Palabora Mining‚ the South African copper producer‚ said on Monday full year copper concentrate production fell 25% compared to 2011 due to the closure of production for 67 days in the third quarter of the year following a guide rope failure.
“The impact of the guide rope was partially mitigated by processing of tap-off and slag material‚” the company said in a statement on the JSE.
The production shaft was damaged when a guide rope broke on July 4 last year.
Normal copper production was restored in the fourth quarter across all copper production streams albeit with stoppages associated with the safety incidence in October‚ Palabora said. - I-Net Bridge