London-headquartered mining business Anglo American (AAL) on Thursday said that on a copper equivalent production basis, production increased by 10% in the fourth quarter, compared to the same period in 2021.
The quarter's performance is mainly attributed to the ongoing ramp-up at Quellaveco which produced more than 80,000 tonnes of copper. The steelmaking coal operations also contributed by having all three of the longwall operations running. Higher rough diamond production was recorded from De Beers and improved operational performance was seen at Minas-Rio and Kumba, the iron ore businesses. The company also said that the strong quarterly improvement was tempered by weaker performance at Platinum Group Metals operations.
Copper production increased by 52%, due to the ramp-up of production from the new Quellaveco copper mine in Peru, while production from the operations in Chile was broadly flat.
Rough diamond production as well as steelmaking coal production both increased by 6%. Iron ore production increased by 4% during the period.
Metal in concentrate production from the Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) operations decreased by 10%, due to the impact of lower grades at Mogalakwena and planned infrastructure closures at Amandelbult. Nickel production also decreased by 4%, primarily due to planned annual maintenance.
In 2023, diamond production is expected to be 30-33 million carats while unit costs are expected to be approximately $80/ct. Copper production guidance for 2023 is 840,000-930,000 tonnes while the unit cost guidance for 2023 is approximately 156c/lb. Nickel production guidance for 2023 is 38,000-40,000 tonnes. Unit cost is expected to be approximately 515c/lb.
Shares of Anglo American closed Wednesday's trading at 3,387 pence, down 79.50 pence or 2.29 percent from the previous close.
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