Latin American miner Southern Copper Corporation (SCC) reported a nominal rise in half-yearly copper production while copper and zinc output fell by 1.7pc and 13pc, respectively, in Q2 2020.
German Larrea, SCC’s chairman, said that efforts are underway to maintain satisfactory levels of production while keeping costs down. He said that mining investment is vital to economic recovery in both Mexico and Peru in the current economic situation that has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company said it will scale up its investments in Peruvian mines from $2.8bn to $8.1bn.
In Mexico, the company is developing a polymetallic mine in Buenavista with an estimated output of 80,000mt of zinc and 20,000mt of copper annually. In Sonora, the Pilares mine is set to produce 35,000mt of copper. El Pilar is estimated to have mineralization of 325mn mt with 0.287pc contained copper.
In H1 2020, SCC’s copper production increased by 3.5pc to 509,730mt from 492,389mt in the same period last year, while sales rose by 11pc to 521,835mt from 470,927mt during the same period. During the same period, zinc output fell by 2.6pc to 52,928mt from 54,353mt, and zinc sales declined by 1.4pc to 52,599mt from 53,343mt.
In Q2 2020, copper and zinc output dipped by 1.7pc and 13.1pc to 258,454mt and 24,388mt, respectively, over the same prior-year quarter.
For Q2 2020, SCC posted an EBITDA of $770mn, down 18.3pc from the same period in the previous year. The company’s profit margin was estimated at 43pc during the quarter.