SMM7 March 22: diversified mining company South32 has temporarily overhauled the manganese alloy smelter (Metalloys), which is located in the Meyerton region of Gauteng, South Africa.

On Monday, South 32 said in its second-quarter results that it made the decision after considering the future economic viability of the smelter. It is reported that the company's saleable manganese alloy production decreased by 16000 tons to 53000 tons in fiscal year 2020.

South32, led by CEO Graham Kerr, reviewed its Australian manganese alloy smelter Temco, which expects to record related pre-tax, non-cash impairment charges of $109 million in its fiscal year 2020 results. The one-time pre-tax restructuring cost, including layoffs, is expected to be $7 million.

South Africa's saleable manganese ore production fell 14 per cent to 1.878 million wet metric tons in fiscal year 2020, mainly due to a weak market in the second half of 2019. This has reduced the use of high-cost trucks and extended the maintenance period of the Wessels mine in the Northern Cape.

After temporarily entering the maintenance period in the second quarter, the current Mamatwan open-pit mine and Wessels underground mine have returned to full capacity operation.

Affected by the epidemic, manganese ore sales in South Africa fell by 34% in the second quarter.

[mine Annual report] Nickel production and sales of South32:2020 fell 1% in fiscal year compared with the same period last year.

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