Integrated primary vanadium producer Bushveld Minerals produced 838 t of vanadium for the quarter ended June 30, taking production for the first half of this year to 1 693 t.
Production was lower than the 840 t and 1 784 t produced in the second quarter and first half of 2023, respectively.
"I'm pleased that we could continue to rationalise assets in this period, as well as progress on the turnaround work at Vametco, now our core asset. Despite a slight drop in production due to equipment failure owing to cash constraints at Vametco earlier in the year and a planned shutdown at Vanchem, we maintained steady overall production levels.
"I'm delighted to report that the team at Vametco is pushing through a turnaround plan, and in May achieved 217 t, the highest monthly production since I joined a year ago.
"These initial efforts, and a number of other initiatives identified at Vametco, will be executed in the second half of this financial year, putting us on track to achieve our overall target of 240 t monthly sustainable production at Vametco by the fourth quarter," comments Bushveld CEO Craig Coltman.
Sales were, however, significantly lower year-on-year. Bushveld sold 759 t of vanadium in the second quarter, compared with the 1 068 t sold in the second quarter of 2023, while sales of 1 639 t for the six months to June 30 was lower than the 2 096 t sold in the first half of 2023.
The sale of Bushveld's Vanchem operation is under way and awaiting Competition Commission approval, which is expected by the end of October. 