Anglo American Copper Volumes Remained Flat in Q3

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Increased production at Los Bronces and Quellaveco helps offset declines at Collahuasi, allowing Anglo American to close Q3 with an output of 183,500 tons. While Collahuasi's output fell, Los Bronces and Quellaveco's gains compensated for the drop. For iron ore, overall production averaged lower, but strong performance at Minas-Rio is boosting this year's guidance.

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Miner Anglo American (London, England) reported copper output of 183,500 tons in Q3, flat from last year and some 6% stronger than the previous quarter, thanks to higher grades from the Quellaveco mine in Peru and Los Bronces in Chile. These two mines helped to offset lower production from Chile's Collahuasi mine.

According to the company's Q3 results, Collahuasi is expected to by the end of next year. However, Bloomberg quoted Ruben Fernandes, Anglo's chief operating officer, in an article saying that Collahuasi's output will return to 600,000 tons per year by 2027.

In Q3, Los Bronces produced 41,800 tons, the second-strongest quarterly pace in a year and 14% higher year on year. Meanwhile, the El Soldado mine in Chile maintained production of 11,000 tons, 3% lower year on year. For Collahuasi, output stood at 47,400 tons or 27% below 2024 volumes.

Quellaveco, Anglo's only copper asset in Peru, produced 83,300 tons in Q3, 21% more than last year.

For the first nine months of the year, Anglo's copper mines averaged 9% below last year's volumes at 525,700 tons, given the slower pace at its Chilean assets; only Quellaveco is trending higher, with output of 239,900 tons, a 11% increase year on year.

The company expects copper production to remain within its guidance of 690,000 to 750,000 tons this year. Its Chilean assets will contribute with an output between 380,000 and 410,000 tons, while its Peruvian mine will add 310,000 to 340,000 tons.

Meanwhile, the company's iron ore volumes stood at 14.3 million tons, some 9% below last year, due to a pipeline inspection at its Minas-Rio mine in Brazil that has already been completed. The strong performance of Minas-Rio is allowing Anglo to boost this year's iron ore guidance by 1 million tons to between 58 million and 62 million tons.

On its manganese segment, production closed at 972,800 tons in Q3, an increase of 140% from normalized operations following temporary suspensions caused by a tropical cyclone in March 2024.

Anglo remains positive about its merger with Teck (Vancouver, British Columbia), calling it a major strategic step that will create one of the world's largest copper miners. The plan includes unifying Collahuasi and Quebrada Blanca in Chile to improve efficiency and cut costs, targeting an additional EBITDA of US$1.4 billion per year from 2030-2049.

Similarly, the company also finalized a deal with Codelco (Santiago, Chile) on enhancing effectiveness. "Our recent agreement with Codelco to implement a joint mine plan for the adjacent Los Bronces and Andina operations in Chile serves as another example of delivering compelling industrial synergies as a means to drive our copper growth ambitions," said Duncan Wanblad, chief executive of the company.

Key Takeaways

• Anglo American posted a copper output of 183,500 tons in Q3, flat from last year and some 6% stronger than the previous quarter.
• For the first nine months of the year, Anglo's copper mines averaged 9% below last year's volumes at 525,700 tons, given the slower pace at its Chilean assets.
• Anglo remains positive about its Teck merger and agreement with Codelco.

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