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LONDON (Alliance News) - Tharisa PLC on Friday tweaked its annual production guidance after seeing a quarter-on-quarter fall in platinum group metal and chrome concentration output.
Platinum group metal production for the first quarter, ended December 31, came in at 33,600 ounces, down 5.9% on the last quarter. Chrome concentration production of 305,400 tonnes marked a 10% quarter-on-quarter decrease.
The production decline was a result of reduced recoveries due to processing commissioning tailings, Tharisa said.
Commenting on the performance, Tharisa Chief Executive Phoevos Pouroulis, said: "Although we had planned for a slower Q1 in terms of mining production, we did not anticipate the full impact that blending tailings material would have on our overall recoveries. We will revert back to processing fresh run of mine material from mid-January and will achieve our targeted recoveries."
"We are addressing the operational performance of the mining division with particular reference to equipment availability and utilisation through pro-active maintenance and enhancing the capacity of our drill and blast operations. We remain fully committed to our Vision 2020 targets and we are confident that the processes currently underway will see an improved performance in the months to come," Pouroulis added
The average PGM contained metal basket price for the first quarter was USD983 per ounce, up 5.9% on the last quarter. In rand terms, the average basket price for the quarter of ZAR14,050 was up 7.5%.
The company tweaked its production guidance for the 2019 financial year to between 150,000 ounces to 160,000 ounces of PGMs, and now sees chrome concentrates production in a range of 1.4 million tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes.
In November, Tharisa had guided to 160,000 ounces of PGMs and 1.5 million tonnes chrome concentrate.