Antofagasta Hit Production Guidance for 2021

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Antofagasta plc. successfully achieved its production and cost guidance for 2021, despite external pressures including drought situation in Chile, higher input costs and global supply chain challenges.

The company reported copper production of 721,500 tonnes during the previous year. According to Ivan Arrigada, CEO, Antofagasta, the group copper production was well within the guidance range and 1.7% lower than 2020, mainly on account of expected higher grades at Centinela Concentrates. Meantime, Los Pelambres reported lower grades and lower throughput. The group copper production during Q4 2021 was marginally lower than the prior quarter by 1.2% at 178,900 tonnes.

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Meantime, the quarterly and yearly gold production totalled 64,900 ounces and 252,200 ounces respectively.

The net cash costs for the full year 2021 were $1.20 per lb, below the guidance. The net cash costs in Q4 2021 were $1.35 per lb, marginally higher than the prior quarter.

Antofagasta expects group production of 660-690,000 tonnes of copper, 170-190,000 ounces of gold and 8,500-10,000 tonnes of molybdenum in 2022. The copper production is expected to surge quarter-on-quarter throughout the year. It foresees capital expenditure of around $1.7-$1.9 billion during the current year.