Canadian miner Sheritt International announced its 2023 1Q production report and 2023 production guidance on May 10.
Sherritt's refined nickel (nickel bean) production in the first quarter of 2023 was 6,966 tonnes, down 10.12% year-on-year and 15.30% quarter-on-quarter, due to the impact of lower ore supply and unexpected maintenance of the leaching line.
Sherritt's guidance for 2023 is 30,000-32,000 tonnes.
Sherritt specializes in laterite nickel and cobalt mining and hydrometallurgical refining. Nickel recoveries, which measure the amount of finished nickel produced compared to the original nickel content of mined ore, fell 1% to 88% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the previous quarter.
Sherritt's nickel sales volumes in the first quarter of 2023 were at an average nickel reference price of $11.77 for the year ended December 31, 2022, down 2% sequentially due to nickel trading halts and disruptions at the London Metal Exchange. Nickel unit production cost was $16.47, up 11% month-on-month.
Highlights:
On March 31, 2023, Sherritt submitted an updated National Instrument 43-101 Technical report for the Moa Joint Venture. Current reserve estimates could support a mining life of 26 years.
Proven and potential nickel reserves rose by 110% to 1, 182, 000 tonnes. Mine life has been extended to 2048, an increase of 14 years, with an estimated total nickel metal recovery of 724,000 tonnes.
Sherritt received an $800,000 grant from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to evaluate the possibility of the Fort Saskatchewan refinery using mixed hydroxide precipitates (MHP) as an additional feedstock to produce high purity nickel and cobalt metals.
Over the next 10 years, Moa is expected to produce an annual average of 30,000 tonnes of nickel and 33,000 tonnes of cobalt for finished metals (excluding the impact of Moa joint venture expansion plans and refining of third-party feedstock).
