[miningmx.com] — Mining company Lonmin said Thursday that in the third quarter it delivered increased output at its Marikana underground operations as it continued to see operational improvements.
Year-to-date underground tonnage is up on the comparable prior year period while metal in concentrate is at the same level as last year as the increased ounces from its underground operations have offset the impact of the operations closed last year.
Releasing its production report and interim management statement for the three and nine months to June 2010, Lonmin said underground mining operations at Marikana produced 2.6 million tonnes during the third quarter of the 2010 financial year, an increase of 10.2% from the third quarter of the 2009 financial year.
This was mainly due to an increase in production during the quarter from Hossy and Saffy which continued to ramp up and increased production by 40.9%, to 0.5 million tonnes, over the prior year period.
Sequentially output from those shafts increased by 11.7% quarter on quarter. The increase in the conventional mining tonnage was some 0.1 million tonnes or 4.8%. The impact of Section 54 shut downs was around 109,000 tonnes in lost production during the quarter mainly at our K3 shaft.
This compares to a loss in production during the same period last year of around 160,000 tonnes.
