LONDON (SHARECAST) - Shares in Talvivaara Mining fell sharply after the Finnish miner said sales in the second quarter were held back by a maintenance stoppage and a decrease in the nickel price.
Sales totalled €37.6m, up from €35.2m in the same quarter the previous year. The company posted an operating loss of €1.2m, against a gain of €2.5m the previous year.
“Our second quarter operations were focused on improving production reliability through an extensive upgrading and maintenance programme at the metals recovery plant,” chief executive Pekka Pera said.
“Whilst this work necessitated holding back our ramp-up plans, I am pleased to report that the upgrade has been completed and that both production lines are now back in operation.”
He added that market conditions have become challenging again with nickel prices falling back to the 2011 lows seen earlier in the summer.
At 09.20am, shares in Talvivaara were down by 6% at 337p.
