Anglo American has raised its copper production guidance for the year by 10,000mt after a 17pc uptick in output from its Collahuasi mine in Pica, Chile. The global miner’s guidance for iron ore, met coal, and nickel remains unchanged.
According to the group’s Q3 2020 production report released on Thursday, copper output was flat at 479,500mt in January-September compared with the same period last year. In the third quarter, production increased by 4pc to 165,700mt from 158,900mt in Q3 2019. A 23pc decrease at El Soldado in Valparaiso, Chile was offset by Collahuasi’s improved performance.
Iron ore operations declined by 10pc at Kumba in South Africa to 27.4mn mt while output at Minas-Rio in Brazil increased by 4pc to 17.6mn mt during the first nine months of 2020. In Q3, both mines’ output fell short by 9pc and 18pc to 9.5mn mt and 5mn mt, respectively, over Q3 2019.
The company’s Australian metallurgical production fell by 24pc in January-September to 12.6mn mt and was down 26pc in the third quarter to 4.8mn mt, both compared to the same periods last year.
Nickel volumes rose by 3pc in the nine-month period to 31,900mt while a 10pc decline was noticed in Q3 2020, due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at Barro Alto in Brazil, despite the start of production at Anglo’s new Codemin mine in Goais, Brazil.