JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Kumba Iron Ore’s performance in the final quarter of the year to December 31 resulted in full-year output exceeding guidance at its Sishen operation and record full-year production at the Kolomela mine.
Kumba’s Sishen Iron Ore Company achieved full-year production of 28.4-million tonnes, surpassing its target of 27-million tonnes, with the fourth quarter of the year contributing some 8.5-million tonnes, an 11% rise on the corresponding fourth quarter the year before.
The increased output was attributed to improved mining productivity, bolstered by access to low strip ratio ore and higher plant yields during the second half of the year.
“Run rates during the quarter were in line with the considerable improvement realised in the third quarter of 2016 following the successful completion of its restructuring to a lower-cost pit shell,” Kumba said in an update to shareholders on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Kolomela mine delivered record full-year production of 12.7-million tonnes, boosted by a 20% uptick in fourth-quarter output to 3.4-million tonnes.
“The improvement in production was driven by higher levels of throughput as a result of further debottlenecking and optimisation of the plant. Waste mined was 59% higher than the corresponding period in 2015 at 15.4-million tonnes, in line with higher production levels,” Kumba commented.
Export sales marginally increased during the period under review, reaching 10.6-million tonnes, while total finished product stocks were 3.5-million tonnes, compared with 3.1-million tonnes as at September 30, 2016.