Tin miner Minsur has published its Q3 2015 individual results, which show that tin production from the San Rafael mine in Peru fell 15% to 4,852 tonnes during the quarter compared to the same period of the previous year, mostly due to anticipated lower head grades.
The volume of ore treated at the San Rafael mine was broadly equivalent to the same period of last year, falling 0.2% to 264,004 tonnes in Q3. However, head grades fell as planned from 2.39 % Sn to 2.02 % Sn between the same two periods. Refined tin production in the quarter from the company’s Pisco smelter fell 24% year on year to 4,130 tonnes due to the lower production from San Rafael, a scheduled maintenance halt at Pisco in September and the absence of the stock optimisation programme active in Q3 2014.
Minsur reported a US$ 25.2 M loss during the quarter largely due to US$ 20 M of exchange rate losses from its Brazilian subsidiary, Taboca, as well as a US$ 5.6 M investment in the Marcobre Copper Project. However, Peruvian tin operations remain profitable; the cash cost per tonne of ore treated at San Rafael fell 18% to US$ 119 per tonne and overall costs fell 1% to 8,512 US$/tonne of refined tin compared to Q3 2014. These reductions were a result of cost saving measures and contractor renegotiations which lead to reduced outlay on materials, fuel and explosives.
