Ero Copper has increased its 2021 annual copper production guidance to 42,000-45,000mt from the 2020 guidance of 41,000–43,000mt after it achieved record production in 2020, the company said in a statement.
The company’s MCSA mining complex produced 42,814mt of copper in concentrate in 2020, reaching its target for the year and achieving a record annual copper production. The company processed approximately 2.3mn mt of ore grading 2.08pc copper in 2020.
In the fourth quarter of the year (Q4 2020), the company’s copper in concentrate output stood at 10,018mt, and it processed 483,447mt of ore grading 2.26pc copper in the same period.
Outlook
The company said that it expects another year of strong production across its operating mines in 2021. The company said that ore required for copper production will be from the Pilar and Vermelhos underground mines and the Surubim open-pit mine, which will resume operations in 2021.
The production from the Pilar Mine is expected to contribute a total of approximately 1.5mn mt grading 1.40pc copper, while production from the Vermelhos Mine is expected to contribute a total of approximately 0.8mn mt tonnes grading 2.40pc copper.
Production from the Surubim Mine is expected to contribute a total of 0.2mn mt grading 0.60pc copper.
Ero Copper is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and operates the MCSA mining complex located in Bahia State, Brazil.