Asarco mine, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico, has forecast a fall in its copper production by 4.3pc to 120,000mt in 2020, due to an ongoing strike at its facilities in Arizona and Texas.
Despite the strike, copper production at Asarco’s mines reached 124,500mt in 2019, up by 6pc compared to the prior year, Grupo Mexico reported in a statement. However, the strike caused the company to temporarily close its Hayden Concentradora, Fundición Hayden and Amarillo refinery, mining units, the company said without disclosing further details of when they would reopen.
Nearly 2,000 mine workers in Arizona and Texas have been on strike since October 13, 2019 and have demanded that Asarco stop violating federal labor laws and breaking international labor standards, according to media reports.
Grupo Mexico’s copper production guidance for 2020 has remained the same as 2019 at1.1mn mt. In its latest earnings report, Mexico’s largest miner projected an output of 2mn mt of copper by 2027.