Sherritt Reports May Production for Ambatovy Joint Venture

Sherritt International Corp. (TSX:S) released May operational results for its Ambatovy joint venture, noting that finished nickel production came to 1,550 tonnes, or about 76 percent of nameplate capacity. Meanwhile, finished cobalt production was 103 tonnes.

As quoted in the press release:

May throughput and finished nickel production were impacted by the plant strike in April, an unexpected outage at the plant caused by a high voltage transformer failure, and consequent overload damage to the two ore thickeners. Unthickened ore is currently being processed directly through the PAL circuit, affecting ore throughput rates by around 15%. It is anticipated that one ore thickener will return to service in July and the other in Q3.

In May, the Ambatovy project lenders’ independent engineer verified and signed both the Production and Efficiency certificates required to satisfy financial completion. Sherritt has now received seven of the 10 certificates required under the terms of the Ambatovy financing, with the remaining three certificates expected to be delivered prior to September 30, 2015.

Ambatovy has implemented a program to reduce head count as part of a wider campaign aimed at mitigating the effects of continued low metal prices. Approximately 1,100 Ambatovy employees and contractors have had their employment contracts suspended or been demobilized, reducing overall project head count by approximately 12%.

Click here to read the full Sherritt International Corp. (TSX:S) press release.