Antofagasta maintains FY guidance despite drop in H1 production

Mining giant Antofagasta maintained full-year guidance on Wednesday despite posting a fall in interim production as a result of lower grades.

Antofagasta stated second-quarter Copper production fell 2.5% year-on-year to 178,400 tonnes, principally due to "lower recoveries at Centinela Cathodes" and "expected lower grades" at its Zaldivar asset.

Net cash costs came to roughly $1.13 per pound in the second quarter and $1.14 per pound for the first half, a 2.6% decrease quarter-on-quarter but a 1.8% year-on-year increase when measured against the first half of 2020.

Copper production in the first six months of 2021 came to 361,500 tonnes, in line with expectations but 2.8% weaker year-on-year, again due to lower grades, while quarterly gold production increased by 3.9% to 61,400 ounces and first-half production increased 8.5% to 120,500 ounces.

On the back of its interim report card, the FTSE 100-listed firm kept its full-year guidance unchanged at a range of 730,000 to 760,000 tonnes of copper at a net cash cost of approximately $1.25 per pound.

Chief executive Iván Arriagada said: "The cost and production performance over the first half of this year was in line with guidance and supports our strong track record of resilience and operational excellence.

"As vaccination levels increase around the world, the global economy is expected to continue to recover strongly from the pandemic providing further support for the copper market."

As of 0845 BST, Antofagasta shares were up 2.68% at 1,400.50p.