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BNC’s nickel sales surge

Business
Bindura Nickel Corporation’s (BNC) Trojan Nickel Mine recorded a 49% increase in nickel sales to 2 072 tonnes in the fourth quarter for the financial year ended March 2015 compared to the previous quarter buoyed by a $7 million investment in new equipment.

Bindura Nickel Corporation’s (BNC) Trojan Nickel Mine recorded a 49% increase in nickel sales to 2 072 tonnes in the fourth quarter for the financial year ended March 2015 compared to the previous quarter buoyed by a $7 million investment in new equipment.

By our staff reporter

The group spent approximately $7 million in the third quarter of the financial year on capital expenditure which saw the remanufacturing and delivery of new dump trucks, along with LHD (load, haul dump) equipment.

This equipment has since been commissioned and deployed, resulting in the improved performance, it said.

“The past quarter has been a period of significant progress across all our existing operations and new projects,” group chairman Kalaa Mpinga said in a statement.

An increase in head grade coupled with a stable plant run resulted in a 47% increase in production of nickel concentrates and a 6,4 percentage point improvement in recovery to 87%, BNC said.

However, mill throughput at the mine went down 6% to 140,045 tonnes as production was constrained by a temporary hoist breakdown in January which has since been resolved.

“As a consequence, hoisting was constrained for half of that month,” read the statement.

The average price received for nickel concentrates at $9 489 per tonnes was softer than the $10 313 per tonne in the previous quarter.

Cash costs of production decreased by 34% to $ 7 010 per tonne from $10 666 per tonne in the previous quarter.

“The unit-cost improvements are due to the increase in production and a reduction in mobile equipment costs as the majority of the refurbishment was completed in the financial year’s third quarter,” Mpinga said.

Commenting on the Bindura Smelter, Mpinga indicated that a $20 million five-year bond to finance the smelter re-start was fully subscribed.

The funds will be used to accelerate work on the smelter, with most of the major components expected to be delivered by end of June. The nine-month commissioning period is still on track.

“Work on the smelter re-start project progressed with major components either already delivered “or due to be delivered between April through to June 2015,” he said.