Albidon Mining suspends operations at Munali
Albidon Mining suspends operations at MunaliWritten by Fridah Zinyama
Friday, January 23, 2009 6:55:11 AM
ALBIDON Mining has suspended the development of the northern decline at its Munali nickel project saying the current commodity prices on international markets do not warrant the capital expenditure on the project.
According to the Mining Weekly, the company explained that only lower-grade mining blocks at Munali would be accessed in the short term.
Nickel prices have tumbled to the current price of around US $4 per pound from a high of over US $8 per pound a couple of months ago.
“Further, restructuring of the Munali nickel project operations targeting significant cost reductions must be undertaken in order to render the project a viable concern at current nickel prices,” the company stated.
Instead, a revised mine plan, based on a single decline to the south, has been developed and adopted. The revised plan included the accelerated development and centralisation of the southern decline, targeting the higher-grade areas of the ore body.
It stated that the higher costs in the early part of 2009 reflected the need to rapidly develop the southern section of the Munali project, and to open the mine to achieve a production rate greater than 900,000 metric tonnes per year.
Ore production for 2009 was estimated at 675,000 metric tonnes at one per cent nickel, to a steady state production of 950,000 metric tonnes at one per cent nickel from 2010 onwards.
Albidon stated that production could be augmented in the future by developing and mining the northern area, when nickel prices made it economically viable to mine the lower grade area.
Ore production for the December 2008 quarter was below forecast, Albidon stated, with 85,562 tonnes, at 0.72 per cent mined, compared with the forecast of 115,000 tonnes, at 0.70 per cent.
“This was mainly due to breakdowns in underground equipment and lack of critical spares on a timely basis. This also impacted development and required lower grade or high magnesium oxide stopes to be accessed, rather than the planned higher grade or lower magnesium oxide stopes,” revealed Albidon.
Labels: ALBIDON, MUNALI NICKEL MINE
posted by MrK @ 6:57 AM
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