Fall in Peru's Mine Production

Dec. 3 -- Official data released by Peru’s Ministry of Mines and Energy at the weekend showed that production of copper, silver, gold, lead, zinc and tin all decreased in October relative to the same month of 2009. Production of iron ore and molybdenum increased. October tin-in-concentrate production amounted to 2,417 tonnes, 25.2% lower than in the same month last year. Cumulative production in the first 10 months of this year has fallen by 7.7% to 28,979 tonnes.

All of Peru’s production comes from Minsur’s San Rafael mine, which reduced ore throughput by some 30% from late August as a temporary measure pending the results of a report on its tailings storage facilities. Since then all tailings have been used to back fill mined out areas. Meanwhile production at the company’s Funsur smelter has been maintained by running down pipeline stocks of ore. Funsur’s refined tin production in January-October, at 29,627 tonnes, is up 3.1% year-on-year.