JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Mwana Africa’s 74.73%-owned subsidiary Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC) has achieved record production for the second consecutive year as it ramps up to steady-state output.
The Zimbabwe-based group’s Trojan mine, which had completed its second full year of production since the restart of operations in 2013, delivered 7 306 t of nickel for the 12 months to March 31, compared with 7 027 t in the prior year.
Just over 7 350 t of nickel was sold during the year to March, generating revenue of $78.9-million, showing an improvement on the revenue of $65-million from the sale of 7 129 t in the 2014 financial year, with the average nickel price reaching $16 700/t, compared with the $14 298/t achieved in the prior year.
This followed the significant refurbishment of a portion of its mobile fleet, primarily drill rigs and load haul and dump equipment, following the restart of operations.
Further investment was injected into three new drill rigs and two rebuilt dump trucks, which provided BNC a stable platform to start pushing the mine to steady-state production.
BNC also started work on its smelter, which would now be completed during the first quarter of calendar year 2016, after a delay owing to fundraising activities.
The company’s processing plant was “running well”.
For the year under review, BNC posted operating profit of $15.9-million, a contraction on the $17.3-million recorded during the year before, while profit after tax dropped to $11.2-million in 2015, from $23.67-million in the prior year.
BNC’s basic earnings a share fell from 1.9c in 2014 to 0.9c in 2015.
However, the company ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of $11.9-million, compared with the $4.2-million reported in the prior year.