North American Palladium (NAP) has announced its fourth quarter results for 2005, revealing a further drop in production.

The company's Lac des Iles mill produced 11,962 tonnes of ore per day, which was a drop of almost 2,500 tonnes per day on the previous quarter.

However, NAP explained that the main reason for the dip in mill throughput was due to problems reported with its primary crusher during December. Those problems have resulted in the company temporarily shutting the crusher this month to carry out repairs.

In some better news for the firm, NAP's fourth quarter results revealed a pick-up in palladium recovery of 7.8 per cent compared to the previous three months, thanks to ongoing flotation circuit improvements being carried out at the Lac des Iles mill.

At a recovery rate of 70.7 per cent, that figure put the mining firm back to the levels seen in the second quarter of 2005, although it remains around four per cent lower than in the second half of 2004.

While admitting that 2005 had been a tough year for the company, president and chief executive Jim Excell remained positive about the prospects for 2006, commenting: "While throughout 2005 the company faced the challenges of low mill availability, lower grade ore reflective of the pit life cycle, and in the latter part of the year the primary crusher problems, we remain confident that operations will return to historical levels."


Ÿ Adfero Ltd