UPDATE 1-Norilsk Q1 nickel output rises, palladium falls
Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:51am EDT
reuters.com
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By Aleksandras Budrys
MOSCOW, April 30 (Reuters) - Russian miner Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday palladium output fell 16.6 percent in the first quarter of 2008 due to harsh winter weather in the Arctic region where its main units are based.
But first-quarter nickel output rose 22.4 percent to 74,572 tonnes, from 60,913 tonnes in the same quarter of 2007, as output from assets in Finland, Australia and Africa acquired last year was added to the total, Norilsk said in a statement.
Norilsk, the world's largest nickel and palladium miner, kept its production forecasts for the whole of 2008 unchanged.
Output of palladium, used in jewellery and vehicle exhausts, fell to 597,000 ounces in the first quarter from 716,000 ounces in the same year-earlier period.
"Extraordinary winter weather conditions on the Taimyr peninsula impeded the timely dispatch of cuprous ore from the Komsomolsky mine to the Norilsk concentrator," Norilsk said in the statement, explaining the drop in metals output there.
In addition, delays in air deliveries of unrefined precious metals to Norilsk's main refinery, the Krasnoyarsk Precious Metals Plant, was lower than the company planned.
Copper output in the first quarter of 2008 was 103,990 tonnes, up from 101,049 tonnes a year ago due to the addition of output from assets acquired through Norilsk's takeover of LionOre Mining International.
Platinum production was 138,000 ounces in the first quarter, the company said, without providing a year-earlier comparison. Last year, Norilsk said it produced 169,000 ounces of platinum in the first quarter of 2007.
FULL-YEAR PLANS
Norilsk said it was keeping its full-year 2008 forecasts steady at 300,000-305,000 tonnes of nickel, 415,000-420,000 tonnes of copper, 3.02-3.07 million ounces of palladium and 710,000-720,000 ounces of platinum.
The company, also Russia's largest platinum and copper miner, is co-owned by some of Russia's richest men. Billionaire Vladimir Potanin owns the largest single stake, while United Company RUSAL -- majority owned by Oleg Deripaska -- this month completed its purchase of a 25 percent-plus-one-share interest.
Norilsk is also in merger talks with Russia's largest iron ore miner, Metalloinvest, which was founded by Uzbek-born billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
Norilsk said its Polar and Kola divisions above the Arctic Circle in Russia produced 57,038 tonnes of nickel in the first three months of 2008, in line with the company's plans.
At the end of the first quarter, the Polar Division, located on the Taimyr peninsula, began the planned reconstruction and expansion of one of the two flash smelting lines at the Nadezhda smelter to increase nickel concentrate processing capacity.
The line's capacity will rise to 1.2 million tonnes per year, bringing total capacity of both lines at Nadezhda to 2.05 million tonnes.
Norilsk's Tati Nickel and Nkomati operations in southern Africa produced 5,606 tonnes of nickel in the first quarter of 2008. The Lake Johnston and Waterloo operations in Western Australia produced another 3,554 tonnes.
Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta in Finland produced a total of 13,738 metric tonnes of refined nickel from January to March 2008, including 8,374 tonnes of its own nickel and 5,364 metric tonnes of tolled nickel, Norilsk said.
The palladium figures did not include output by Norilsk's U.S. subsidiary, Stillwater Mining Co (SWC.N: Quote, Profile, Research). (Editing by Robin Paxton) |
