First Quantum, which resumed nickel production from its Ravensthorpe mine in Q1 2020, plans to ramp up its output to 23,000-27,000mt in 2021 from 12,695mt in 2020.
Nickel production is expected to stabilize at 25,000-30,000mt in 2022 before rising further to 27,000-32,000mt in 2023, the company indicated in its earnings report released on Tuesday.
Copper production is also expected to increase to 785,000-850,000mt in 2021 before rising further by 2023.
In 2020, First Quantum’s copper production increased to 778,911mt from 702,148mt in 2019. In Q4 2020, however, production inched down to 203,171mt from 204,270mt. Nickel production in the fourth quarter tallied at 5,603mt. The corresponding Q4 output for 2019 was not available since the output from the Raventhorpe mine resumed only in the first quarter of last year.
Copper sales in 2020 increased to 764,471mt against 689,386mt in the previous year. In Q4 2020, sales of the red metal increased to 217,041mt from 205,964mt in the same quarter of the previous year. Nickel sales in 2020 tallied at 12,120mt of which, 5,343mt was sold in Q4 2020.
Higher copper prices also resulted in the company’s consolidated revenue increasing by 28pc to $5.19bn in 2020 from the previous year and an EBITDA of $1.08bn for the same timeframe. In Q4 2020, revenue tallied at $1.60bn while EBITDA was reported at $725mn.