Balaton Power Inc BPWRF

RE: c&p

[7034]

CATEGORY: NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS SECTOR: MINING Vedanta points to increased production Tue 12 Apr 2005 LONDON (SHARECAST) - London-listed Indian miner Vedanta has produced an upbeat trading statement for the second half, as aluminium production picked up. The group said existing operations went well, though aluminium did best with production up by 7% over the first half and 5% over the year. Copper cathode output grew by 10% over the same period last year but overall was down 4% versus the previous twelve months, while copper rod was slightly higher than last year, up 2%. Mined metal content zinc increased by 7% against last year but refined zinc declined by 4% from the previous year. "Vedanta is progressing well on its expansion programme to increase production of all metals," said the metal mining group. "Over $1bn of the anticipated $2.2bn has been spent to date." Prices for aluminium, zinc and copper have remained firm and the group said it has been aided by the recent reduction on metal price tariffs by the Indian government.