London (Platts)--28Nov2012/555 am EST/1055 GMT

Talvivaara has cut its full-year nickel production guidance for 2012 to approximately 13,000 mt, the Finnish nickel and zinc producer said Wednesday.

The company had previously forecast a full-year production target of approximately 17,000 mt.

"Following the stoppage of its metals recovery plant between 4 and 21 November 2012 due to the previously announced gypsum pond leakage, the company has re-assessed this target and now anticipates its fourth quarter and full-year 2012 production to reach approximately 2,500 mt and 13,000 mt nickel, respectively," the company said.

The metals recovery plant was successfully restarted on November 21 and operations have since ramped-up according to schedule.

The facility has returned to stable utilization rates achieved before the suspension, the company said.

Talvivaara produces nickel and zinc using bioheapleaching to extract metals out of ore. The company produced 10,598 mt of nickel and 21,760 mt of zinc in the first nine months of 2012.

Last month the company said it expected fourth-quarter nickel production to increase from the Q3 output of 4,030 mt.

--Greg smart, greg_smart@platts.com --Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan_fox@platts.com