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Nyrstar sticks to mining targets despite supplier issue

The world's biggest zinc producer has maintained its guidance for 2012 despite a key supplier warning it would miss its production target.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - 

Belgium's Nyrstar, the world's biggest producer of zinc, maintained its guidance despite a key supplier warning it would miss its production target, saying a strong performance across its other mines should make up for the shortfall.

The group said it still expected it and its supplier to mine 310,000-350,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate in 2012. It also maintained its mining targets for other metals, such as lead, copper and gold.

At the start of July, Finnish miner Talvivaara, which delivers raw materials to Nyrstar's smelters, said it would miss its full-year production guidance.

In its first interim statement in April, Nyrstar said that it expected Talvivaara to deliver 50,000-60,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate, or 14 to 19 percent of Nyrstar's mining target for 2012.

"Based on the strong production performance across Nyrstar's portfolio of operating mines in H1 2012 and expected performance in H2 2012, Nyrstar maintains its 2012 production guidance for all its metal in concentrate," Nyrstar said in a statement.

The company also said that first-half underlying core profit slipped 22 percent to 111 million euros, missing 120 million euros expected on average by six banks and brokerages polled by Reuters.

The group said this was caused by a tough economic environment, weak metal pricing and lower treatment charges.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Ben Deighton; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

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