Wrap Text
Lonmin Plc - Fourth Quarter Production Report
Lonmin Plc
Share Code: LON
ISIN: GB0031192486
Fourth Quarter Production Report
Lonmin today announces its production report for the fourth quarter to 30
September 2005.
Brad Mills, Chief Executive Officer said:
"We had a very strong fourth quarter with overall Platinum production of 309,239
ounces giving annual production ahead of forecast at 916,420 ounces of Platinum
and 1,704,249 ounces of PGMs. We were pleased with the contribution from
Limpopo which produced 10,144 ounces of Platinum on target with our integration
plan. The strong performance of our Smelter has continued with month by month
increases in throughput rising to a new record of 21,114 tonnes of concentrate
smelted in September. Last November"s Smelter incident had a major impact on
our cost base. The recovery process has been managed successfully and the
estimated increase in our cost base for the full year has been limited to around
the current level of South African inflation of 4.8% at our Marikana
operations."
Mining
Quarter Quarter Year to Year to
to 30 to 30 30 Sept 30 Sept
Sept 05 Sept 04 05 04
Tonnes Marikana Underground (000) 3,035 2,773 11,102 11,121
milled*
Opencast (000) 512 818 2,444 3,283
Total (000) 3,547 3,591 13,546 14,404
Limpopo Underground (000) 198 - 214 -
Opencast (000) - - - -
Total (000) 198 - 214 -
Lonmin Underground (000) 3,233 2,773 11,316 11,121
Platinum
Opencast (000) 512 818 2,444 3,283
Total (000) 3,745 3,591 13,760 14,404
Tonnes Marikana Underground (000) 3,006 2,769 11,047 11,070
mined
Opencast (000) 775 737 2,653 2,730
Total (000) 3,781 3,506 13,700 13,800
Limpopo Underground (000) 195 - 212 -
Opencast (000) - - - -
Total (000) 195 - 212 -
Lonmin Underground (000) 3,201 2,769 11,259 11,070
Platinum
Opencast (000) 775 737 2,653 2,730
Total (000) 3,976 3,506 13,912 13,800
*excluding slag
Metallurgy
Quarter Quarter Year to Year to
to 30 to 30 30 Sept 30 Sept
Sept 05 Sept 04 05 04
Production* Marikana Platinum oz 257,471 248,010 830,911 833,822
* refined
Palladium oz 116,691 115,265 360,753 358,705
Rhodium oz 37,736 33,115 93,445 90,012
Total oz 478,912 495,481 1,510,553 1,491,760
PGMs
Marikana Platinum oz 41,624 15,975 73,985 82,935
concentrate*
Palladium oz 21,310 8,941 38,345 38,341
Rhodium oz 14,971 7,593 24,491 23,082
Total oz 92,039 39,915 167,955 184,808
PGMs
Limpopo Platinum oz 10,144 - 11,524 -
concentrate*
Palladium oz 8,125 - 9,043 -
Rhodium oz 1,277 - 1,320 -
Total oz 22,558 - 25,741 -
PGMs
Lonmin Platinum oz 309,239 263,985 916,420 916,757
Platinum
Palladium oz 146,126 124,206 408,141 397,046
Rhodium oz 53,984 40,708 119,256 113,094
Total oz 593,509 535,396 1,704,249 1,676,568
PGMs
*Produced for sale as concentrate or toll refined. **Excluding slag
Lonmin Group Metal Sales
Quarter Quarter Year to Year to
to 30 to 30 30 Sept 30 Sept
Sept 05 Sept 04 05 04
Sales* Lonmin Platinum oz 324,701 308,034 912,844 941,146
Platinum
Palladium oz 150,680 133,245 402,425 405,329
Rhodium oz 52,536 36,512 117,944 126,723
Total oz 608,310 561,132 1,692,517 1,761,171
PGMs
*Excluding slag
Prices
Quarter Quarter Year to Year to
to 30 to 30 30 30
Sept 05 Sept 04 Sept 05 Sept 04
Average price Platinum R 5,630 5,340 5,366 5,356
received per
ounce
$ 873 821 856 816
Palladium R 1,166 1,370 1,184 1,485
$ 181 211 189 227
Rhodium R 12,882 6,871 10,494 4,876
$ 1,998 1,057 1,661 745
Basket price of $/kg 21,100 17,928 19,979 17,072
PGMs and base
metals
Exchange Rates
Quarter Quarter Year Year
to 30 to 30 to to
Sept 05 Sept 04 30 30
Sept Sept
05 04
Average exchange Sterling GBP/$ 0.56 0.55 0.54 0.56
rate
SA Rand R/$ 6.51 6.49 6.28 6.60
Closing exchange Sterling GBP/$ 0.57 0.55 0.57 0.55
rates
SA Rand R/$ 6.36 6.48 6.36 6.48
Outlook
On 21 June 2005, we signed the New Era Labour Agreement with the three unions
representing our employees at our Marikana operations. This agreement is from 1
October 2005 and runs for a five year period. The terms of the agreement
initially limited increases in basic wages to CPIX, the South Africa inflation
measure for each of the five years. We have since agreed to revise the terms of
this agreement to allow for basic wage increases in the first two years only of
CPIX plus 2%. As we indicated at the time of the 3rd Quarter Production Report,
in year one there is also an equalisation element under the New Era Labour
Agreement to eliminate all the historical discrepancies in pay and conditions
which existed between our three mines which equates to a first year only cost of
2.9% above the basic wage increase.
Our Limpopo operation has also agreed a five year wage agreement. Under the
terms of this agreement basic wage increases will be linked to CPIX. Reflecting
the different cost positions between Limpopo and Marikana, Limpopo employees
will be entitled to benefit through a gain share scheme as they improve the unit
costs of the operation.
Lonmin"s Final Results will be announced on 16 November 2005.
Enquiries:
Alex Shorland-Ball +44 (0) 20 7201 6060
Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications
Date: 26/10/2005 08:03:25 AM Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
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