Afarak Group PLC (LON:AFRK) said its first-quarter production was down year-on-year, largely as a result of reduced mining activity at the Mecklenburg and Stellite mines.
The chrome producer mined 76,405 tonnes in the first three months of 2020, compared to 133,217 tonnes in the same period of 2019.
Speciality alloys production rose to 27,168 tonnes from 24,439 tonnes the year before but ferroalloys production dived to 49,237 tonnes from 108,778 tonnes as the Mogale processing plan was not in full operation this time around after both furnaces (P2 and P3) were switched off during 2019.
The current coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has had only a limited effect on Afarak Group’s mining activity in South Africa since approval was given by the authorities that it can continue some mining activity in the Stellite mine under strict health guidelines, the group said in an update.