| Wed 19 Apr 2006, 17:05 | | Palabora - First quarter 2006 - operations overvie |
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PAM
PAM
Palabora - First quarter 2006 - 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")
FIRST QUARTER 2006 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q FULL
2005 2005 2005 2005 2006 YEAR
2005
Palabora mine
Tonnes hoisted (`000 tonnes) 2,743 10,033
2,335 2,620 2,677 2,400
Ore treated ("000 tonnes) 2,156 2,459 2,572 2,349 2,646 9,536
Average ore grade: copper (%) 0.72 0.71 0.71 0.72 0.71 0.72
Copper concentrates produced 48.0 48.4 52.9 47.8 51.5 197.1
("000 tonnes)
Average concentrate grade: 29.3 32.2 31.3 31.2 29.9 31.0
copper (%)
Copper in concentrates ("000 14.1 15.6 16.6 14.9 15.4 61.2
tonnes)
Palabora smelter/refinery
New concentrate smelted on 75.2 71.7 75.2 82.2 42.0 304.4
site ("000 tonnes)
New copper anodes produced 20.0 19.4 22.7 22.4 10.0 84.5
("000 tonnes)
Refined new copper produced 18.7 19.0 22.1 20.6 14.3 80.3
("000 tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite concentrate ("000 201 189 267 231 251 888
tonnes)
Refined nickel sulphate 34 57 37 57 35 186
(tonnes)
Vermiculite plant
Vermiculite produced ("000 48 54 53 55 48 210
tonnes)
Palabora, situated in the Ba-Phalaborwa area of Limpopo, operates South Africa"s
largest copper mine. After 40 years of mining from a large, open-pit operation,
the ore is now extracted in an underground operation located immediately below
the open pit. Overall copper production is supplemented by imported copper
concentrates from Zambia.
Daily production from the underground mine improved averaging 30,473 tonnes, 14%
higher than the prior quarter and 15% higher than the corresponding period in
2005. In total, 2,742,572 tonnes of ore were hoisted in the quarter with a
copper grade of 0,71%, marginally lower than the previous quarter.
Ore milled in the quarter was 13% above the fourth quarter of 2005, in line with
improved mine output. The ore grade was 2% below the previous quarter, but
improved steadily from 0.68% in January to 0.70% in February and 0.74% in March
2006. Concentrate grade was adversely impacted by copper mineralogy in January,
but the grade improved from 29% to 31% during the quarter. Copper in
concentrates increased by 3% over the previous quarter, with gains in contained
copper being partly offset by increased dewatering process inventory.
The smelter underwent a planned 40 days shut down to rebuild the reverberatory
furnace. The furnace was successfully re-commissioned in March. This impacted on
concentrate smelted, anode production and copper output. Sections in the
refinery were reduced to ensure that minimum production levels were maintained
through the duration of the smelter shutdown.
Vermiculite Operations
Vermiculite production in the quarter was in line with plan and equal to the
corresponding quarter for 2005. The review of the mining sequence to enhance
recoveries of coarser grades has yielded improvements on coarser grade
production. The improved recoveries achieved during 2005 have been maintained
during the first quarter of 2006 with additional incremental improvements on
Micron grade. The strong market demand for the coarser grades continues to
exceed production in all market segments. Superfine continues to be stockpiled
on site following a slow down in the market demand for finer grades.
Magnetite
Sales of fine coal washery magnetite were reduced by 25% from the previous
quarter due to flooding of customers coal workings. Deferrals of a 45 kt
shipment from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2006 resulted in only a
20% increase in coarse export magnetite volumes. Overall magnetite shipments
were 9% higher than the previous quarter.
General
During April the underground mine experienced two shaft issues which have
reduced mine output. This will not impact copper production due to adequate
availability of concentrate inventory.
For further information please contact the Managing Director, Keith Marshall, on
+27 (0) 15 780 2271.
Phalaborwa
19 April 2006
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited
Date: 19/04/2006 05:05:07 PM Produced by the JSE SENS Department
