Resumen de Q3 production rises at Sierra Rutile
The UK AIM-listed titanium dioxide (TiO[subscript]2 ) feedstock miner, which operates in southwestern Sierra Leone, saw its production of rutile increase 13%, to 33,690 tonnes; ilmenite by 148%, to 10,229 tonnes; and zircon concentrate by 34%, to 446 tonnes.
John Sisay, Sierra Rutile's CEO, noted the role of maintenance programmes in the improved production rates, adding: "We reaffirm our full year rutile production guidance and expect production will be within the middle-to-upper range of the guidance [120,000-130,000 tonnes] given increased visibility on operational performance through to year-end." Sierra Rutile commented that "the pigment market, while still subdued, has showed signs of recovery with pigment volumes strengthening". But a report by ratings agency Moody's recently predicted that a market recovery ahead of 2017 was unlikely.
