Antofagasta Sees Higher Copper Output in 2016 After Fourth-Quarter Increase
January 27 2016 - 2:23AM
Dow Jones News
By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--Chilean copper producer Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) said
Wednesday that its copper and gold output rose in the fourth
quarter of 2015 from the previous quarter because of new mines in
its portfolio, and it expects its copper output to rise this year
following a decline last year.
The FTSE-100 miner said it produced 169,900 metric tons of
copper in the three months ended Dec. 31, up 8.2% from the previous
quarter due to higher production at its flagship Los Pelambres and
Centinela Concentrates operations, and contributions from its newly
commissioned Antucoya mine and the purchase of a 50% stake in the
Zaldívar mine from Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX.T) in December.
The company's copper output last year totaled 630,300 tons, down
10.6% from the year before but broadly in line with revised
guidance of 635,000 tons. Antofagasta cut its copper output
expectations three times last year from an original forecast of
710,000 tons due to poor weather and protests.
Its gold output rose 22% from the previous quarter to 55,700
troy ounces while its molybdenum output amounted to 2,800 tons.
The company said that this year it expects to produce
710,000-740,000 tons of copper, 245,000-275,000 ounces of gold and
8,000-9,000 tons of molybdenum.
It forecasts its net cash cost will fall 10% to $1.35 a pound in
2016 after it rose 4.9% last year to $1.50 a pound, missing the
company's guidance of $1.47 a pound.
Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 27, 2016 03:08 ET (08:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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