Tuesday 22 October 2019 2:32 pm

Copper production slips at Anglo American amid Chilean drought

Anglo American, one of the world’s largest miners, today lowered its full-year forecast for copper production amid the worst drought to hit Chile in sixty years.

Output of the metal will drop by eight per cent in the third quarter of 2019 due to water shortages at the Los Bronces mine in Chile. Annual production dropped to 630,000 – 650,000 tonnes.

Copper production accounts for 15 per cent of the company’s profits.

Weaker market demand also resulted in a 14 per cent fall in output at De Beers, Anglo American’s specialist diamond arm. The company said that planned mine closures were to blame for the drop.

However, the company said that overall output for the quarter rose by four per cent, helped by a rise in production of iron ore at its Minas-Rio mine in Brazil.

The miner is set to produce 20-22m tonnes of iron ore in 2019, up from previous expectations of 19-21m tonnes.

Production of iron ore at Minas-Rio was 6.1m tonnes, and metallurgical coal jumped 22 per cent to 6.6m tonnes in the quarter.

Minas-Rio, a flagship development project for Anglo American, was suspended last year following the discovery of a leak in a 500km export pipeline.

“We expect to deliver to our production guidance for copper and thermal coal, albeit at the lower end of their ranges,” said Chief Executive Officer Mark Cutifani.