TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Output in late February and early March from Sherritt International Corp’s Ambatovy nickel project, in Madagascar, has been significantly impacted following the death of a contractor working at the project.
He and two other workers were exposed to a hydrogen sulphide gas leak in February, which subsequently led to a two-week shutdown to investigate the incident.
Sherritt management had advised in an analyst conference call last month that the operation was on track to achieve commercial production by March.
Commercial production required an average of 90% of nameplate capacity for 90 days in a 100-day continuous period, equalling 54 000 t/y of nickel.
The company’s 40% share of output at the mine during February included 1 548 t finished nickel, down from 1 877 t in January.
For February, the operation was running at about 84% of nameplate capacity and finished cobalt production was 118 t, or 294 t on a 100% basis. Ore throughput in the pressure acid leach circuit was 266 979 t on a 100% basis, or about 59% of nameplate capacity.