Anglo American's Copper Production Lower in 2024, but Within Guidance

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Anglo American plc (London, England) has released its fourth-quarter production results, registering lower year-on-year copper production in its Latin American mines. Iron ore volumes were slightly higher.

The company announced copper production of 772,700 tons in 2024, about 6% less than in the previous year. However, the volume fell within the guidance set for last year.

The biggest output drop came from the Los Bronces mine in Chile, which produced 172,400 tons in 2024 compared to 215,500 tons in 2023. The drop was led by lower production due to the planned shutdown of the mine's smaller and more costly plant.

The Collahuasi copper mine in Chile also registered a 3% yearly production drop to close at 245,800 tons. This was the result of lower grades during the fourth quarter.

Anglo American's El Soldado mine in Chile was the company's only copper mine to produce higher yearly volumes, increasing production by 22% to 48,200 tons in 2024.

For this year, the company has set a more conservative copper guidance between 690,000 tons and 750,000 tons, though for 2026, this is expected to increase considerably to between 760,000 and 820,000 tons.

Production increased by 1% year on year for iron ore to reach 60.8 million tons. The boost was mainly guided by the company's Kumba mine in South Africa. The annual production figures were also achieved due to solid operations from the Minas-Rio mine in Brazil despite the heavy rains faced during the fourth quarter.

For this year, iron ore production guidance has been set between 57 million tons and 61 million tons; for 2026, it is expected to be between 54 million tons and 58 million tons.

The company maintained its 2024 production within the guidance of all its minerals.

"All of our businesses delivered their full-year production guidance following another solid operational performance in the fourth quarter. At our Copper operations, Quellaveco delivered its strongest quarter of the year, and the reshaped Los Bronces mine continues to perform well. Our Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil produced a record 25 million tonnes for the year," said Duncan Wanblad, chief executive officer of Anglo American.

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