Metorex reports higher copper and cobalt production
2011-01-20 09:05:55 【Print】
Base-metals-miner Metorex on Wednesday reported a 5% increase in its copper production and a 26% increase in its cobalt production for the six months ended December.
The company, which owns operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, increased its copper output to 26 358 t and boosted its cobalt production to 2 021 t.
The production gains were achieved despite the transformer challenges at Ruashi during the December quarter, which adversely affected output, CEO Terence Goodlace said.
Ruashi returned to full production in mid-December, after a transformer failure in November.
Copper production at Ruashi increased to 15 467 t in the six months to December, from 14 323 t in the six months ended June. Cobalt output rose by 28% to 1 572 t.
The Chibuluma operation in Zambia produced 9 008 t of copper in the period under review, from 8 721 t in the previous six months.
However, production at the Sable mine declined sharply in the interim period, with copper output falling by 13% to 1 883 t and cobalt production falling by 55% to 13 t.
“The current market for copper remains positive and prices remain buoyant," Goodlace added.
The detailed report for the six months would be published on March 1.
