South32 Cuts Fiscal Year Coal-Output Guidance; Says 1Q Manganese Output Strong -- Update

By Rhiannon Hoyle

South32 Ltd. said it will likely produce less metallurgical coal from an Australian mining operation than previously forecast this fiscal year, but that its manganese output is tracking ahead of production guidance after a strong first quarter.

The Perth, Australia-based miner on Monday revised down an output projection for its Illawarra Metallurgical Coal business by 5% to 7.0 million metric tons, citing an extended longwall move and the impact of a worker strike at its Appin mine.

The company, which reported weaker first-quarter output of most of its commodities year-on-year, said it produced 1.27 million tons of metallurgical coal in the three months through September, down 19% on a year ago.

South32 said first-quarter volumes of commodities including zinc, alumina and silver fell versus a year ago because of maintenance work and other planned disruptions.

"We had a strong start to the year in manganese, tracking ahead of our production guidance, as Gemco achieved higher primary production and our low-cost PC02 circuit continued to operate above design capacity," the company said.

It reported first-quarter manganese ore output of 1.46 million wet tons, down 3% on the year-earlier period.

South32 stuck to full-year production guidance for its operations with the exception of Illawarra Metallurgical Coal. It said it expects a 13% increase in copper-equivalent production in fiscal 2023.

The miner said it has finalized a new agreement with workers at the Appin operation since the end of its first quarter. It has also advanced productivity projects at its Cannington and Cerro Matoso mines that it expects to result in increased volumes in the second half of fiscal 2023, the company said.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2022 18:54 ET (22:54 GMT)

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