Ivanhoe’s Kipushi zinc mine in the DRC officially reopens
The restart marked exactly a century since the mine first went into production.
Gold production was down four percent but operating profit increased 33% at Harmony. The company announced second quarter results on Monday for the period ending Dec. 31, 2010.
Operating profit increased 33% to R867 million ($119.8 million) compared with R652 million in the September 2010 quarter.
According to Bloomberg, Harmony is Africa’s third-largest gold metal producer. The company is based in Johannesburg.
Work stoppages at Bambanani and Kusasalethu caused gold production to decrease overall by 4%. The company believes that this trend is set to recover.
“We faced operational challenges during the quarter, such as the unplanned production stoppage at Kusasalethu, but the necessary measures to rectify this have been implemented and I am confident the operation will meet its targets next quarter,” said chief executive officer Graham Briggs
Production at Doornkop, Phakisa and Hidden Valley improved by 19%, 34% and 23% respectively.
“The star of the show has been our Papua New Guinean operations,” said Briggs.
Hidden Valley gold production increased by 23% to 53,169 oz. Silver production increased by 44% to 382,655 oz.
Graphic courtesy of Harmony
Michael McCrae wrote this story. You can contact him at [email protected].
