30th Oct 2014 09:26
LONDON (Alliance News) - Kazakhmys PLC Thursday reported increases in sales volumes during the first nine months of the year and stated it is on target to hit full-year production guidance.
During the third quarter ended September 30, the company extracted 9,520 kilotonnes of ore compared to 9,351 kilotonnes in the second quarter. A year earlier, the company produced 9,984 kilotonnes of ore.
Kazakhmys saw the copper grade decrease, averaging 0.97% in the third quarter compared to 1.01% in the previous quarter. A year earlier it averaged a copper grade of 1.00%.
Copper in concentrate production rose to 81 kilotonnes in the quarter, compared to 80 kilotonnes in the second quarter. A year earlier it produced 79 kilotonnes. It said it achieved an average price of USD6,057 per tonne during the first nine months of the year, compared to USD6,725 per tonne in the first nine months of 2013.
In the first nine months of the year, Kazakhmys sold 73 kilotonnes of copper in concentrate, compared to 5 kilotonnes in the first nine months of 2013.
Copper cathode production totalled 74 kilotonnes in the third quarter, compared to 70 kilotonnes in the previous quarter. A year earlier it produced 71 kilotonnes. The company achieved an average price of USD7,047 per tonne in the first nine months of the year, compared to USD7,393 per tonne a year earlier.
For the nine months to September end, Kazakhmys sold 131 kilotonnes of copper cathodes, consistent with production volumes, compared to 217 kilotonnes in the previous year.
The company is on target to achieve its copper production guidance for the full year, it said in a statement.
Zinc in concentrate production totalled 28 kilotonnes, down from the 30 kilotonnes reported in the previous quarter. A year earlier it produced 37 kilotonnes. It achieved an average price of USD1,215 per tonne during the first nine months of the year, compared to USD1,015 per tonne in the 2013.
In the first nine months, Kazakhmys sold 89 kilotonnes of zinc concentrate, compared to 103 kilotonnes a year earlier. The decline in sales volumes compared to the comparative prior year period reflects the decrease in production volumes.
Gold output reached 23,000 ounces during the period, up from 22,000 ounces in the previous quarter. A year earlier it reported an output of 28,000 ounces of gold. The company reported an average gold price of USD1,270 per troy ounce in the first nine months of 2014, compared to USD1,424 per troy ounce a year earlier.
It has sold 76,000 ounces of gold bars in the first nine months of the year, compared to 78,000 ounces in the first nine months of 2013. Sales volumes increased due to the release of inventory during the period.
Silver output totalled 2,915 kilotonnes, up from the second quarter when it reported an output of 2,411 kilotonnes. A year earlier its silver output totalled 3,275 kilotonnes. The average silver price the company achieved was USD20 per troy ounce in the first nine months of the year, compared to USD24 per troy ounce in the first nine months of 2013.
Kazakhmys also said Thursday it had signed an amendment to its existing pre-export finance debt facility, allowing the facility to continue after Kazakhmys's recent restructuring. The USD334 million facility from the company's existing syndicate of banks has an accordion feature allowing it to increase to USD500 million.
Kazakhmys shares were down 3.6% to 218.90 pence per share Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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