Anglo American reports 3Q21 production

3Q21 highlights:

• Rough diamond production increased by 28%, principally from the Jwaneng and Venetia mines, reflecting planned higher production in response to the ongoing consumer demand recovery led by the key US and China markets.
• Copper production decreased by 6% due to planned maintenance at Collahuasi, while total year to date production across all copper operations increased marginally by 1%, despite ongoing water availability constraints caused by record drought conditions in Chile.
• Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) operations delivered a 39% increase in refined output, reflecting stable performance from the ACP Phase A unit.
• Iron ore production increased by 15%, driven primarily by a 22% uplift from Minas-Rio, reflecting the planned maintenance period in 3Q20 for routine internal scanning of the pipeline. Kumba production also performed strongly, increasing by 11% due to improved plant performance.
• At Anglo American’s longwall metallurgical coal operations in Australia, Moranbah has steadily improved as they mined through challenging geological zones this quarter, and development work at Grosvenor continues to progress, with longwall mining expected to restart towards the end of the year.
• Primary nickel production increased by 2% over the period and by-product nickel from our PGMs business increased by 20% to 6000 t.

Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said:

“Production is up 2% compared to Q3 of last year, with our operating levels generally maintained at approximately 95% of normal capacity. The increase in production is led by planned higher rough diamond production at De Beers, increased production from our Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil, reflecting the planned pipeline maintenance in 3Q20, and improved plant performance at our Kumba iron ore operations in South Africa.

“We are broadly on track to deliver our full year production guidance across all products, while taking the opportunity to tighten up the guidance for diamonds, copper, and iron ore within our current range as we approach the end of the year. Our copper operations in Chile continue to work hard on mitigating the risk of water availability due to the challenges presented by the longest drought on record for the region, including through sourcing water that is not suitable for use elsewhere and further increasing water recycling.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/21102021/anglo-american-reports-3q21-production/