Antofagasta Confident of Meeting Full-Year Copper Output Guidance for 2021

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Chilean miner Antofagasta plc. announced production report for second quarter and the half-yearly period this year. The cost and production performance over the period was in line with the earlier guidance.

The copper production across the group totalled 178,400 tonnes in Q2, marginally lower by 2.5% compared to the quarter before that. The quarterly gold output surged higher by nearly 4% quarter-on-quarter to 61,400 ounces, primarily due to higher grades at Centinela. The copper production in H1 2021 totalled 361,500 tonnes, in line with expectations. Meantime, the half-yearly gold production recorded 8.5% surge to 120,500 ounces, said the company press release.

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Antofagasta warned that the full-year copper production could be impacted by shortage of rainfall in the vicinity of its flagship Los Pelambrus mine in Coquimbo region. The region is already beginning to feel the impacts of one of the worst droughts over the past several years. The company is going ahead with strict water management protocols. Furthermore, it is also evaluating various options to mitigate the risk of the impacts caused by reduced rainfall, it said.

Meantime, the company kept its full-year guidance unchanged at 730,000-760,000 tonnes of copper at net cash cost of $1.25 per lb.