Ni inventories below 19k, Ni up 8c this am and a bon mot from Bulong:
AUSTRALIA: PRESTON SAYS BULONG MAY OUTPUT WELL SHORT.
6 Jul 2000 12:56GMT
PERTH, July 6 (Reuters) - Preston Resources Ltd said on Thursday that nickel output from its Bulong lateritic operation in Western Australia fell 45.6 percent short of target in May due to an unscheduled plant shutdown in mid-May.
Before that, metal output in the first two weeks of May had exceeded forecast levels, it said.
Nickel output was 254.54 tonnes, against target of 468 tonnes, while cobalt output was 13.50 tonnes, 61.1 percent short of target output of 35 tonnes.
Preston said the shortfall was due to the premature shutdown of the plant on May 15 and a four-day shutdown in early May to remedy gypsum build-up and replace contaminated nickel extractant in the nickel solvent extraction circuit.
As previously reported, Preston brought forward a major maintenance shutdown after a leak developed in the plant's high pressure flash tank.
On July 3, Preston reported that re-commissioning at Bulong had commenced on June 29 after repairs.
In the first 11 months of its financial year (July/June), Bulong produced 4,006.36 tonnes of nickel, 18.4 percent short of its 4,908 tonne target, and 213.59 tonnes of cobalt, 36.2 percent below target of 335 tonnes, Preston said.
Bulong has been slowly ramping up to annual design capacity of 8,000 tonnes of nickel but, like the other two lateritic nickel projects in Western Australia using relatively untried pressure acid leach technology, it has been plagued by teething problems.
Preston shares have been suspended since last October as the company seeks to recapitalise Bulong.
|
