Anglo American reported higher first quarter copper production despite capacity constraints caused by Covid-19 restrictions as it continued to shift its focus towards “future enabling” metals and minerals.
The mining giant on Thursday said copper production for the three months to March 31 increased by 9% to 160,300 tonnes, due to strong operational performance at its Los Bronces and Collahuasi operations in Chile.
It maintained production guidance at 640,000-680,000 tonnes, subject to the extent of further Covid-19 related-disruption. Anglo is looking to cash in on higher demand for copper and other metals that are now increasingly needed for products such as electric car batteries.
Total production increased by 3%, despite running at 95% capacity, driven by strong performances in copper, platinum group metals and iron ore in South Africa, which offset plant maintenance downtime at Minas-Rio iron ore in Brazil and the temporary suspension Australian metallurgical coal operations, Anglo said.
Rough diamond production at its De Beers unit fell 7% to 7.2m, driven by operational challenges, including excessive rainfall in southern Africa and a Covid-19-related shutdown in Canada, as well as planned maintenance in Namibia.
Chief executive Mark Cutifani said total group production was at 95% of normal capacity, “meeting strong customer demand despite some limited constraints at certain operations due to Covid-19”.
“Anglo American’s portfolio is increasingly tilted towards future-enabling metals and minerals, with our recently proposed demerger of our thermal coal operations in South Africa moving us further in that direction.”
