Eramet partially restarts mineral sands production in Senegal
Three months after the fire at the Wet Concentration Plant (WCP) of the Eramet Grande Côte (EGC) site, Eramet has announced its decision to initiate a gradual and partial restart of Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) production at the end of April, at approximately 30% of nominal capacity.
The temporary solutions implemented now allow the WCP to be fed via the SDM (Supplementary Dry Mining Unit), in order to gradually rebuild the HMC volumes required for the intermittent commissioning of the heavy mineral separation plant, expected this summer.
The phased resumption of finished product output, following the replenishment of HMC stocks, is also expected to lead to the restart of commercial shipments. This gradual and partial recovery of site activities in 2026, alongside measures taken immediately after the fire, will partially mitigate the negative impact of the incident on operating income.
The mining and metallurgical group has also commenced work to rebuild the damaged WCP facilities to their original specifications. These efforts should allow for a restart and a progressive ramp-up to 100% production capacity by the first quarter of 2027.
Following the suspension of its mineral sands production targets, the group has established new guidance, now expected to be between 300 and 400 kt-HMC in 2026. Force majeure declarations applicable to customer and supplier contracts remain in effect to date.
Credit: Source link