Boseto output falls marginally

| Friday October 25, 2013 16:06

 

For the quarter under review, the volume of material mined was down by 4.5 percent to 8.96-million tonnes, with the company milling some 615,000 t to produce 11,943 t of concentrate.

Copper in concentrate production was down 6.5 percent on the previous quarter, to 4,705t, while silver in concentrate production declined by 8 percent, to 196,816 t.

The miner said on Wednesday that the copper and silver production reduced marginally as a result of the lower-than-planned metal production during the month of September. Average copper recovery in September was 56%, compared with the expected 64%.

DML said that investigations into the cause of this recovery decline were under way, and initial indications showed that the under-performance was related to the management of grind size and reagent levels, particularly when treating charging blends of Zeta sulphides and Plutus transitional ores.

Efforts to optimise the copper recovery continue, the company reported.

As a result of the weaker production,  capital costs also increased by 5 percent quarter-on-quarter.

In September, DML signed a $108-million recapitalisation deal with Singapore-listed investment holding company Blumont Group. The deal would consist of a A$8.75-million share placement and a $100-million convertible bond placement, and would conclude with Blumont owning a 60% interest in DML.