Russia's Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) said on Tuesday its consolidated nickel production was at 49 460 t in the second quarter of 2018, broadly flat year-on-year. Nornickel, one of the world's largest nickel and palladium producers, also said its palladium production totalled 813 000 troy ounces, up 4% year-on-year. Platinum output rose 3.7% to 197 000 troy ounces, the company said.
The ramp up of diversified miner Glencore’s Katanga mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has delivered increased copper and cobalt for the first half of this year, in line with full-year guidance, which is 1.4-million tonnes of copper and 39 000 t of cobalt. Financial services company Credit Suisse commented that Glencore’s organic volume growth is driving earnings growth over the next year to two years, owing to a ramp-up in production at its copper operations in the DRC and its zinc operations in Australia.
