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Fourth Quarter 2014 Production Report

10th Nov 2014 07:00

RNS Number : 5333W
Lonmin PLC
10 November 2014
 



 

 

 

 

Lonmin Plc4 Grosvenor PlaceLondon SW1X 7YLUnited Kingdom

T: +44 (0)20 7201 6000F: +44 (0)20 7201 6100

www.lonmin.com

REGULATORY RELEASE

 

 

10 November 2014

 

Fourth Quarter 2014 Production Report

 

Lonmin Plc ("Lonmin" or "the Company"), the world's third largest Platinum producer, today announces its production results for the three months to 30 September 2014. Lonmin also, publishes today, in a separate announcement, its final results for the year ended 30 September 2014.

 

Overview

 

The rolling average Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) for the 12 months to 30 September 2014 improved to 3.34 incidents per million man hours compared to 3.50 at 30 September 2013 and reflects the reduced hours of work as a result of the strike.

 

Ramp up excellence

 

As announced on 8 October, Lonmin successfully achieved ramp up to full production earlier than anticipated during August 2014.

 

Our successful ramp up was accelerated by earlier and stronger levels of employee attendance than had been previously expected, a well-executed care and maintenance strategy during the strike period as well as thorough planning and well controlled execution of the ramp up process. This resulted, in a rapid, safe and efficient ramp up of our operations and plants. Excellent attendance levels continued and Lonmin has experienced strong performance across all operations, to achieve an impressive performance in the quarter, with 2.8 million tonnes being mined. Whilst this represents a decline of 0.5 million tonnes on the prior year period when production was normal, tonnes mined in August and September 2014 exceeded those mined in the same period in 2013.

 

In what has been a challenging year given the prolonged strike, we were able to achieve a milestone: one year without a fatal accident. Our safety record showed another year on year improvement, with our LTIFR decreasing by 4.6%. This is particularly pleasing as it takes into account the impact of the strike, given the heightened safety risk when operations resume after a standstill.

 

Mining Division

 

Our Marikana underground mining operations produced 2.5 million tonnes during the fourth quarter, a decline of 0.5 million tonnes or 15.3% less than the prior year period. Pandora production was 127,000 tonnes, a decrease of 33,000 on the prior year period.

 

Production at Karee was down at 0.3 million tonnes, a 19.4% decline on the prior year period.

Similarly, production at Westerns declined by 0.2 million tonnes, a 16.0% drop against prior year period. Production output from Rowland shaft decreased by 10.1% compared to prior year period, and a 23.2% decline was realised from Newman, representing a decrease of 56,000 tonnes. Output from Hossy was only marginally down by 3.1% when compared to the prior year period.

 

At Easterns production was in-line with the prior year period, down only 1.2% as the decrease in volumes from East 2 and East 3 was off-set by increased production output from Saffy shaft where

our focus and commitment is bearing fruit. Saffy produced 48,000 tonnes more than the prior year period, representing a 16.0% increase to the comparable period, despite the strike. Good momentum has been achieved during the ramp up with Saffy achieving its best ever monthly output of just under 163,000 tonnes in September.

 

A total of 830,000 tonnes of production were lost during the quarter, (compared to 165,000 tonnes in the prior year period) of which 679,000 tonnes were due to the strike action, 91,000 tonnes related to Section 54 safety stoppages, and 60,000 tonnes to Management Induced Safety Stoppages (MISS).

 

Process Division

 

Total tonnes milled in the quarter decreased by 0.8 million or 25.4% to 2.3 million tonnes with underground 27.4% lower than the prior year period and opencast up by 57.5% as it was largely unaffected by the industrial action.

 

Underground milled head grade decreased by 4.0% to 4.37 grammes per tonne (% 5PGE + Au) when compared to 4.55 grammes per tonne in the prior year period and is directly attributable to the ore mix milled which was dictated by the strike. This remains within our expected range. The overall milled head grade was 4.31 grammes per tonne, a decrease of 4.5% on the prior year period partly due to the increase of lower grade opencast ore milled.

 

Underground and overall concentrator recoveries for the quarter decreased by 1.3 and 1.4 percentage points to 86.3% and 86.2% respectively when compared to prior year period.

 

Platinum in concentrate for the quarter was 141,624 saleable ounces, a 28.6% decrease on the prior year period.

 

Total refined production for the quarter at 142,712 ounces of saleable Platinum, was down 47.5% when compared against the prior year period whilst Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) produced in the quarter were 256,400, a decrease of 48.0% on the prior year period. The fourth quarter of 2013 included the processing of a build-up of pipeline stock during the third quarter in 2013 following downtime on the furnaces.

