North American Palladium confirmed yesterday (7th May) that there was no palladium production at its Lac des Iles mine during the first three months of 2009.

The company, which has historically produced about four per cent of the world's palladium supply, placed the mine on care and maintenance in October 2008 due to low pgm prices.

However, it has revealed that operations can be quickly restarted at a facility which has the ability to produce 270,000 oz of palladium, 20,000 oz of platinum and 20,000 oz of gold per year.

In addition, the firm believes that the mine's in situ measured and indicated mineral resources of 3.7 million ounces of palladium, 300,000 oz of platinum and 250,000 oz of gold gives investors "significant leverage to an increase in commodity prices".

"The medium to longer-term outlook for the pricing of palladium and platinum appears to be quite positive based on credible third-party forecasts predicting renewed growth in global automotive sales, particularly in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries," it noted.

The financial statement for the first quarter of 2009 also revealed that the company intends to focus on completing a pre-feasibility study on the Offset Zone at Lac des Iles at a depth of up to 1,200m.

Source:

North American Palladium Announces First Quarter 2009 Results (07/05/09)

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