MMG Limited (MMG) (HK.1208) today released its fourth quarter production report showing Rosebery has delivered an exceptional fourth quarter performance and has achieved an annual production record with 88,369 tonnes of zinc in zinc concentrate produced in 2013, exceeding annual guidance of 75,000–80,000 tonnes.
The last quarter of the year saw significant production performances across all commodities compared with the third quarter, helping the site achieve the record.
Overall the operation contributed another strong performance with zinc production 21% higher than the previous quarter and 37% higher than the same period last year.
Gold production was 52% higher than the previous quarter while lead production was 10% higher than the previous quarter and 22% higher than the fourth quarter 2012.
Annually, production of zinc and lead concentrate was higher than all comparative periods due to higher mining volumes combined with good grades and recoveries. Mining and milling volumes were 4% and 10% higher respectively than the prior year and the average grade of ore milled increased from 9.7% in 2012 to 11.1% in 2013.
Actual C1 costs of US$0.24/lb were also favourable compared to guidance of US$0.25–US$0.30/lb.
MMG Rosebery General Manager Aaron Brannigan said that Rosebery continues to benefit from consistent throughput and optionality created from multiple ore sources, also achieving annual records in mining, milling and sales.
“Rosebery has achieved outstanding production results in the fourth quarter, which has helped us close out a successful year across our safety, volume and cost metrics,” Mr Brannigan said.
“Our ongoing stringent management focus on delivering more metal at a lower cost has seen us conclude the year below budget on our unit cost ($/Zn t),” he said.
“Rosebery is in a growth phase and will see us continue to increase and improve our output performance over the following three years to enable us to produce at the optimum level for the operation and to allow us to remain sustainable into the future.
“At Rosebery we are particularly proud of our improved safety record, having achieved a 65% year-on-year improvement 2011 to 2012, and backing that up with a further 53% improvement in 2013. We believe we’ve developed a strong safety culture here and the results are showing.
“The site’s safety culture is further demonstrated by the fact that as of October 2013 Rosebery became a completely smoke-free mine site, with no smoking facilities provided on site or anywhere on or near the mining lease – an achievement that we are all exceptionally proud of,” he said.
MMG expects to produce 85,000–90,000 tonnes of zinc in zinc concentrate at a C1 cost of US$0.20–US$0.25/lb and also expects to produce 22,000–24,000 tonnes of lead in lead concentrate in 2014.
“In 2014 Rosebery will continue to focus on increasing mining and milling volume, improving recoveries, cost reductions and margin improvement, which we are confident will allow the operation to contribute positively to MMG earnings and cash flow moving forward,” Mr Brannigan said.
For further information on the fourth quarter production results please download the full MMG Fourth Quarter Production Report 2013.