Monday, 8th August 2005 (2708 views)

Stillwater is planning to increase productivity rate and reduce unit costs in coming years with the introduction of more selective mining methods.

The mining company, which is one of the world's leading producers of platinum group metals, was producing an average of 2,067 tonnes of ore per day over the last two quarters, which is a four per cent increase on the six months previous to that.

However it will now be turning its attention towards the improvement of the developed state of the mines, with more long-term targets in mind.

It is possible that a slight drop in profits that the company as a whole has experienced over the last quarter is a result of these new methods, which use up important resources and have no immediate effect on production.

An increase in capital spending for these strategies may well continue until the end of the year and even into 2006, with similar immediate effects.

But Stillwater believes that by prioritising these more selective mining methods, the future of the company will be left more secure.

At the East Boulder mine, for example, "achieving a sustainable increase in production rates is crucial to the longer-term economic viability of the operation," according to Stillwater chairman and chief executive officer, Francis R McAllister.


© Adfero Ltd

 

« Back to the stories

 

The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.