Jo-Mare Duddy
15 July 2011
HEAVY rainfall during the first three months of the year hampered Namibia’s production of gold, zinc and uranium.
Only diamonds escaped the production slump of the first quarter, the latest report of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) showed.
Compared to the last quarter of 2010, gold mined dropped by 36,9 per cent, zinc by 14,4 per cent and uranium by 33,2 per cent.
Diamonds retrieved, however, skyrocketed by 54,9 per cent, central bank data showed.
On a quarterly basis, gold bullion produced fell to 540 kg. Year-on-year production followed the same trend with production down three per cent.
“Operational challenges due to heavy rainfall experienced during the first quarter of 2011 were mainly responsible for both the quarterly and annual declines recorded in gold bullion production,” the BoN said.
Compared to the last three months of 2010, zinc concentrate delivered dropped to 20 945 tonnes. The same holds for year-on-year production, with production down by 16,5 per cent.
The BoN said South Africa is currently the main user of Namibia’s zinc concentrate and wet offloading areas at the destination slowed delivery and consequently production.
“However, the conditions have improved with rainfall subsiding and zinc production will gain momentum, going forward,” the bank said.
On a quarterly basis, uranium production decreased by 33,2 per cent to 989 tonnes. Compared to the same time last year, it fell by 29,4 per cent.
Once again, uranium operations suffered because of the rain. However, the nuclear disaster in Japan didn’t as “as demand for clean energy remains”, the BoN said.
On the bright side, diamond production during the period under review jumped by 54,9 per cent to 393 504 carats compared to the preceding quarter. So did production on a yearly basis, with figures rising by 32,4 per cent.
“The growth observed both on a quarterly and annual basis was driven by high global demand for diamonds,” the BoN said.
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Original post:
Mining Suffers in First Quarter, Diamonds the Only Sparkle