PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Base metals miner MMG has reported production declines over nearly all of its commodities in the three months to June, apart from molybdenum.
Copper production for the quarter ended June was down 15% on the previous corresponding period, to 84 695 t, while copper cathode production was down 20% to 16 463 t.
Zinc production over the same period was down 2%, to 56 929 t, while lead production was down 9% on the previous corresponding period, to 11 749 t. MMG reported that molybdenum production for the quarter was up 32%, however, to 563 t.
MMG told shareholders on Friday that production at its Las Bambas copper mine, in Peru, had been affected by a forced shutdown during the quarter, due to community road blocks that took place from early February until mid-April, and caused critical supplies to be exhausted on site.
Planned maintenance activities at Las Bambas were brought forward to partly mitigate the impact of these disruptions.
A planned maintenance shutdown at the Dugald River zinc and lead project, which took place over 11 days during the quarter, also resulted in lower zinc and lead output for the quarter, while the Kinsevere operation was still recovering from mining and plant stability issues that were experienced in the first quarter of the 2019 financial year.
MMG said on Friday that despite the difficult quarter, all operations were on track to meet their production guidance for the full year.