 

Sales & Pricing

 

Platinum sales for the quarter were down 47.2% to 152,270 ounces and PGM sales were down by 47.4% to 272,983 ounces. The US dollar basket price (including base metal credit) at $1,148 per ounce during the quarter was 3.5% higher than the prior year period. The corresponding Rand basket price including base metal credit increased by 10.2% compared to the prior year period on the back of a weaker rand.

 

 

 

- ENDS -

 

 

ENQUIRIES

 

Investors / Analysts:

Lonmin

Tanya Chikanza

Floyd Sibandze

+27 11 218 8300 / +44 20 7201 6007

+27 11 218 8300

 

Media:

Cardew Group

Anthony Cardew / James Clark

Sue Vey

 

+44 20 7930 0777

+27 72 644 9777

 

Notes to editors

 

Lonmin, which is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, is one of the world's largest primary producers of PGMs. These metals are essential for many industrial applications, especially catalytic converters for internal combustion engine emissions, as well as their widespread use in jewellery.

 

Lonmin's producing assets are situated in the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, where nearly 80% of known global PGM resources are found.

 

The Company creates value for shareholders through mining, refining and marketing PGMs and has a vertically integrated operational structure - from mine to market. Lonmin's mining operations extract ore from which the Process Division produces refined PGMs for delivery to customers. Underpinning the operations is the Shared Services function which provides high quality levels of support and infrastructure across the operations.

 

For further information please visit our website: http://www.lonmin.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 months

3 months

to 30 Sep

to 30 Sep

2014

2013

Tonnes mined

Marikana

K3 shaft

kt

677

851

4B/1B shaft

kt

403

489

Karee

kt

1 081

1 340

Rowland shaft

kt

450

500

Newman shaft

kt

187

244

Hossy shaft

kt

297

306

W1 shaft

Kt

34

50

East 1 shaft1

kt

32

90

Westerns

kt

1 000

1 190

Saffy shaft

kt

347

299

East 2 shaft

kt

87

128

East 3 shaft

Kt

11

24

Easterns

kt

445

450

Underground

kt

2 525

2 980

Opencast

kt

100

113

Total

kt

2 625

3 093

Pandora (100%)2

Underground

kt

127

160

Lonmin (100%)

Total tonnes mined (100%)

kt

2 752

3 253

% tonnes mined from UG2 reef (100%)

 

%

 

74.1%

 

74.4%

Lonmin (attributable)

Underground & Opencast

kt

2 679

3 161

Ounces mined3

Lonmin excluding Pandora

Pt ounces

oz

157 331

192 277

Pandora (100%)

Pt ounces

oz

8 231

11 239

Lonmin

Pt ounces

oz

165 562

203 516

Lonmin excluding Pandora

PGM ounces

oz

298 167

361 485

Pandora (100%)

PGM ounces

oz

16 262

21 647

Lonmin

PGM ounces

oz

314 430

383 132

Tonnes milled4

Marikana

Underground

kt

2 120

2 911

Opencast

kt

117

74

Total

kt

2 237

2 985

Pandora5

Underground

kt

109

160

Lonmin Platinum

Underground

kt

2 228

3 071

Head grade6

g/t

4.37

4.55

Recovery rate7

%

86.3%

87.6%

Opencast

kt

117

74

Head grade6

g/t

3.16

2.93

Recovery rate7

%

85.3%

85.0%

Total

kt

2 345

3 145

Head grade6

g/t

4.31

4.51

Recovery rate7

%

86.2%

87.6%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 months

3 months

to 30 Sep

to 30 Sep

2014

2013

Metals- in- concentrate8

Marikana

Platinum

oz

133 507

186 332

Palladium

oz

61 875

86 945

Gold

oz

4 062

4 499

Rhodium

oz

18 578

25 648

Ruthenium

oz

30 724

38 329

Iridium

oz

5 663

8 801

Total PGMs

oz

254 410

350 554

Nickel9

MT

790

950

Copper9

MT

485

607

Pandora

Platinum

oz

7 056

11 213

Palladium

oz

3 361

5 345

Gold

oz

(23)

86

Rhodium

oz

1 217

1 812

Ruthenium

oz

1 959

2 667

Iridium

oz

388

479

Total PGMs

oz

13 958

21 602

Nickel9

MT

14

21

Copper9

MT

8

12

Concentrate purchases

Platinum

oz

1 060

883

Palladium

oz

301

272

Gold

oz

(1)

