Vanadium miner has weak first half but says production gains are already happening and bigger advances are coming in 2022.
Investors would be forgiven for thinking the metaphorical Bushveld Minerals (BMN) bus is parked in the same spot it was a year ago.
The mining company, which produces steel ingredient vanadium, is trading at the same price that it was at its last half-year results announcement, after a sharp rise earlier in the year, and has again posted losses in both cash profits and the bottom line.
These were exacerbated by a stronger South African rand (which knocked $7m,from its Ebitda) and mining challenges that brought down production and increased costs.
A 9 per cent sales increase was thanks to the higher vanadium price for the six months to 30 June, which climbed from $24 per kilogramme last year to $29/kg in the period.
Bushveld chief executive Fortune Mojapelo said recent months had seen improvements in production, and these would carry through the second half. A big investment in the Vanchem mine refurbishment will see output climb significantly next year, he added, with the company’s vanadium production capacity set to climb from around 3,500 tonnes (t) this year to over 5,000t on an annualised basis.
This will cost $18m, funded through a $30m ‘production financing agreement’ with industry lender Orion Mine Finance from last year, which agreed it could be shifted from its other mine.
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