Australian miner South32’s aluminum and lead production was flat in Q1 FY 2021 ended September 30, 2020, while its nickel and zinc production declined in the same period.
In its quarterly production report, the miner said that alumina and aluminum production tallied at 1.3mn mt and 248,000mt, respectively during the first quarter of the Australian fiscal. Both figures are identical to the prior-year period. Lead volumes in Q1 FY 2021 also trended flat at 26,400mt.
However, nickel and zinc output declined by 6pc and 33pc to 10,000mt and 12,400mt, respectively, in Q1 FY 2021, compared with the same quarter last year. The company’s metallurgical coal production rose by 13pc to 1.86mn mt over the prior-year period the company indicated.
| (in mt) | Q1 2021 | Q1 2020 | change | Q4 2020 | change |
| Aluminum | 2,48,000 | 2,48,000 | – | 2,45,000 | 1pc |
| Nickel | 10,000 | 10,600 | -6pc | 9,700 | 3pc |
| Lead | 26,400 | 26,500 | – | 30,100 | -12pc |
| Zinc | 12,400 | 18,400 | -33pc | 16,900 | -27pc |
| Met. Coal | 18,63,000 | 16,51,000 | 13pc | 15,23,000 | 22pc |
South32 has also set a June 2021 date for the pre-feasibility study of the Taylor deposit at its Hermosa mine, which has been preliminarily determined to hold about 155mn mt of mineral reserves, grading at 3.39pc Zn and 3.67pc Pb.