UPDATE 1-Australia's Oz Minerals sees lower zinc output
reuters.com
Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:36pm EDT
SYDNEY, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The world's second-largest zinc miner, Oz Minerals Ltd (OZL.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), mined 174,158 tonnes of zinc in the September quarter and maintained plans to slash zinc from its Australian mine by up to 40 percent in 2009 as prices tumble.
Oz Minerals said on Tuesday that 2009 zinc output at its Golden Grove mine in Australia would be between 80,000-85,000 tonnes, down 35-40 percent from an earlier planned production.
It would instead lift copper output at the mine by 14,000 tonnes to between 35,000-40,000 tonnes for 2009.
Oz is facing sharp drops across its market sectors, with zinc losing a third of its value since July, nickel down 50 percent and copper off 43 percent.
Oz said underlying copper demand is expected to hold at current levels, with total stocks still relatively low with less than one week of consumption, while lead supply was the tightest of all metals, underpinned by strong demand from China.
The firm said copper outout at its Sepon operation in Laos reached a record 17,546 tonnes despite the impact of heavy rains, while gold production at Sepon for the quarter was 22,190 ounces.
Oz said it is on track to meet guidance for full-year gold and copper output in Laos.
The firm said construction at the Prominent Hill copper mine in South Australia was 88 percent complete and the processing plant remained on track for commissioning in the fourth quarter.
Oz Minerals was formed via the merger of two mid-sized mining houses, Zinifex and Oxiana, this year to diversify each company's commodity base with an eye to better weather cyclical downturns in individual mineral commodity markets.
It did not give pro-forma comparative figures for the 2007 September quarter. (Reporting by Jim Regan and Fayen Wong, Editing by Mark Bendeich) |
