Noranda zinc production rises in 3Q

Noranda Income Fund's zinc metal production increased by 10pc and sales grew by 8pc in the third quarter compared to a year earlier.

Noranda maintained its annual production and sales estimates at 255,000-265,000t of zinc metal after revising them lower by 15,000t after the second quarter.

Zinc metal production at its Salaberry-de-Valleyfield processing facility in Quebec was 66,032t, up from 60,214t the same quarter a year prior, because of stabilized production and improved equipment performance in the quarter.

Noranda chief executive officer Liana Centomo said the refiner continued to adjust their operations to process higher volumes of higher-impurity zinc concentrate.

Sales in the third quarter were 66,016t, up from 60,975t the same quarter a year prior. The realized zinc prices fell to $1.13/lb in the third quarter from $1.22/lb the year prior.

Sulfuric acid production fell to 105,238t in the third quarter, down by 6.6pc from the same quarter a year earlier. Sulfuric acid sales fell to 106,609t in the third quarter, down from 122,054t from the third quarter of 2018.

Prices for sulfuric acid sales increased, with netbacks averaging $62/t fob in the third quarter, up from $52/t in the third quarter of 2018.

Revenues fell by 21pc to $192mn compared with the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

The company posted a profit of $11.7mn in the third quarter, up from $2.2mn in the third quarter of 2018.