NorZinc Ltd NORZF

Canada's zinc refinery woes! Higher Zn prices on the horizon

[phoenix_trader]

Noranda Income Fund (Canadian Electrolytic Zinc Ltd., Noranda Income Fund's manager) PR today.

Production and sales outlook revision

The fund has revised its annual production and sales target to between 225,000 and 240,000 tonnes of zinc, from its previously disclosed April 8, 2022, target of between 255,000 and 265,000 tonnes. The downward revision in annual production and sales guidance reflects continuing labour challenges resulting in lower staffing levels and operator experience as well as higher employee turnover. It also reflects a further deterioration in cell-house operating conditions and equipment performance in the second quarter of 2022 resulting in lower production and sales. This included a planned cell-house shutdown in June that took much longer than anticipated and which subsequently negatively impacted operational efficiency for part of the month. Corrective actions implemented in the first quarter of 2022 have not yet fully materialized. With respect to the degradation in cell-house operations and equipment fragility, management is carefully evaluating the potential capital investments required to address these underlying issues.

The fund's ability to achieve the low end of its revised guidance range is dependent on maintaining current production cadence through to the end of the year. The fund's ability to achieve the higher end of its revised guidance range is dependent on the processing facility successfully mitigating its labour challenges and improving operational efficiency before the end of the year. The fund's ability to achieve its revised guidance range is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, which include but are not limited to, continued labour availability constraints, higher employee turnover, a further deterioration in cellhouse operations and equipment failures, unplanned maintenance events, and increased absenteeism due to a potential new wave of COVID-19, among other factors.