TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Katanga Mining on Tuesday reported a net loss of $52-million for the first quarter of this year, compared with a loss of $17,4-million a year earlier.

The company earned revenue of $47-million for the quarter, comprising $27,8-million for copper cathode, $10,9-million for cobalt metal and $8,4-million for cobalt concentrate sales.

The cobalt concentrate sold was from stockpiles produced before the firm suspended concentrate output in November last year.

Shares in the company fell 2,35% on Tuesday, to C$0,83 apiece by 15:59 in Toronto. The stock traded as low as C$0,70 earlier in the day.

Katanga operates and is expanding a large copper/cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but investors have been wary of the stock because of uncertainty generated by the mining contract review in the African nation, and, most recently, cash flow has taken a big knock because of slumping metals prices.

The miner announced last month that it would receive a $50-million bridging loan from shareholder Glencore Finance, to address "critical" solvency concerns.

The company said on Tuesday it remains on track to complete Phase Two of the project within budget, and to increase production capacity to 70 000 t/y by September.

The roaster is scheduled to be commissioned in July, so that it will be ready for use by the end of the third quarter, and the oxide concentrate repulp tank will be commissioned in May, at the same time as the second leach residue belt filter, Katanga said.

In the first quarter, the company mined 193 378 t of ore from the underground KTO mine, with average grades of 3,79% copper and 0,46% cobalt.

The company is using external consultants to evaluate the use of bulk mining methods to improve efficiency and safety, and is also engaging mine contractors to increase development, backfill and roof supports.

At the T17 open pit, ore production increased 59% from the previous quarter, to 206 176 t, with an average copper grade of 2,31% and 0,81% cobalt.

Productivity was improved thanks to a new mining fleet, and there is also a process under way to review the current T17 mine plan, to reduce the stripping ratio and lower unit costs.

In total, the company processed 387 487 t of ore at the Kamoto concentrator, to produce 37 835 t of concentrate.

Katanga also produced 8 715 t of copper cathode and 487 t of cobalt metal at the Luilu plant in the three months ended March 31.