Stillwater Mining Company announced yesterday (28th July) that its pgm output declined by 18.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2010.

The Montana-based firm revealed that it produced 112,600 oz of platinum and palladium, compared to a figure of 137,700 oz for the same period 12 months earlier.

Of the production total, the flagship Stillwater mine accounted for 79,200 oz - compared to 103,000 oz in Q2 2009 - and the East Boulder mine took a share of 33,400 oz.

The company attributed the decline at Stillwater to a combination of lower grades, diversion of production resources into maintenance work and safety issues relating to its off-shaft area.

Chairman and Chief Executive Francis McAllister revealed that the full-year production guidance for 2010 has now been reduced from 515,000 oz to 495,000 oz.

"We had commented in our first-quarter analysis that the company's production outlook for the second quarter was likely to fall short of performance in the first quarter, but left our full-year guidance unchanged at that time," he said.

"However, the production challenges we encountered during the second quarter were more severe than anticipated and after reviewing their likely effect on the second and third quarters, we have concluded to adjust our full-year guidance downward."

Mr McAllister added that the problems are "transitional" and also revealed that he expects output for next year to be roughly the same as the original guidance for 2010.

Stillwater Mining Company is currently the only pgm producer based in the US.

Sources:



Stillwater Mining Reports Increased Earnings for Second Quarter (28/07/10)



DJ Stillwater Cuts 2010 Full Year Production Guidance By 4.9% (28/07/10)

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