for what its worth this may explain the weak market response to the recent announcement:
Major mining projects face delays
Market sentiment partly turned bearish in expectation of new mine supply coming on stream in the third quarter but two major projects, Gamsberg in South Africa and New Century in Australia, are experiencing delays in producing to-specification concentrate.
Initial shipments of zinc concentrate from the Century Mine restart to offtake partners have been
delayed until December, due to overly high lead content, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Fastmarkets MB.
The first 20,000 tonnes of concentrate from Century have instead been sold directly to a Chinese smelter, operator New Century Zinc Resources said on October 1.
Fastmarkets MB understands the initial zinc concentrate produced by New Century have not met the specifications agreed for long-term offtake agreements between the company and partners Nyrstar, MRI, Mercuria, Transamine and Concord Resources.
“The lead is very high so they can’t allocate it into their normal contracts [with offtake partners],” one source with knowledge of the dealings said.
