Finders reports slightly lower copper cathode production

By Romel S. Gurky

Courtesy of Finder

ASX-listed Finders Resources Ltd said copper cathode produced for the first quarter ending March 2017 was slightly lower at 6,125 tons than in the previous quarter, while sales volume was much higher at 7,153 tons with an average price of US$2.60/lb Cu.

In comparison, production in the fourth quarter of last year was 6,166 tons, with sales of 4,888 tons.

Finders said in a statement Thursday that during the quarter, over 70 percent of the copper shipped was sold as LME Grade A Cathode at a premium to the LME copper price. The balance was sold as Standard Grade Copper at or around the LME copper price.

The C1 cash cost for the quarter was $1.03 per pound of copper produced which is below the forecast life of mine cost estimate of $1.05 per pound of copper. Project EBITDA for the quarter was $21.9 million.

Finders operates two copper cathode solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) plants on Wetar Island, Muluku Province, Indonesia, each with capacity of 3,000 tons per annum, and 25,000 tpa.

Copper cathode as finished product (produced but not sold or realized during the quarter) was 2,253 tons. This copper cathode is either at site awaiting shipment, in transit to Surabaya, the capital of East Java Province, (the major export port) or on its way to customers. This copper is worth US$13.1 million based on the LME copper price at March 31, 2017.

Managing Director Barry Cahill commented: ?This outstanding quarterly result of $21.9 million in EBITDA, achieved during the wet season, is a real credit to the Wetar Project team. We now look forward to building on our copper production from this base and further reducing our debt position while executing on the next phase of project development at Lerokis.?

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak