| Wed 17 Jan 2007, 10:58 | | PAM - Palabora - Fourth quarter 2006 - operations |
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PAM
PAM
PAM - Palabora - Fourth 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")
FOURTH QUARTER 2006 - OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS
FULL FULL
4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q YEAR YEAR
2005 2006 2006 2006 2006 2005 2006
Palabora mine:
Tonnes hoisted 2,400 2,743 2,672 2,771 2,832 10,033 11,018
(`000 tonnes)
Ore treated (`000 2,349 2,646 2,633 2,668 2,783 9,536 10,730
tonnes)
Average ore grade
: copper (%) 0.72 0.71 0.70 0.72 0.72 0.72 0.71
Copper
concentrates
produced
(`000 tonnes) 47.8 51.5 43.0 53.4 61.0 197.1 208.9
Average
concentrate
grade:
copper (%) 31.2 29.9 30.5 29.4 28.5 31.0 29.4
Copper in
concentrates 14.9 15.4 13.1 15.7 17.4 61.2 61.5
(`000 tonnes)
Palabora
smelter/refinery:
New concentrate
smelted on site 82.2 42.0 83.3 87.7 75.5 304.4 288.5
(`000 tonnes)
New copper anodes
produced (`000 22.4 10.0 24.0 22.4 22.2 84.5 78.6
tonnes)
Refined new
copper produced 20.6 14.3 21.9 22.9 22.1 80.3 81.2
(`000 tonnes)
By-products:
Magnetite
concentrate (`000 231 251 296 299 281 888 1,127
tonnes)
Refined nickel
sulphate (tonnes) 57 35 28 25 32 186 120
Copper sold as - 5 6 - 5 - 16
concentrate
Vermiculite
plant:
Vermiculite 55 48 48 52 50 210 198
produced (`000
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 averaged 30,780 tonnes. The
production was 2% higher than the prior quarter and 18% higher than the
corresponding period in 2005. In total, 2,831,795 tonnes of ore were hoisted
with a copper grade of 0.71%. Total mine production was 11,020,496 tonnes in
2006, representing a 10% increase compared to the total in 2005.
The ore treated increased by 13% year on year in line with improved mine output.
The ore grade was steady throughout 2006.
Copper concentrate tonnage was 14% higher compared to the third quarter due to a
combination of 4% higher milled tonnage, 7% higher recovery and 3% lower
concentrate grade. Overall, 2006 concentrate production was 6% higher than 2005.
The concentrate grade delivered to the smelter decreased by 3% due to
unfavourable copper mineralogy and reclaimed low grade concentrate from pond
inventory. This resulted in year on year reduction of 5%. Copper in concentrate
increased by 11% during the period over the previous quarter driven by higher
milled tonnage and lower levels of stock build up on drying pads. Overall 2006
copper in concentrate was almost unchanged from 2005, due to the build up of low
grade concentrate stock on drying pads.
Smelter efficiencies increased significantly in the fourth quarter due to a
dedicated first-pass recovery improvement drive. New anodes produced remained at
the same level as the previous quarter, but new concentrate smelted reduced by
14% with improved efficiencies. New anodes and cathode produced for 2006 were
lower than 2005 due to the planned reverberatory furnace shutdown in the first
quarter of 2006.
Copper was sold as concentrate in 2006 to take advantage of favourable commodity
prices.
Vermiculite Operations
Vermiculite production in the fourth quarter was 8% below the corresponding
quarter for 2005. The main contributing factor for the lower production was the
feed grade on an average being 1% lower to the corresponding period in 2005 and
an increase in the quantity of superfine material. Overall plant recovery during
the quarter remained at 69.4% which was slightly higher than the previous
quarter.
Magnetite
The magnetite production during the quarter was in line with rail logistic
capacity to both ports of Richards Bay and Maputo but increased by 27% year on
year due to operational efficiencies and the securing of the logistic chain to
Richards Bay.
Phalaborwa
17 January 2007
Sponsor:
Barnard Jacobs Mellet Corporate Finance (Pty) Limited
Date: 17/01/2007 10:58:06 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
