We really need a new buyer to step up to take out who ever is selling. This will happen once the licence is transferred, got to be any day now. There is good interest out there.
A lot more people are searching for Zinc exposure.
Most of you have probably read this: 20/12/2013
SYDNEY (REUTERS) - China's MMG Ltd said a new zinc mine in Australia will miss its start up date because of technical issues, potentially triggering a global supply pinch.
MMG's Dugald River lode was supposed to start yielding zinc in late 2015 and partially replace lost output from the nearby Century mine, which MMG forecasts will run dry in mid-2015.
"If they are now saying it will be longer before Dugald River hits the market, it could make for a tight supply situation," a metals trader in Sydney said.
MMG on Thursday said aspects of the Dugald River mine appear more challenging than prior assumptions, with poor ground conditions making the initial mine plan difficult to meet. "MMG will not achieve the previously announced schedule of a first concentrate shipment in late 2015," it said, without giving an estimate for a start date.
London Metal Exchange zinc prices have tumbled as much as 19 percent this year but the outlook is turning, thanks in part to a growing appetite for the metal among China's steel producers. In the last three weeks, the price has gone up by as much as 7 percent.
MMG in July began a review of the proposed mining method after it discovered the geological makeup at Dugald River was more complex than first thought. The Century mine is a major supply source for Nyrstar's Budel smelter. It yielded 514,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate in 2012, second only to Alaska's Red Dog mine, owned by Teck Resources.
Even at full output, Dugald River would only replace less than half the output of Century, which some predict could lead to tighter global supplies and higher prices in the second half of the decade.
The global zinc market was in deficit by 2,000 tonnes in the first 10 months of 2013, according to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group.
Chinese net imports of refined zinc metal totaled 486,000 tonnes in the first 10 months, a rise of 20.3 percent compared to the same period of 2012, the group's data showed.
AUQ Price at posting:
7.2¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
