Metal Bulletin - By Rena Gu
Singapore 10/10/2016 - Indian miner Vedanta Resources produced 296,000 tonnes of aluminium in the September quarter, up 27% year-on-year and 21% quarter-on-quarter.
“We have delivered a strong operational performance during the quarter. We have progressed on our ramp-up of aluminium and though we had some operational challenges, our full year volumes are not expected to be materially affected,” CEO Tom Albanese said.
Alumina production in the third quarter of 2016 was 292,000 tonnes, up 8% year-on-year and 6% more than the second quarter.
Vedanta’s zinc output (mined metal-content) from India stood at 192,000 tonnes in the July-September period, down 20% year-on-year but up 51% quarter-on-quarter.
“The [quarterly] increase was primarily due to significantly higher production at Rampura Agucha open cast mine compared with Q1, when there was high waste excavation, in accordance with the waste-ore sequence,” Vedanta said.
Refined zinc production totalled 150,000 tonnes in the quarter, down 29% on the year and up 47% on the quarter.
Refined lead production stood at 31,000 tonnes in the third quarter, down 24% year-on-year and up 25% quarter-on-quarter.
The miner’s zinc production outside India was 39,000 tonnes down 38% year-on-year and 8% less than the previous quarter due to the closure of the Lisheen mine in November.
In the September quarter, Vedanta also produced 97,000 tonnes of copper cathode in India and 47,000 tonnes of copper in Zambia, up 3% year-on-year and down 1% year-on-year respectively.
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