Nickel producer Minara Resources (MRE) rose by as much as 6.95% this morning after it announced that it is expecting "consistent" production runs this year after completion of a $100 million maintenance program work at its Murrin Murrin plant.
The Western Australian plant was shut for seven weeks from early October, cutting output in the three months ended Dec. 31 by 12% to 6,020 metric tons, compared with output of 8,262 tons in the same period in 2006.
"As a result of the investment Minara has made in the plant over the last few years … all major legacy issues have been resolved and we are confident that we will achieve a consistent production profile through 2008," Minara managing director Peter Johnston said in a statement.
On October 5, Minara cut its full-year production forecast by as much as 15 % because of the maintenance work at Murrin Murrin, which has been hampered by design problems since construction.
Full year output from the operation came in at 27,585 tonnes of nickel, marginally lower than the last production guidance of 28,000 to 30,000 tonnes set in October.
Minara originally forecast output of between 32,000 to 35,000 tonnes of nickel for 2007, but was forced to downgrade the production outlook on two occasions.
In 2006, Murrin Murrin produced 31,524 tonnes of nickel.
The project is a JV agreement between Minara, which owns 60%, and Glencore International which holds the remainder.
By 12:00PM AEST, Minara had gained 36 cents or 6.26% to $6.11.
