Lumwana records rise in copper production
Lumwana records rise in copper productionBy Mutale Kapekele
Mon 25 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT
LUMWANA Copper Mine has recorded a 23 per cent increase in copper production in the last quarter of 2009, Equinox Minerals Limited president Craig Williams has disclosed.
Williams also announced, in a press statement, that Lumwana’s copper concentrates for 2009 had totalled 109,413 tonnes.
“Preliminary fourth quarter copper production results demonstrate the continued improvement of production from the preceding three quarters,” Williams stated.
“During the December quarter, Lumwana continued the ramp up phase for both the mine and process plant operations. The production result shows continued improvement on the quarter over 2009 with a third quarter to fourth quarter improvement of copper in concentrate production of 23 per cent. Production for the year 2009 totalled 109,413 tonnes.”
Williams also stated that the process plant recoveries had marked an improvement of 92 per cent reflecting the reduced proportion of transitional ore processed during the last quarter.
He stated that progress had been made with suppliers of equipment on improving their maintenance and repair contract performance.
“The Lumwana operations team has continued to focus on mining equipment availability and utilisation,” Williams stated. “Further improvement is necessary to meet equipment availability requirements; however it is expected that these issues will be resolved over the coming quarters.”
He disclosed that mining and stockpiling of uranium mineralisation had continued during the last quarter of 2009 with uranium ore stockpile on the ROM pad currently standing at 2.5 metres.
Williams announced target production for 2010 to be 135,000 tonnes of copper in concentrates.
“Meeting this target is dependent on a range of factors including performance of mine and mill during the wet season which the company expects to particularly impact the first quarter of 2010. It is also dependent on improvement in the availability and utilisation of the mining fleet and performance of the processing plant,” stated Williams.
Labels: COPPER, LUMWANA MINING COMPANY
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