Global copper miner MMG projects 360,000-390,000mt of copper production in 2021, slightly above 384,000mt produced in 2020.
The company, which announced its Q4 2020 and full-year production data on Friday, said that it expected copper production at its flagship Las Bambas mine to recover by 2022. The company expects Las Bambas to produce between 310,000-330,000mt of copper in 2021 before the output is ramped up to 400,000mt per year between 2022 and 2025.
Moreover, mining operations at Chalcobamba, which were to begin in 2020, but were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic will commence this year, MMG indicated. Copper costs per unit are also likely to increase in 2021 due to the carryover expenses from the disruption in mining activities throughout 2020.
In 2020, the miner produced 384,564mt of copper, down 15pc from 2019. Of the total output, Las Bambas produced 311,000mt, followed by the Kineserve mine which produced 72,007mt, and Rosebery where 1,537mt of the red metal was mined.
MMG’s Q4 2020 output also reduced by 1pc to 70,420mt against the same quarter last year.
MMG has estimated zinc output guidance of 240,000-260,000mt in 2021 against actual production of 245,097mt in 2020. The company noted that zinc production from its two mines, Dugald River and Rosebery, had declined by 3pc compared with 2019.