The favourite excuse of a troubled retailer for poor sales is nearly always to blame the weather. Trotting out the "too hot, too cold, the wrong kind of rain etc" line, always manages to gain guffaws.
And now African Minerals is trying the same tactic but with slightly more serious ramifications because shares are down 39.8p, 13.3%, at 260p.
Its flagship Tonkolili iron ore mine in Sierra Leona was expected to produce 20m tonnes of ore this year, but will only manage up to 6m tonnes.
The company said:
The current wet season has been particularly severe in Sierra Leone this year and has affected both materials handling and project execution.
Once the new wet process plant is operational, and the current mobile dry crushing plant converted to a wet screening plant, the impact of the material handling constraints associated with wet season operations will be permanently removed.
Bosses expect to hit 20m tonnes by the second quarter of next year instead on what is one of the biggest projects in Sierra Leone.
