Australian miner Western Areas has reduced its annual nickel production guidance for the fiscal ending September 30, 2021, by 2,000mt to 17,000-19,000mt due to lower grade recovery.
The company mines nickel ore from its Flying Fox mine in Forrestania, Western Australia. In recent operations, the miner noticed decreased ore grade recovery due to seismic activity in the T6 zone. This has both raised costs and impacted nickel concentrate production.
Flying Fox has been operational for the past 15 years. Western Areas now plans to reassess its production capabilities across the remainder of its life, which may need to be recalculated as well.