Hi Dilmac/Roscoe PSorry about the delay in reply.January...

Hi Dilmac/Roscoe P

Sorry about the delay in reply.

January production at Lumwana was reasonable given the very wet conditions.I haven't seen the finalised Jan figures, but we came in either right on or just below budget ( no more than 2-3% low) , in term of lbs of copper produced.

As mentioned last post, mining in the wet season is not much fun, more akin to one long siege. But the good news is the rain begins to tail off next month (march), so operating conditions should rapidly improve.

Limited trials on the process plant throughput have shown the plant appears to be capable of significantly higher TPH than nameplate . At least 10% higher would be my guess. We have run at even 20% higher for short bursts, but I could not yet confirm that as sustainable yet.Nameplate here is 20MTPA.

The mine is struggling to keep up with the process plant in terms of ore supply at present, as the pit resembles a large wet mudhole :-)

January Crusher and Mill throughput higher than budget ( much) , grade lower ( significantly) , recovery lower ( significantly) , availability on target.

Despite the silliness with Glencore, no problems selling concentrate to several different smelters. Con grade at approx 40% copper means it is a premium product and sought after..

The Uranium in concentrate minor issue is being easily managed by blending of stockpiles, and doesn't appear to be an issue with other buyers except Glencore, which has its own agenda.

We had a large group of mining broker analysts through the mine last week. Their reports will presumeably come out soon, and if favourable, may effect the share price ( hopefully positively).

No info re cost of production I'm afraid. The general feeling on site is that cash is very tight, and expenditure is to be kept to the absolute minimum.

Ditto the companys financial position.No real info, but obviously the debt burden of the construction must be at its worst now.

Overall , things production wise not too bad , I give it a 7/10, but boy will we be happy to see clear skys :-)), and better copper prices.


FatMan