Antofagasta Again Lowers Forecast for Copper Output
October 28 2015 - 4:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--Chilean copper producer Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) has
again lowered its target for copper output this year, but kept a
target for cash costs unchanged after reporting stable production
in the third quarter compared with the previous three months.
The FTSE-100 miner said on Wednesday that it produced 157,000
metric tons of copper in three months to end-September, on par with
the previous quarter.
Gold output fell 17% on quarter to 45,700 troy ounces while
molybdenum output remained flat on quarter at 2,600 tons.
The company said that it commissioned its Antucoya project in
north Chile in September and produced 2,000 tons of copper cathode
from the project. But the delayed ramp-up at Centinela concentrates
operations and a minor pit-wall slide at its Centinela cathode
operations prompted the company to lower this year's copper output
guidance for a third time to 635,000 tons from 665,000 tons most
recently and 710,000 tons originally.
The company however said it has kept this year's average net
cash-cost guidance unchanged at $1.47 a pound. This compares to net
cash cost of $1.42 a pound in the third quarter, down 11% from the
second quarter largely due to higher production at its flagship Los
Pelambres mine, lower input prices, particularly energy, and the
impact of the weaker Chilean peso against the dollar during the
quarter.
-Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2015 03:46 ET (07:46 GMT)
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