Australia-based company NQ Minerals posted significant increase in lead and zinc concentrates in Q3 (July-September) compared to previous year as well as quarter. The London-listed company, in their quarterly press release, said they are increasing total production to 1.5mn mt per annum.
The company is looking to expand production as Hellyer Mine in Tasmania continued to improve output and revenue performance.
Lead concentrates in September quarter was reported at 11,865mt, up by 78pc from the previous year and 35pc from the prior quarter. Zinc concentrates rose by 38pc in the same period to 4,585mt from the preceding year and by 8pc from the prior quarter.
| NQ Minerals Q3 Production | |||||
| Production (mt) | Q3 2020 | Q3 2019 | Change YoY | Q2 2020 | Change QoQ |
| Lead Concentrate | 11,865 | 6,655 | 78% | 8,762 | 35% |
| Zinc Concentrates | 4,585 | 3,311 | 38% | 4,241 | 8% |
The Hellyer operations continued to undergo processing circuit modifications during the September quarter and production rates have increased to 165mt per hour towards the end of September 2020. The company is currently in the process of finalising designs and operational procedures to increase production to 180mt/hour or the equivalent to 1,500,000mt per year.