5

Rhodium

oz

126

109

Ruthenium

oz

122

105

Iridium

oz

48

45

Total PGMs

oz

1 655

1 418

Nickel9

MT

0

1

Copper9

MT

0

1

Lonmin Platinum

Platinum

oz

141 624

198 428

Palladium

oz

65 537

92 562

Gold

oz

4 038

4 589

Rhodium

oz

19 921

27 569

Ruthenium

oz

32 805

41 101

Iridium

oz

6 099

9 325

Total PGMs

oz

270 023

373 574

Nickel9

MT

804

972

Copper9

MT

493

619

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 months

3 months

to 30 Sep

to 30 Sep

2014

2013

Refined production

Lonmin refined metal production

Platinum

oz

140 698

271 773

Palladium

oz

65 164

122 904

Gold

oz

4 438

7 081

Rhodium

oz

7 136

21 651

Ruthenium

oz

35 455

61 982

Iridium

oz

1 001

6 286

Total PGMs

oz

253 892

491 677

Toll refined metal production

Platinum

oz

2 014

-

Palladium

oz

242

-

Gold

oz

15

-

Rhodium

oz

207

-

Ruthenium

oz

-

1 333

Iridium

oz

30

100

Total PGMs

oz

2 508

1 433

Total refined PGMs

Platinum

oz

142 712

271 773

Palladium

oz

65 406

122 904

Gold

oz

4 453

7 081

Rhodium

oz

7 342

21 651

Ruthenium

oz

35 455

63 315

Iridium

oz

1 031

6 386

Total PGMs

oz

256 400

493 110

Base metals

Nickel10

MT

858

1 224

Copper10

MT

609

776

Sales

Refined metal sales

Platinum

oz

152 270

288 280

Palladium

oz

65 049

122 951

Gold

oz

6 600

5 885

Rhodium

oz

8 100

25 108

Ruthenium

oz

38 604

68 611

Iridium

oz

2 360

8 387

Total PGMs

oz

272 983

519 222

Nickel10

MT

839

1 246

Copper10

MT

643

845

Chrome10

MT

242 779

378 361

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 months

3 months

to 30 Sep

to 30 Sep

2014

2013

Average prices

Platinum

$/oz

1 400

1 443

Palladium

$/oz

851

718

Gold

$/oz

1 508

1 475

Rhodium

$/oz

1 283

975

Ruthenium

$/oz

58

70

Iridium

$/oz

610

841

$ basket excl. by-product revenue11

$/oz

1 072

1 058

R basket excl. by-product revenue11

R/oz

11 375

10 556

Nickel10

$/MT

15 284

11 242

Copper10

$/MT

6 710

6 827

Chrome10

$/MT

16

18

$ basket incl. by-product revenue12

$/oz

1 148

1 110

R basket incl. by-product revenue12

R/oz

12 196

11 070

Exchange rates

Average rate for period13

R/$

10.76

9.95

Closing rate

R/$

11.29

9.99

 

Notes:

1. East 1 shaft is now reported under Westerns in-line with changes in management structure. Prior years have been adjusted accordingly.

2. Pandora underground tonnes mined represents 100% of the total tonnes mined on the Pandora joint venture of which 42.5% is attributable to Lonmin.

3. Ounces mined have been calculated at achieved concentrator recoveries and as from 2014 with Lonmin standard downstream processing recoveries to present produced saleable ounces.

4. Tonnes milled exclude slag milling.

5. Lonmin purchases 100% of the ore produced by the Pandora joint venture for onward processing which is included in downstream operating statistics.

6. Head Grade is the grammes per tonne (5PGE + Au) value contained in the tonnes milled and fed into the concentrator from the mines (excludes slag milled).

7. Recovery rate in the concentrators is the total content produced divided by the total content milled (excluding slag).

8. As from 2014, metals-in-concentrate are calculated at Lonmin standard downstream processing recoveries to present produced saleable ounces.

9. Corresponds to contained base metals in concentrate.

10. Nickel is produced and sold as nickel sulphate crystals or solution and the volumes shown correspond to contained metal. Copper is produced as refined product but typically at LME grade C. Chrome is produced in the form of chromite concentrate and volumes shown are in the form of chromite.

11. Basket price of PGMs is based on the revenue generated in Rand and Dollar from the actual PGMs (5PGE + Au) sold in the period based on the appropriate Rand / Dollar exchange rate applicable for each sales transaction.

12. As per note 11 but including revenue from base metals.

13. Exchange rates are calculated using the market average daily closing rate over the course of the period.

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
END
 
 
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