On January 8th, local time, Nickel 28 Capital Corp announced its production for 2023 and the production guidance for 2024 for its Ramu nickel-cobalt operation in Papua New Guinea. Nickel 28 currently holds an 8.56% joint venture interest in Ramu, which is operated by the China Metallurgical Group Corporation.
As of December 31, 2023, for the calendar year, Ramu produced 33,604 tons of nickel and 3,072 tons of cobalt contained in mixed hydroxide precipitate (“MHP”), marking the seventh consecutive year of exceeding Ramu’s design capacity.
For 2024, China Metallurgical Group plans a $33 million capital upgrade at Ramu, with a 30-day plant shutdown scheduled for September. Consequently, MHP production is expected to be approximately 30,000 tons of nickel and 2,700 tons of cobalt for the year. The capital upgrades will focus primarily on improving equipment performance and stability, as well as phasing out obsolete equipment. These upgrades are expected to positively impact production levels.
The production figures for 2023 will undergo final year-end adjustments, expected to be negligible, and consistent with the previously reported guidance of 33,000 tons of nickel.
Anthony Milewski, CEO of Nickel 28, commented, “Considering Ramu experienced multiple earthquake events in the second half of 2023, and lost over seven days of production time to ascertain the potential damage from these earthquakes, it is an impressive achievement.
In 2024, Ramu will undergo significant capital upgrades to enhance long-term production and reliability levels after 11 years of operation.
[Source- 上海有色网] Nickel 28:2023年Ramu生产33604吨镍 https://news.smm.cn/news/102577649