Norilsk Nickel has published its production results for the third quarter and nine months of 2024, and raised its metal output guidance for the current year.
In the reporting quarter, the company’s nickel production increased by 16% compared to the previous quarter to 56 thousand tons due to the completion of a major overhaul of the flash smelting furnace. For the nine months of 2024, its output remained stable at 146 thousand tons.
As for copper, in the third quarter, production remained mostly unchanged quarter on quarter, and amounted to 108 thousand tons. For the 9 months, copper production increased by 7% to 326 thousand tons due to the effect of the low base of last year, when the company conducted a modernization of equipment at its Copper Plant.
Norilsk Nickel's production of platinum group metals (PGM) decreased by 8% compared to the previous quarter to 676 thousand ounces of palladium and 165 thousand ounces of platinum. Over the first three quarters, PGM production remained stable at 2.156 million ounces of palladium and 521 thousand ounces of platinum.
Meanwhile, the company increased its metal production guidance for 2024 compared to the previous forecast published in January. Its production guidance for nickel increased from 184-194 thousand tons to 196-204 thousand tons; for copper - from 334-354 thousand tons to 337-357 thousand tons. Palladium production is expected to be at 2.624-2.728 million ounces versus 2.296-2.451 million ounces previously, and platinum at 639-664 thousand ounces versus 567-605 thousand ounces previously.
“In nine months of 2024, the output of key metals demonstrated positive dynamics: the company increased the output of copper and palladium as compared to the same period of last year, while the output the platinum and nickel remained largely unchanged. The positive dynamics was attributed to improvement in the operational efficiency and increase in mined ore volumes,” said Alexander Popov, senior vice-president and operational director of Nornickel.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
