JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Kumba Iron Ore’s restructure of its Sishen Iron Ore Company is bearing fruit as the iron-ore producer delivered a double-digit surge in production for the third quarter of the year.
Production for the three months to September 30 increased 33% quarter-on-quarter and 3% year-on-year to 11.76-million tonnes.
The Sishen mine’s output increased to 8.3-million tonnes in the quarter under review, compared with the 5.7-million tonnes produced in the second quarter and the 7.6-million tonnes in the third quarter of 2015.
Kumba attributed this to a significant improvement in productivity, increased run-of-mine feed rates, improved quality feedstock material and better plant yields following the successful completion of its restructuring during the first half of the year.
“The mine transitioned to a three-shift roster system in early September, which is expected to result in further improvements in equipment efficiencies over the medium term. Sishen remains on track to achieve guided production of 27-million tonnes for the full year,” Kumba said in its third-quarter production and sales update on Tuesday.
Kolomela’s production was up 8% quarter-on-quarter and 2% year-on-year to 3.4-million tonnes, with the operation expected to exceed its 12-million-tonne production target for the full year.
Export sales were also up, reaching 10.3-million tonnes during the third quarter – an 18% rise quarter-on-quarter from 8.7-million tonnes in the second quarter of the year and 5% higher year-on-year from the 9.8-million tonnes sold in the third quarter of 2015.