PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Nickel miner Western Areas on Friday upgraded its production outlook and cost guidance for the full year ended June, despite a challenging nickel market.
The ASX-listed miner has increased its nickel in-ore production estimates from 26 000 t to 27 000 t, while nickel-in-concentrate production was up to 26 500 t, up from the previous estimate of 25 000 t.
Nickel sales for the full year were expected to reach 27 000 t for the full year.
“Notwithstanding the challenging nickel price over the last quarter, the resilience of Western Areas to external factors due to the quality of our mines has been satisfying,” said MD Dan Lougher.
He noted that in the company’s recent quarterly report, Western Areas advised that the cash-flow heavy lifting in the first half of the year had completed setting up the company, with long-term benefits.
“It's now rewarding to see these actions crystallise in the form of free cash-flow generation over the last six months, which I believe separates Western Areas from the pack in a testing minerals environment.
Furthermore, the nickel miner has also reduced the unit cash cost to less than A$2.90/lb for the full year, driven by the company’s cost management vigilance, said Lougher.
“This capital efficiency has delivered a new Spotted Quoll underground mine on budget, ahead of time and free of any commissioning issues. Furthermore, the company has delivered on its objectives to reduce concentrate inventories, which has resulted in upgraded sales guidance of 27 000 t of nickel in concentrate.”