Reuters reported that output from the world's second largest zinc mine, Century in Australia dropped by 11% to 122,015 tonnes of contained metal in the September quarter versus the same period a year ago.

Owner Minmetals said that the mine which is expected to roughly maintain production levels until it runs out of ore in about 4 years recorded 9 month output of 363,276 tonnes of contained metal down 3% YoY.

Contained lead from the mine, which is produced along with zinc, rose 12% in the September quarter to 8,288 tonnes and 20% to 21,939 tonnes over the 9 months versus the comparable year ago periods.

The Century mine, developed in the 1990s is running out of reserves. Development of a second nearby mine by Minmetals called Dugald River is on track for first production in 2014. At its peak, Minmetals estimates Dugald River will produce concentrates containing about of 200,000 tonnes of zinc a year.

In 2010, Century yielded just over 500,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate making it the second largest zinc mine behind Teck Resources' Red Dog mine in Alaska. Closing of the Century mine is seen helping erode a chronic oversupply of the metal in world markets that was weighing on traded prices.

According to Lisbon based International Lead and Zinc Study Group, the global zinc market was in surplus by 263,000 tonnes in the first eight months of the year. London Metal Exchange traded zinc sells for around USD 1,870 per tonne down nearly 25% since the start of the year.

(Sourced from Reuters)