PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths miner Sierra Rutile has flagged lower production for the June quarter, ahead of its quarterly report, noting that operations in Sierra Leone were being hampered by power disruptions caused by mechanical failures at the company’s power station.
The ASX-listed company told shareholders that these power disruptions have impacted plant availability.
In light of current market conditions for rutile sales, the company is now prioritising heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) production, with the mineral separation plant and one of the four wet concentrators currently offline. The miner told shareholders that while this situation persists, there would be an adverse impact on rutile production.
“Work is ongoing to resolve the power disruption issues and Sierra Rutile currently anticipates returning to full capacity early in the third quarter. At this stage, the company expects that much of the production lost in June can be made up in the second half as HMC stocks currently being built up are processed to saleable product,” the miner said in a statement.
However, the company was no longer expecting to exceed 2022 production of 136 000 t of rutile, it added.
The disrupted second quarter operations followed on from a tough first quarter, which was hampered by operational issues, as production was lost in March owing to water pump availability, below budget grades and a 19-hour power outage caused by severe weather conditions.