The Tshipi manganese mine, in South Africa, recorded a slight decrease in output to 1.77-million tonnes for the six months ended August 31.
This compares with the 1.78-million tonnes produced in the first six months of the prior financial year.
Sales for the period also declined by 140 000 t to 1.73-million tonnes.
Earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation for the mine came in at R2.3-million, R900 000 less year-on-year.
Tshipi returned R830-million in dividends to its parent company, ASX-listed Jupiter Mines.
This was lower than the R948-million paid to Jupiter in the prior comparable period, mainly as a result of a softening in manganese prices.
Despite this, Tshipi had maintained high levels of cash generation during the period, which was supported by the continued low operating costs.
While Jupiter noted the recent decline in average manganese prices, it declared an interim half-year dividend of $0.04 a share.
Jupiter CEO Priyank Thapliyal on Thursday said the focus for the team was to deliver tonnes and control costs.
“The work on cost optimisation initiatives continues, which is especially pertinent in this low manganese price environment,” he commented.