PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The share prices of iron-ore miner Northern Iron declined by more than 7% on Wednesday, despite the miner reporting record quarterly and monthly production figures.
Concentrate production for the quarter ended December reached 529 000 t, up 24% on the previous corresponding quarter, and up 13% on the last quarter. The full-year 2012 production reached more than 1.9-million tons, which represented a 36% increase over the previous year.
Northern Iron said the increased concentrate production was supported by increased milling and crushing results, with a number of new production records set during the period, including a 72-hour period of milling at nameplate capacity, and a sustained seven-day period where the milling rate averaged 96% of nameplate capacity.
Mine production also achieved a new record of 4.4-million tons, up 6% on the previous quarter, with ore mined up 53% on the previous quarter, to 1.4-million tons.
Concentrate sales for the three months to December were also up by 11%, to 474 000 t on the previous three months, but down 2% on the previous corresponding quarter.
Looking ahead, Northern Iron said it was aiming to build on its 2012 production trends by delivering further increases, as well as a corresponding unit-cost reduction.
The company said the key success factor for 2013 would be improving the performance of the fine crushers, which would enable sustainable higher milling and concentrate production rates.
The company has, however, lowered its expected production rate from 2.7-million tons to 2.6-million tons for 2013, with additional works required during the first quarter to improve the fine crushing circuit.
Northern Iron shares were trading at a low of 45c a share on Wednesday, down from an opening price of 53c a share.