Weatherly production hampered

Shares in mining firm Weatherly took a hit after the group admitted production at the Otjihase site had been "significantly" hampered during October and the early part of November.

Although December mining rates at Otjihase were on target, conveyor breakdowns during the Christmas and New Year period meant that much of the mined ore remained underground and was not available to the concentrator before year end.

"In the absence of these conveyor breakdowns, production rates for concentrate and metal would have met annualised production targets in December," the firm said.

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The problems have resulted in an increased cash cost for the quarter of $5,373 per tonne of copper and a year to date figure of $4,955 per tonne of copper.

To address the performance concerns at Otjihase, the operating contract at the mine has been restructured, with the primary operating contract now split into three discrete parts, processing, conveying and underground infrastructure, and mining.

In more positive news, copper production from Central Operations continued to improve, increasing around 11% over the previous quarter, while grade and recovery increased for a fourth consecutive quarter.

At December 31st, the company held cash and equivalents of $7.1m.

The share price fell 5.6% to 5.9p by 09:17.

NR