adminadversely affected by two mechanical failures on mills one and two.
Mwana Africa chief executive Mr Kalaa Mpinga said the breakdowns were expected after the coming on stream of the second mill. Mwana Africa wholly owns Freda Rebecca and 52 percent of BNC.
“Looking back on the last quarter, Freda Rebecca has experienced some short-term processing issues with the mills, these are to be expected after the commissioning of the second mill and ramp-up in production rates.
“The mine management is focusing on optimising and fine-tuning the production processes,” Mr Mpinga said in a statement on last Friday.
The drop follows a jump in the mine’s first-half gold output of 21 893oz, which was much higher than the 10 915oz in the previous year.
Assets at Mwana Africa’s nickel-producing subsidiary Bindura Nickel Corporation remained on care and maintenance for the quarter and Trojan Nickel Mine is ready to resume production once restart funding is secured. Limited development and drilling continue at the mine.
A Competent Person’s report conducted by SRK Consulting of the UK confirmed established plans to restart Trojan were realistic and achievable.
It confirmed existence of 3 530 000 tonnes at an average grade of 1,29 percent, which should yield 45 600 tonnes of nickel with potential to increase resource at depth.
Indicated resource amounted to 710 000 tonnes with potential to yield 9 110 at a grade of 1,38 percent while inferred resource totalled 3 530 000 tonnes, which should see nickel output of 12 540 at a yield of 1,13 percent.
It also found that the nickel mine required about US$26 million to fund the restart, which BNC has been hunting for since December 2010.
In a major vote of confidence on its operations, BNC signed an off-take agreement with leading commodities trader Glencore International. But this hinges on the firm securing the restart funds.
The mine hoisted 4 698 tonnes of waste and 32 tonnes of ore during the quarter to December, as part of its care and maintenance programme, compared with the 1 982 tonnes of waste and 3 541 tonnes of ore during the previous period.
Meanwhile, Mwana said that its Zani Kodo (DRC) gold exploration programme, which produced promising results, continued to show potential.
Online Reporter