Metalnewsnet 27 Jan:

MMG, a unit of Chinese commodity trading company Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals, reported a sharp drop in annual total zinc output due to transport and production issues at the Century zinc mine in Australia.

The company recorded zinc production of 439,046 tonnes, down 41 per cent on the year.

The October 5 failure of a pipeline used to transport zinc concentrate slurry from the mine site to the port of Karumba led to concentrate production being interrupted until December 23.

For the fourth quarter, zinc production totaled only 55,906 tonnes, compared with 206,515 tonnes during the same period last year.

Copper production at Sepon was up 10 per cent at 18,124 tonnes for the quarter, and up 5 per cent at 67,561 tonnes for the year.

MMG, which was formed following Minmetals' purchase of some of OZ Minerals's assets, said it expects to produce 500,000-510,000 tonnes of zinc at Century this year.