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Panzhihua Earthquake Impact on Production at Local Smelters and Mines

iconDec 7, 2009 13:16
Source:SMM

SHANGHAI, Sept.5 (CBI China) -- On August 30th, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit Panzhihua city, located in the southern part of Sichuan province, followed by several aftershocks. CBI made a survey of smelters and mines in the local and neighboring areas immediately after the quake, and up to now, only Yunnan Copper Group's Liangshan Mining Company was seriously affected, with other local lead, zinc, aluminum, and NPI smelters were unaffected by the quake.

    Yunnan Copper Group's Liangshan Mining Company, located in Huili county, close to Panzhihua city has an annual capacity of 30,000 mt (metal content) of copper concentrate, as well as a small amount of gold, silver, cobalt and molybdenum capacity. The company's major mine is the Lala Copper Mine, with copper reserves in excess of 800 kt and with copper grade in the 0.84-1.1% range. The quake damaged parts of power eneration facilities, an ore separation facility, and a collapsed portion of an open pit slope. At the present, experts are evaluating company losses from the earthquake, and any specific restart-up time was unknown.

    An official of Panzhihua I/S told CBI that its galvanized production line, with a capacity of 360kt/yr, was unaffected by the earthquake, and production was stable. The earthquake was also felt in Huidong and Huili county, the neighboring areas of Panzhihua city. Fortunately, local mines engaged in lead and zinc concentrate, and other zinc smelters were not affected by the quake, and were operating normally.

    Xiangyun Feilong Industry Company and Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Company's lead and zinc units were not affected by the quake, with normal production, located in Dali and Qujing cities of Yunnan province, running normally. Xiangyun Feilong has a zinc capacity of 180kt/yr and lead capacity of 80kt/yr, while Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium has a zinc capacity of 160kt/yr and lead capacity of 100kt/yr.

    The impact of the earthquake on zinc and lead smelters, and other downstream producers caught market players' attention in view of weak zinc and lead prices, but the actual impact on them was limited. Zinc spot prices continued to fluctuate in a narrow range between RMB 14,150-14,350/mt during the past week.

Aluminum Al
copper Cu
lead Pb
Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Company
Yunnan Copper

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