Antofagasta Plc
Antofagasta Plc
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Easing community blockades have enabled copper miner Antofagasta to begin repair work on a leaking concentrate pipeline at its 60%-owned Los Pelambres project in Chile’s Coquimbo region, but it warns continued access restrictions will prevent it restarting concentrate transport until end-June.
Antofagasta is continuing talks with the authorities and communities seeking to remove the remaining restrictions.
Chilean copper giant Antofagasta is stockpiling all production at its 60%-owned Los Pelambres project in the Coquimbo region following detection of a leak in the underground pipeline that transports copper concentrate to the port at Los Vilos.
Pipeline repairs have been delayed due to a blockade by community members. Mining and processing plant operations have continued, with ore being stockpiled pending pipeline repairs.
Group copper production forecast is unchanged at 640,000-690,000t, subject to revision following repairs.
A community protest is delaying attempts by major Antofagasta to access and repair a pipeline leak that has halted the export of copper concentrate from its Los Pelambres mine in northern Chile.
Chilean copper giant Antofagasta is predicting improved production throughout 2022 will keep it on target despite continuing drought that reduced its March qtr (Q1) copper output to 138,800t, from 178,900t in the previous period.
Q1 gold production plunged further to 38,400oz (Q4FY2021: 64,900oz), with the drought impacts compounded by a significant fall in grades at its Centinela Concentrates.
Chilean-based copper leader Antofagasta will accept $US900M as the cost of withdrawing from its 50% stake in the Tethyan Copper JV with Barrick Gold over Pakistan’s Reko Diq copper-gold project.
Antofagasta’s exit is part of the in-principle agreement to end the standoff that has prevented development for more than a decade of a mine originally slated to produce 200,000tpa copper and 250,000ozpa gold.
Chilean copper giant Antofagasta will accept $US900M as compensation for its withdrawal from a multilateral agreement to end the 11-year-old lockdown of one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits, the Reko Diq project in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s massive Reko Diq project is set to be revived as a 50-50 JV between Barrick Gold and Pakistani stakeholders under an agreement to end the dispute that has halted development of one of the world’s largest undeveloped openpit copper-gold porphyry deposits since 2011.
The in-principle agreement will see Chilean-based copper giant Antofagasta, currently Barrick’s 50% JV partner, exit the project for about $US900M consideration.
The predicted fall in Chilean major Antofagasta’s Dec 2021 year (FY/CY 21) copper production has been confirmed with output down to 721,500t from the previous year’s 733,900t, fuelled by a combination of drought, higher input costs and global supply chain challenges.
On the bright side, the preliminary numbers show gold output up 23.6% to 252,200oz, but with molybdenum down to 10,500t from 12,600t and net cash costs up to $US1.20/lb from $1.14/lb.
Chilean major Antofagasta is predicting a significant fall in group production to 660,000-690,000t for FY2022 due to the worsening drought. CEO Iván Arriagada says no more rain is expected until June 2022, and the new desalination plant at Los Pelambres is not due for completion until the second half of the year.
An excellent June 2021 half year (H1 21), despite lower copper production, has seen 4 Chilean mines owner/operator Antofagasta’s after tax profit for the period jump to $US1,121.6M from H1 20’s $245.1M, with gold and molybdenum both up.
The result was on revenue up to $3,591M from $2,138.8M, as a result of higher realised copper prices, a record EBITDA up to $2,357.1M from $1,012.8M and cash flow from operations jumping to $2,460.5M from $906.9M.