Center Valley, Pennsylvania 26/07/2016 - Sherritt International Corp has reduced its full-year output guidance for its Ambatovy nickel/cobalt mine in Madagascar following a 14-day shutdown for maintenance in the second quarter.
Ambatovy production in the second quarter was 9,050 tonnes of finished nickel (100 percent basis) or 60 percent of design capacity, the company said in a release.
Sherritt owns 40 percent of the project while Sumitomo and a consortium led by Korea Resources each have 27.5-percent stakes. The project's engineering contractor, SNC-Lavalin, holds the remaining five percent.
"Production was impacted by a tailings pipe blockage and subsequent decision to bring forward the planned third-quarter total plant shutdown. The blockage was cleared during the total shutdown and preventive measures put in place to address any potential future process control events of this nature," Sherritt said.
Plant equipment reliability issues that characterised the first-quarter operations also affected second-quarter production, it added.
The full-year production guidance for Ambatovy has been reduced to a range of 42,000-45,000 tonnes finished nickel from the previous forecast of 48,000-50,000 tonnes.
Finished nickel production at its Moa Joint Venture in Cuba in the second quarter was 8,290 tonnes (100 percent basis), which was up from the comparable quarter a year ago, reflecting a shorter planned refinery shutdown.
For the full year, Sherritt now expects to produce 75,500-79,500 tonnes (100 percent basis), down from its previous forecast of 81,500-84,500 tonnes. This includes 33,500-34,500 tonnes at Moa.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)