Platinum group metals producer Stillwater Mining has said that the weather and other mechanical issues that caused the cancellation of some shifts have now been resolved and operations have returned to normal at its two operating mines in Montana.

Last Wednesday (May 25th), the company warned that day shift operations at its Stillwater and East Boulder mines had been cancelled that day due to heavy flooding.

In addition, the East Boulder Mine was in the process of changing out one of its two main ventilation fans due to a motor failure.

Stillwater, which is the only US producer of platinum and palladium, said second-quarter production will not be seriously affected by the problems.

Despite losing an estimated 500 or 600 oz at the Stillwater Mine, second-quarter production was running "well ahead of plan" before the stoppage.

However, the company said the ventilation fan issues at the East Boulder Mine "proved more complicated and time-consuming to correct than initially expected".

"As a result, mine production ran at less than full capacity for most of the past week," Stillwater said in a statement.

High ore stockpiles, however, meant that the East Boulder concentrator could continue running as normal, which will see May production "likely to be close to plan".

Sources:

Stillwater Mining Operations Back to Normal (31/05/11)

Stillwater Mining Company Suspends Day Shift Operations Due to Flooding (25/05/11) 

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