JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE- and London-listed Lonmin’s platinum production fell by 8% to 172 574 oz in the third quarter of the 2009 financial year, while platinum-group metals (PGMs) production was down 13%, at 321 050 oz, compared with the third quarter of 2008.

The platinum-miner, led by CEO Ian Farmer, told shareholders in a statement on Thursday that its production target for the full-year remained at between 680 000 oz and 700 000 oz.

Metals sales in the quarter ended June 30, 2009, had declined marginally to 178 494 oz of platinum and 326 239 oz of PGMs.

Meanwhile, Lonmin said that its No 1 furnace would start to tap matte again in “the coming days”, but would operate at reduced power until a redesign of the matte tap hole area could be completed and a rebuild initiated.

This was planned for the first quarter of the 2010 financial year, Lonmin said.

The No 1 furnace was shut down in mid-June following a matte run-out, with the company saying that its metal-in-process could increase by as much as 20 000 oz of platinum by September.

At the time, the company reported that the cost to repair the furnace, as well as the cost of running the three additional Pyromet furnaces, amounted to about $4-million.

Lonmin had started up its three Pyromet furnaces to mitigate the impact of the shutdown on production. The units would remain operational until September.

The No 1 furnace is the largest of four at Lonmin’s Marikana operations and had given the company problems in the past.

In 2007, the miner announced that it would completely rebuild the furnace at a cost of R45-million. Lonmin also repaired the furnace during South Africa’s power crisis in the early part of 2008, followed by a one-week shutdown in June, after it detected a water leak.

The company rebuilt the furnace during the first quarter of the 2009 financial year.

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