Antofagasta reiterates guidance after 15% jump in Q3 production

Copper mining giant Antofagasta reported a 15% increase in third-quarter production as it maintained expectations for full-year output to hit the lower end of guidance.

Copper production totalled 179,000 tonnes in the three months to 30 September, up 15.3% on the second quarter. That takes year-to-date output to 463,700, down 1.2% on the year before.

The quarterly increase was driven by driven by destocking of inventories at the flagship Los Pelambres project and an increase in copper grades and recoveries at Centinela.

Meanwhile, copper sales increased by 9.3% over the three-month period to 176,500 tonnes.

In other operations, gold production jumped 54.2% to 51,800 ounces, while molybdenum production rose 8% to 2,700 tonnes.

Cash costs before by-product credits dropped 11.4% to $2.33 a pound, putting year-to-date cash costs at an average of $2.53 a pound, up 5.4% on last year.

"Following the third quarter, we maintain our expectation to finish 2024 at the lower end of our guidance range of 670-710,000 tonnes of copper production, as destocking of concentrate inventories at Los Pelambres continues in the fourth quarter, as well as Los Pelambres and Centinela both exiting the third quarter with performance in line with expectations," said chief executive Iván Arriagada.

Cash cost guidance for the full year was also unchanged, driven by improving operational performance and robust gold prices, the company said.