2nd Aug 2005 07:00
Lonmin PLC02 August 2005 Third Quarter Production Report 2 August 2005 Lonmin today announces its production report for the third quarter to 30 June2005. Brad Mills, Chief Executive Officer said: "Refined production has accelerated during the third quarter and the smelter hascontinued to perform strongly achieving record levels of throughput. Thisimprovement in production has been achieved at the same time as controlling ourcosts and we have today lowered our full year cost guidance to around R2,450 perPGM ounce sold for our Marikana operations. The smelter's strong performanceduring the period has helped to substantially reduce concentrate inventoriesbuilt up after the November incident. This smelter performance has createdhigher material flows than normal in our Base Metals and Precious Metalsrefineries. We are now forecasting that we will not be able to fully process allof this extra material before year end resulting in somewhat higher than normalyear end stock positions. We expect this situation to be fully reversed in thefirst quarter of next year. We now expect Platinum production for the fiscalyear to be around 910,000 ounces (including around 10,000 ounces from our newLimpopo Division)". Mining---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Quarter to 30 Quarter to 30 Nine months to Nine months to June 05 June 04 30 June 05 30 June 04 ---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- ---------Tonnes Marikana Underground (000) 2,640 2,702 8,067 8,348milled* ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- ------------------- Opencast (000) 452 883 1,932 2,465---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Total (000) 3,092 3,585 9,999 10,813---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Limpopo Underground (000) 16 - 16 ----------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Opencast (000) - - - ----------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Total (000) 16 - 16 ----------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Lonmin Underground (000) 2,656 2,702 8,083 8,348---------- Platinum --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- ----------- Opencast (000) 452 883 1,932 2,465---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Total (000) 3,108 3,585 10,015 10,813---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- ---------Tonnes Marikana Underground (000) 2,636 2,684 8,041 8,301mined ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- ------------------- Opencast (000) 634 835 1,878 1,993---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Total (000) 3,270 3,519 9,919 10,294---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Limpopo Underground (000) 17 - 17 ----------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Opencast (000) - - - ----------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Total (000) 17 - 17 ----------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Lonmin Underground (000) 2,653 2,684 8,058 8,301---------- Platinum --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- ----------- Opencast (000) 634 835 1,878 1,993---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- Total (000) 3,287 3,519 9,936 10,294---------- ----------- --------- ------ ------- ------- --------- --------- *excluding slagNote: Limpopo figures relate to production from Lonmin Platinum Limpopo from 15June 2005 when Lonmin completed its acquisition of the mine. Metallurgy Quarter to 30 Quarter to 30 Nine months to Nine months to June 05 June 04 30 June 05 30 June 04 --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- --------Refined Marikana Platinum oz 239,020 249,895 605,801 652,772productionof: -------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Palladium oz 104,039 96,595 261,097 272,840 -------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Rhodium oz 29,976 25,726 65,229 72,386 --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Total oz 441,254 411,698 1,107,557 1,141,172 --------- ----------- PGMs ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- --------- Limpopo Platinum oz 1,380 - 1,380 - --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Palladium oz 918 - 918 - --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Rhodium oz 43 - 43 - --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Total oz 3,183 - 3,183 - --------- ----------- PGMs ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Lonmin --------- Platinum Platinum oz 240,400 249,895 607,181 652,772 --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Palladium oz 104,957 96,595 262,015 272,840 --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Rhodium oz 30,019 25,726 65,272 72,386 --------- ----------- --------- ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- Total oz 444,437 411,698 1,110,740 1,141,172 --------- ----------- PGMs ----- ------- ------- -------- -------- --------- Note: Limpopo figures relate to production from Lonmin Platinum Limpopo from 15June 2005 when Lonmin completed its acquisition of the mine Lonmin Group Metal Sales Quarter to 30 Quarter to 30 Nine months to Nine months to------------------------- ---- June 05 June 04 30 June 05 30 June 04 ------- ------- --------- ---------Platinum oz 222,490 220,579 588,143 633,112------------------------- ---- ------- ------- --------- ---------Palladium oz 99,020 90,402 251,745 272,084------------------------- ---- ------- ------- --------- ---------Rhodium oz 26,078 31,172 65,408 90,211------------------------- ---- ------- ------- --------- ---------Total PGMs oz 412,616 406,513 1,084,207 1,200,039------------------------- ---- ------- ------- --------- --------- Prices Quarter to 30 Quarter to 30 Nine months to Nine months to------------------ -------- ----- June 05 June 04 30 June 05 30 June 04 ------- ------- --------- ---------Average pricereceived perounce Platinum R 5,592 5,372 5,224 5,363------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- $ 855 816 847 813------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- Palladium R 1,230 1,656 1,194 1,542------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- $ 188 251 193 235------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- Rhodium R 9,785 5,168 8,265 4,068------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- $ 1,513 787 1,397 619------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- ---------Basket priceof PGMs andbase metals $/kg 19,625 17,459 19,166 16,644------------------------ ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- Exchange Rates Quarter to 30 Quarter to 30 Nine months to Nine months to------------------ -------- ----- June 05 June 04 30 June 05 30 June 04 ------- ------- --------- ---------Averageexchange rate Sterling £/$ 1.84 1.81 1.88 1.79------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- SA Rand R/$ 6.28 6.64 6.17 6.60------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- ---------Closingexchange rates Sterling £/$ 1.79 1.82 1.79 1.82------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- SA Rand R/$ 6.67 6.32 6.67 6.32------------------ -------- ----- ------- ------- --------- --------- Outlook The New Era Labour Agreement was signed on 21 June 2005. This agreement is forfive years from 1 October 2005. Under the agreement basic wages will increase inline with South African CPIX but employees will share on an equal basis in abonus pool created based on 25% of gains achieved above certain agreed targetsfor costs and productivity. In addition employees covered by the gain share willreceive a safety bonus based on achieving certain specified targets. Theagreement also equalised pay and conditions in many categories across our threemines. This equalisation equates to a first year only cost above CPIX of 2.9%. We are in the process of finalising the Shared Services structure within thebusiness and are progressing well with implementation. This process will lead toa number of redundancies and we will report an exceptional provision in respectof this restructuring of around $10 million for the full year. This provisionwill be excluded from our unit cost figures. We announced on 29 July that we have completed the compulsory acquisitionprocess and owned 100% of the outstanding shares of Southern Platinum Corp. Inrespect of the completion of the acquisition we will report a one offexceptional cost of around $13 million for the full year 2005. The integrationof the Limpopo operations continues to progress well. We have restated our full year cost guidance to around R2,450 per PGM ounce soldfor our Marikana operations and we now expect our production for the full yearto be around 910,000 ounces of Platinum (including around 10,000 ounces from ourLimpopo Division). The 4th Quarter Production Report will be announced on 26 October 2005 and FinalResults on 16 November 2005. Enquiries:Alex Shorland-Ball +44(0)20 7201 6060Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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