15th Apr 2014 10:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - Weatherly International PLC Tuesday said its production rates are down in its third quarter as its mining overhaul continues but all major supply contracts for its Tschudi project have been finalised.
The Namibia-focused copper mining company said production in its three months ended March 31 fell to 61,309 tonnes of ore producing 4,424 tonnes of concentrate, containing 1,067 tonnes of copper from 75,281 tonnes of ore producing 5,330 tonnes in concentrate, containing 1,311 tonnes of copper in its previous quarter.
The company said that during the quarter its main underground mining contractor terminated its contract with the company, which accelerated Weatherly's productivity improvement plans as part of an ongoing programme to overhaul its mines which has been underway since last year.
Weatherly said it believes that its ongoing improvements will enable its central operations to finally achieve their production target of roughly 7,000 tonnes per year of copper at a considerable lower operating cost.
However, the company said its unit cash costs for the quarter were USD7,576 per tonne; higher than the previous quarter due to the disruption caused by its changeover from contract to owner mining and poor equipment availability.
Weatherly said that its Mining, Crushing, Power and Supply contracts have now all been signed for its Tschudi project resulting in better than forecast delivery dates and confirming the financial robustness of the project.
The company said earthworks have started at Tschudi and the build up of its construction camp is 95% complete.
As such, Weatherly said it has revised its mining plan for the site and infill drilling is set to start at the end of April.
Weatherly International shares were down 2.9% to 2.67 pence Tuesday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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