PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Manganese miner OM Holdings (OMH) has reported record quarterly shipments for the three months to December, with the miner shipping some 312 779 t of ore during the quarter.
Full-year shipments reached 805 915 t during the full year to December.
Production at its Bootu Creek mine was up compared with the previous quarter, reaching 177 616 t during the three months under review. However, this was below the 223 511 t produced in the previous corresponding period.
For the full year, the operation produced 737 766 t of ore, at an average grade of 36.55% manganese.
OMH reported that the operating strategy at Bootu Creek mine in 2012 centered mainly around a low cost, low strip ratio operation, focused on accessing previously prestripped high-grade ore deposits.
The move to an owner-operator mining fleet was also made during the year, to improve efficiency and reduce the unit mining costs at the mine, while also allowing significant additional operational production flexibility.
OMH said that the Bootu Creek’s production target for 2013 remained at 800 000 t, at a C1 cash cost of between A$3.70/t and A$3.90/t.
At the Qinzhou processing plant, in China, OMH achieved an all-time quarterly production record for both ferro manganese and manganese sinter ores.
The production of ferro manganese reached a record 23 428 t during the quarter under review, the highest level achieved since the plant was commissioned in 2004. Annual production of 80 801 to of ferro manganese was also up by 9% on the 2011 figures.
Manganese sinter ore production for the quarter reached 81 428 t, with full year production totaling 230 524 t.