JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Sierra Rutile has revised its rutile production guidance for the full year downwards to 120 000 t, as the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone hampered efforts to grow production at the company’s operations.

The company noted on Thursday that rutile production in the quarter ended September 30 had remained largely in line with that produced in previous quarters as the company’s “efforts to enhance production during the quarter have been hampered by actions imposed to limit the spread of the virus”.

Sierra Rutile had produced 27 078 t of rutile, 9 986 t of ilmenite and 444 t of zircon concentrate in the three months under review.

The company said the direct impact of the Ebola outbreak on Sierra Rutile had, to date, been minimal and limited to a three-day interruption in production owing to restrictions imposed by government to contain the outbreak. This cost the company about 1 500 t of lost rutile production.

“I am very pleased with the overall performance for the quarter, with a robust operational performance, continued focus on costs and a strong balance sheet. Notwithstanding the challenges of the ongoing Ebola outbreak, disruptions to operations remain minimal and largely indirect in nature as we continue to be free from any cases of Ebola at our operations,” CEO John Sisay commented.

Sierra Rutile was confident that its fourth-quarter output would be significantly higher than in prior quarters as no further interruptions to production were anticipated.

Meanwhile, the company reported that its operating expenditure for the third quarter had been in line with previous quarters, despite additional one-off costs associated with the Ebola outbreak having been incurred.

Operating cash costs increased 11% to $676/t over that in the first half of the year, mainly owing to a 3% decrease in rutile production and a 17% decrease in by-product revenues. 

As a result of its revised full-year production guidance, Sierra Rutile had also revised its full-year all-in cash cost guidance to $655/t, its direct operating cash costs guidance to $540/t and its total operating cash costs to $605/t.

EXPANSION PROJECTS
Sierra Rutile had completed the upgrade of the mineral separation plant, which was aimed at improving process recoveries and lowering unit costs, during the quarter, with commissioning now under way.

Further, the company had completed a feasibility study on a scalable 500 t/h throughput option for its Gangama Dry Mining project. This was an alternative option to the initially proposed 1 000 t/h throughput option. The lower throughput option would require lower capital expenditure and result in a longer mine life.

The project would deliver about 46 000 t/y of rutile.