Norilsk Nickel boosts nickel output 2.9%, copper 4% in Q2
MOSCOW. July 30 (Interfax) - MMC Norilsk Nickel increased nickel production 2.9% to 71,000 tonnes in the second quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter, the company said in a statement.
Copper production rose 4.1% to 100,000 tonnes in the quarter. In addition, the company produced 765,000 ounces of palladium and 174,000 ounces of platinum in the period.
Nickel production fell 1.8% to 140,751 tonnes in the first half of 2009 from 143,400 tonnes in January-June 2008.
Copper output declined to 195,507 tonnes in the half from 208,046 tonnes a year earlier. Palladium production edged down to 1.354 million ounces from 1.438 million ounces and platinum output fell to 315,000 ounces from 338,000 ounces.
The first half results include production at the company's Polar and Kola divisions in Russia as well as international operations in Finland, Australia, Botswana and South Africa, but not the results of Stillwater Mining.
The Polar and Kola divisions produced 56,500 tonnes of nickel in the second quarter, exceeding the production plan by 1,100 tonnes. These divisions produced 111,700 tonnes of nickel in the first half of 2009, up 1% from the same period of 2008.
Norilsk Nickel's Russian divisions produced 94,400 tonnes of copper in the quarter, or 3,100 tonnes more than the plan. They produced 185,100 tonnes of copper in the first half versus 197,100 tonnes in January-June 2008.
The Kola and Polar divisions produced 725,700 ounces of palladium and 168,200 ounces of platinum in the second quarter. In the first half, they produced 1.282 million ounces of palladium and 300,000 ounces of platinum.
Tati Nickel and Nkomati produced 5,700 tonnes of nickel in concentrate in the second quarter of 2009 and 11,200 tonnes in the first half. Norilsk Nickel's Australian enterprises did not produce anything in the second quarter of 2009.
The Harjavalta nickel refinery in Finland produced 14,000 tonnes of nickel in the second quarter, including 9,200 tonnes of saleable nickel and 4,700 tonnes of tolled nickel. Harjavalta produced 27,000 tonnes of nickel in the first half of 2009, including 16,600 tonnes of proprietary nickel.