Mining Stocks Round-Up: Ferrexpo, Tharisa, Thor Explorations

Shares in Ferrexpo slumped 9% on Tuesday as it announced news of production disruptions following Russian missile strikes in Ukraine.

Ferrexpo — which is the world’s third-largest exporter of iron ore pellets — said that state-owned electricity infrastructure had been damaged on Monday. None of its employees had been injured as a result of the strikes.

Following the attacks the FTSE 250 business has temporarily suspended output. Available power is being allocated to critical equipment required for essential services and local communities, it said.

“Engineers are currently conducting an assessment of the damage incurred to electrical infrastructure, and an estimate of the period of production downtime as repairs are carried out,” Ferrexpo noted.

The company said that it currently has “a sufficient volume of its products, either currently in transit and or in stockpiles, to meet its expected sales volumes, subject to logistics corridors remaining available.”

Ferrexpo operates three mines, an iron ore pellet plant and logistics facilities in Ukraine.

Tharisa

Platinum group metals (PGM) specialist Tharisa rose 6% on Tuesday following a positive reaction to annual production numbers.

South Africa-based Tharisa said that PGM output during the 12 months to September clocked in at 179,200 ounces. This was up 13.6% year on year.

PGM output in the final quarter rose to 45,300 ounces from 42,100 ounces in the prior three-month period.

Chrome production, meanwhile, increased 5.1% year on year in the year to September. This came in at 5.1% at 1.583 million tonnes. Output in the fourth quarter rose to 416,200 tonnes from 389,700 in the third quarter.

The mining stock has targeted PGM production of between 175,000 and 185,000 ounces in the current financial year, it said. Chrome production is tipped at between 1.75 million and 1.85 million tonnes.

Tharisa’s annual PGM basket price fell 16.6% last year to $2,564 per ounce. While the business said that the fall was “driven by the economic slowdown,” it added that “prices have not retreated as much as anticipated.”

Metallurgical grade chrome prices rose to $209 a tonne, up 35.7% year on year.

In other news Tharisa said that its Karo Platinum project remained on schedule. Ground-breaking here is due to take place in December, with maiden production expected within the next 24 months.

Thor Explorations

Thor Explorations shares were trading 3% higher today following upbeat operating news here, too.

Thor — which owns gold projects in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso — said that yellow metal production hit 26,523 ounces during the three months to September. This beat guidance of 23,000 to 25,000 ounces.

The AIM-listed mining stock said it achieved another record quarter of production at its flagship Segilola asset in Nigeria.

Looking ahead, Thor Explorations has targeted production of between 25,000 and 27,000 ounces of gold. It affirmed its full-year production guidance of 90,000 to 100,000 ounces.

The gold miner added that “we aim to be at the upper end of our guidance for the year, with our all in sustaining costs remaining in line with the $850 to $950 per ounce guidance.”

The business aims to begin deeper exploration drilling at Segilola during the current quarter, it added. The programme is designed to extend the life of the asset.