African Minerals cuts Tonkolili forecast on heavy rainfall,Technology

 African Minerals Ltd cut its production forecast for its flagship Tonkolili iron ore mine in Sierra Leone to between 5 and 6 million tonnes for this year, citing a severe wet season.

The company, which expected to produce 20 million tonnes of ore at the mine by this year, now expects to reach that target by the second quarter of next year.

African Minerals said the current wet season in Sierra Leone was particularly severe and affected handling of materials and project execution.

"I expect us to commence a steady production build-up in the coming weeks and I am confident that we will achieve our targeted 20 million tonnes per annum sustainable run rate in the first half of next year," said Chief Executive Keith Calder, who was appointed at the miner's helm last month.

African Minerals shares, which have lost about a third of their value since the beginning of this year, closed at 299.75 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.