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- Lithium producer Altura Mining (AJM) has reported a shortfall in meeting its shipping and production guidance for the March quarter
- Altura owns and operates the Pilgangoora Lithium Project in WA’s Pilbara region, where it mines and processes high-quality spodumene concentrate
- The company has reported a sales shortfall of at least 15 per cent for the March quarter
- Production is also around 10-15 per cent lower than expected
- Altura cites tropical cyclones in WA’s northwest as the main reason for the shortfalls
- The company says despite the COVID-19 pandemic, its mining and processing operations remain open and fully functional for the time being
- Altura Mining is down 5.7 per cent to a price of 3.3 cents a share
Lithium producer Altura Mining (AJM) has reported a shortfall in meeting its shipping and production guidance for the March quarter.
Altura owns and operates the world class Pilgangoora Lithium Project in WA’s Pilbara region, which has a production capacity of 220,000 tons per annum of high-quality spodumene concentrate.
The company has revised its quarterly projected sales down from 40,000-50,000 dry metric tons (dmt) to around 34,000-35,000 dmt – but only if it completes a shipment planned for the end of the month. This represents a 15-30 per cent fall in sales compared to the projections in the quarterly report. If the shipment is deferred to the June quarter, those figures will be even worse.
Production is also down, but has suffered less impact than sales. The company expects its March quarter production to be 40,000-43,000 wet metric tons (wmt), which is only marginally lower than the previous guidance of 45,000-50,000 wmt.
The company has attributed the fall to “adverse impacts associated with tropical cyclones during the period.”
Having just come off record production and sales in the December quarter, it’s a disappointing result for Altura – one of the world’s lowest cost producers of high-grade lithium concentrate.
The company says despite the COVID-19 pandemic, its mining and processing operations remain open and fully functional.
Measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of Altura’s mining and processing staff as per Australian government guidelines and regulations. Access to the mine site and processing plant have been restricted and new procedures have been put in place to mitigate workplace infection risks.
At this stage the company will continue to operate the Pilgangoora facilities at full capacity, pending any further government measures.
Altura Mining is down 5.7 per cent to a price of 3.3 cents a share as at 1:35 pm AEDT.
