 8,301
mined
Opencast (000) 634 835 1,878 1,993
Total (000) 3,270 3,519 9,919 10,294
Limpopo Underground (000) 17 - 17 -
Opencast (000) - - - -
Total (000) 17 - 17 -
Lonmin Underground (000) 2,653 2,684 8,058 8,301
Platinum
Opencast (000) 634 835 1,878 1,993
Total (000) 3,287 3,519 9,936 10,294
*excluding slag
Note: Limpopo figures relate to production from Lonmin Platinum Limpopo from
15 June 2005 when Lonmin completed its acquisition of the mine.
Metallurgy
Quarter Quarter to Nine Nine
to 30 30 June 04 months to months to
June 05 30 June 30 June 04
05
Refined Marikana Platinum oz 239,020 249,895 605,801 652,772
producti
on of:
Palladium oz 104,039 96,595 261,097 272,840
Rhodium oz 29,976 25,726 65,229 72,386
Total oz 441,254 411,698 1,107,557 1,141,172
PGMs
Limpopo Platinum oz 1,380 - 1,380 -
Palladium oz 918 - 918 -
Rhodium oz 43 - 43 -
Total oz 3,183 - 3,183 -
PGMs
Lonmin Platinum oz 240,400 249,895 607,181 652,772
Platinum
Palladium oz 104,957 96,595 262,015 272,840
Rhodium oz 30,019 25,726 65,272 72,386
Total oz 444,437 411,698 1,110,740 1,141,172
PGMs
Note: Limpopo figures relate to production from Lonmin Platinum Limpopo from
15 June 2005 when Lonmin completed its acquisition of the mine
Lonmin Group Metal Sales
Quarter Quarter to Nine Nine months
to 30 30 June 04 months to to 30 June
June 05 30 June 04
05
Platinum oz 222,490 220,579 588,143 633,112
Palladium oz 99,020 90,402 251,745 272,084
Rhodium oz 26,078 31,172 65,408 90,211
Total PGMs oz 412,616 406,513 1,084,207 1,200,039
Prices
Quarter Quarter to Nine months Nine months
to 30 30 June 04 to 30 June to 30 June
June 05 05 04
Average price Platinum R 5,592 5,372 5,224 5,363
received per
ounce
$ 855 816 847 813
Palladium R 1,230 1,656 1,194 1,542
$ 188 251 193 235
Rhodium R 9,785 5,168 8,265 4,068
$ 1,513 787 1,397 619
Basket price of PGMs and $/ 19,625 17,459 19,166 16,644
base metals kg
Exchange Rates
Quarter Quarter to Nine months Nine months
to 30 30 June 04 to 30 June to 30 June
June 05 05 04
Average Sterling GBP/ 1.84 1.81 1.88 1.79
exchange rate $
SA Rand R/$ 6.28 6.64 6.17 6.60
Closing Sterling GBP/ 1.79 1.82 1.79 1.82
exchange rates $
SA Rand R/$ 6.67 6.32 6.67 6.32
Outlook
The New Era Labour Agreement was signed on 21 June 2005. This agreement is for
five years from 1 October 2005. Under the agreement basic wages will increase
in line with South African CPIX but employees will share on an equal basis in a
bonus pool created based on 25% of gains achieved above certain agreed targets
for costs and productivity. In addition employees covered by the gain share
will receive a safety bonus based on achieving certain specified targets. The
agreement also equalised pay and conditions in many categories across our three
mines. This equalisation equates to a first year only cost above CPIX of 2.9%.
We are in the process of finalising the Shared Services structure within the
business and are progressing well with implementation. This process will lead
to a number of redundancies and we will report an exceptional provision in
respect of this restructuring of around $10 million for the full year. This
provision will be excluded from our unit cost figures.
We announced on 29 July that we have completed the compulsory acquisition
process and owned 100% of the outstanding shares of Southern Platinum Corp. In
respect of the completion of the acquisition we will report a one off
exceptional cost of around $13 million for the full year 2005. The integration
of the Limpopo operations continues to progress well.
We have restated our full year cost guidance to around R2,450 per PGM ounce sold
for our Marikana operations and we now expect our production for the full year
to be around 910,000 ounces of Platinum (including around 10,000 ounces from our
Limpopo Division).
The 4th Quarter Production Report will be announced on 26 October 2005 and Final
Results on 16 November 2005.
Enquiries:
Alex Shorland-Ball +44(0)20 7201 6060
Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications
Date: 02/08/2005 08:00:04 AM
Produced by the JSE SENS Department
