[ferro-alloys.com]Peruvian tin miner Minsur saw tin production plummet 36% in the second quarter due to a nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Tin output totaled 4,021 mt in the quarter compared with 6,283 mt a year earlier, Lima-based Minsur said in a statement Aug.19.

The company reopened its San Rafael mine and Funsur smelter in Peru in mid-May after a three-month quarantine, while its Pitinga mine in Brazil restarted operations June 4 following plant maintenance.

Gold production at the Pucamarca mine in Peru fell 29% to 19,354 oz from 27,087 oz a year ago, the company said. Niobium/tantalum output dropped 16% to 571 mt.

Minsur, which restarted its $171 million, 50,000 t/y B2 tin tailings project in Peru on June 17, produced 9,543 mt of tin (-17%) in the first half, in addition to 38,458 oz of gold (-2.5%) and 1,541 mt of niobium/tantalum (-8%).

Average tin prices fell 20% to $15,760/mt in the quarter from a year earlier, while gold prices jumped 31% to $1,714/oz. Tin sales were down 54% to 3,180 mt, while gold sales fell 13% to 23,314 oz and niobium/tantalum sales dropped 29% to 718 mt.

The company boosted capex spending by 23% to $228.4 million in the quarter, mostly allocated to the $1.6 billion Mina Justa copper project and a tailings pad at the San Rafael mine in Peru.

Mina Justa, which is 84.6%-completed, saw construction resume June 17 and remains on track for a 1Q 2021 start-up, the company said. Work on pre-stripping (67.3%-completed), the oxide plant (80.1%), sulphide plant (81.6%), port (85.7%) and commissioning (13.9%) remains on schedule, according to Minsur.

Minsur posted a $3.5 million second-quarter loss compared with a $13.6 million profit a year ago as sales slumped 45% to $104.6 million. Cash costs fell 13% to $7,586/mt of tin at San Rafael and were down 23% to $9,601/mt at Pitinga mine, while gold costs were up 5% to $425/oz at Pucamarca, according to Minsur.

(S&P Global Platts)

• [Editor:王可]