New Century hit by wet weather

Zinc metal production from the Century mine, in Queensland, reached 30 433 t during the quarter under review, down from the 32 350 t produced in the December quarter, but up by 7% from the 28 291 t produced in the previous corresponding period.

New Century told shareholders on Thursday that production in the March quarter was affected by reduced operating hours, which resulted from persistent heavy wet season events.

Meanwhile, C1 costs for the quarter was down 6% on the December quarter, to $0.89/lb, primarily due to a drop in the annual benchmark treatment charge (TC), with further cost savings expected to be captured for the full 2021 financial year.

“Century operations continued to deliver solid operational performance in the March quarter despite the heavy wet season experienced across north-eastern Australia,” said MD Patrick Walta on Thursday.

“With the wet season now concluded, operational performance has progressively improved and April is on track to deliver a record monthly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) performance. Further operational performance improvements are anticipated through the implementation of the Jameson Cell circuit, which is now under commissioning and due for the imminent introduction of slurry feed into the circuit.”

The Jameson Cell circuit implementation is targeting a progressive increase in plant performance of up to 12-million tonnes a year throughput at a 50% to 54% zinc recovery range.

Meanwhile, Walta said that the company is also continuing to progress the development of its second and third mines at Silver King and East Fault Block, where recent drilling results at Silver King delivered initial assay results including 9.5 m at 48.6% lead equivalent including 425 g.t silver, underpinning the strong potential for near-term development.

Looking ahead a the full year, New Century has estimated production of between 127 000 t and 132 000 t of zinc metal, with C1 costs of between $0.87/lb and $0.92/lb.