Alara forced to push back copper concentrate production

ASX-listed and Middle Eastern-based Alara Resources (ASX:AUQ) has today confirmed that issues on-site mean the company’s production of copper concentrate is now pushed out.

Alara had been targeting the sale of first copper this month from Al Wash-hi Majazza but infrastructure pains have caused the company to admit to shareholders patience will be needed.

The main culprit?: a tailings filter press “while operational has not performed to its design capacity.”

The news is probably enough to have C-Suiters tearing their hair out, given the currently booming copper prices (if you want to use “booming” a little bit liberally.)

Copper prices are up +15% MoM.

Engineers are currently working on the problem and the company is ready to revise its production forecast guidance; however, no word of that was delivered on Tuesday.

The good news is all other parts of the plant are sound.

“The copper concentrator plant was successfully commissioned, with low-grade ore initially being fed into the plant to produce a low-grade copper concentrate, with the intention of increasing the grade of the ore feed over the initial weeks of operation,” the company wrote on Monday.

AUQ last traded at 6.8cps.