LONDON (Alliance News) - Atalaya Mining PLC Thursday reported a narrowed pretax loss for its first quarter and said it had reached full production at the Riotinto plant in Spain in half of its originally anticipated timeframe.
The company produced 4,048 tonnes of copper in the quarter, including 1,465 tonnes in March.
In the first quarter to end-March Atalaya reported a pretax loss of USD3.3 million, narrowed from a pretax loss of USD10.7 million, as it saw sales of USD4.9 million in the period. In the previous period it did not report sales, and recorded USD4.2 million in care and maintenance expenses.
Atalaya said that the first phase of its plant ramp-up continued to perform well in April, with recoveries of around 85%. Production reached 1,373 tonnes of copper during the first 20 days of April, the company said, before the tailings discharge was provisionally suspended by the Junta de Andalucia.
After the suspension was lifted production has ramped up continuously, Atalaya said.
It now expects to ramp up production to a full rate of 9.5 million tonnes per annum during the third quarter of 2016, earlier than it expected.
"Having declared commercial production in February ahead of schedule, we are pleased that this accelerated trend is continuing, taking us to full production in half the originally anticipated timeframe. We are confident that as we move towards steady state production, efficiencies at the plant will continue to improve, leading to decreasing costs," said Chief Executive Officer Alberto Lavandeira in a statement.
Shares in Atalaya were down 3.6% at 93.00 pence Thursday.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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