Newmont?s Batu Hijau Q2 copper sales down on lower ore grade
Wednesday, August 7 2002 - 02:56 PM WIB
World?s largest gold producer Newmont Mining Corp. recorded 158.8 million pounds of copper sold at a cash cost of $0.31 per pound after gold by-product credits during the second quarter of 2002, lower than previous year?s corresponding quarter sales of 178.4 million pounds of copper at a cash cost of $0.34 per pound.
The company said the decrease in sales and production was due to lower ore grade milled during the quarter.
?Batu Hijau has again surpassed expectations with an average mining rate of approximately 708,000 tons per day (tpd) at a better than expected ore grade of 0.67 percent copper. This resulted in 158.8 million pounds of copper sold at an average copper price per pound of $0.75 in the recent quarter. Batu Hijau's operating efficiencies and a better than expected ore grade this year resulted in a record low cash cost of US$0.31 per pound of copper in the quarter,? said the company in a statement.
Newmont has 56.25 percent of equity investment in Batu Hijau. (alex)