Chile's Antofagasta Copper output rises 16% y-o-y in Jan- June, Gold up 92%
Metal Recycling News | 2012-08-01 08:20:02
Chile's second largest miner Antofagasta Plc said that its copper output advanced by 16.5% year-on-year to 336 thousand tons in the first half of this year.
By Paul Ploumis
LIMA (Scrap Monster): Chile's second largest miner Antofagasta Plc (LSE: ANTO) said that its copper output advanced by 16.5% year-on-year to 336 thousand tons in the first half of this year.
The output advanced sharply due to increased production at Esperanza as a result of higher throughput levels following the start of operations in 2011.
Copper production totaled 173,200 tonnes in the second quarter, a 6.3% increase compared with the previous quarter, they added.
Gold production was 72,600 ounces in the second quarter compared with 63,500 ounces in the previous quarter.
Gold production was 136,100 ounces in the first half, up 92.50% from 70,700 ounces a year ago, reflecting the higher throughput at Esperanza.
Moving ahead, copper production for the full year 2012 is still expected to be approximately 700 thousand tonnes.
Antofagasta represents 53% of Chile’s mining output, led by copper and followed by potassium nitrate, gold, iodine, and lithium. The mining industry accounts for 93.7% of the region’s exports.
