Canadian miner Lundin Mining plans to invest $40mn in exploration programs in 2021 and increase its total capital expenditure to $610mn. Of the total planned capital expenditure, it plans to invest $70mn in the Zinc Expansion Project (ZEP) at its Neves-Corvo mine, which began last month.
The Canadian miner plans to produce 275,000-299,000mt of copper this year, an increase from its 2020 guidance of 217,000-232,000mt.
The miner noted in its earnings report released on Feb 18 that the completion of the ZEP would also improve its zinc output and pegged production of this metal at 141,000-151,000mt. Nickel production is expected at 15,000-18,000mt this year.
In 2020 the company achieved its production targets at all the mines for copper despite the shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of the year, the miner’s president and chief executive officer, Marie Inkster said in a press statement.
In terms of sales, the company sold 221,424mt of copper in 2020 though it did not give a comparative volume for 2019. During the year, zinc sales totaled 120,179mt while nickel and lead sales tallied at 12,481mt and 27,705mt, respectively.
The sales brought in total revenue of $2.04bn, up 8pc from $1.89bn in the previous year, with 65pc of the revenue attributed to copper sales. In Q4 2020 the company’s revenue stood at $530mn. Its gross profit for the year increased by 13pc to $498mn from $440mn in 2019 and tallied at $179mn in Q4 2020. The company’s adjusted EBITDA also increased by 21pc to $857mn in 2020 against $706mn in the previous year.