ASX-listed market darling Metals X remains on track to produce 40,000 tonnes of copper at its Nifty copper mine this year despite last month’s shut down resulting in lower-than-expected copper production for the current quarter.

The mine, located near Telfer in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia, was shut down for a week in August as the company completed repairs in the underground mine.

As a result, production from the mine will be lower than forecast for the quarter, falling within the range of 3600 to 3900 tonnes of copper in concentrate.

Despite the news, the stock (ASX:MLX) was trading unchanged in morning trade at 85.5c with over 600,000 shares changing hands by 11:50am AEST.

Metals X managing director Warren Hallam assured shareholders the company remained on track to achieve its targeted 40,000 tonnes per annum of copper production by end of the financial year.

“While this delay has been unfortunate, we are confident that we remain on track to deliver on our 40,000tpa copper production rate,” he said.

When we acquired Nifty late last year, the mine had been planned for closure with development and drilling wound down several years earlier. Metals X’s objective has been to redevelop the mine as quickly as possible, with our target being the achievement of a production rate of 40,000tpa of copper by mid-2018.

“The limited number of mining areas, combined with the variability in mining conditions associated with the ‘checkerboard’, have continued to impact upon production ramp-up during the current quarter. As we develop into new extensions of the deposit and increase the number of available stoping areas, we will be less exposed to unforeseen variations in production.”

In the June quarter, Nifty’s copper production increased 17 per cent on previous quarter to 5939 tonnes of copper in concentrate at an all-in sustaining cost of $7893 per tonne.

Metals X bought Nifty off Indian mining major Aditya Birla Minerals last year.

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