Chile demonstrations threaten Antofagasta copper production
Ongoing strike action in Chile could damage Antofagasta’s copper production, according to the mining giant’s third-quarter update, which was released this morning.
Days of demonstrations, in which 15 people have died, have rocked Santiago, the capital of the world’s largest copper producer.
Read more: Copper production slips at Anglo American amid Chilean drought
The company said that the disruption could cause problems in their supply chain and prevent workers getting to site, with the potential to lower output by about 5,000 tonnes.
The union of national copper miner Codelco were expected to join today’s general strike, which has been called in solidarity with the demonstrations.
Antofagasta operates four mines in Chile, with its flagship Los Pelambres project located 240km north-east of the capital.
The trading update also announced that progress on the expansion of the Los Pelambres mine, which is expected to add an average 15,000 tonnes per annum over the first 15 years, has reached 24 per cent.
The company recently averted industrial action at the mine by agreeing to raise salaries.
Despite these concerns, 4.6 per cent growth in copper production led the company to total third-quarter output of 197,000 tonnes, up from 188,300 tonnes in the year-ago period.
Antofagasta chief executive Ivan Arriagada said: “We delivered another quarter of strong production underpinned by a consistent operating performance, which together with higher grades at some of our operations, contributed to year to date copper volumes of 584,200 tonnes which are 16 per cent higher than the same period in 2018.”
Read more: Antofagasta on track for record copper production
He added that production growth for the whole year was expected to be in line with annual forecasts of 750-790,000 tonnes, with this expected to slip to 725-755,000 tonnes next year.
This quarter’s net cash costs were $1.12 (£0.87) per pound.
Main image credit: Getty