Antofagasta copper production jumps 15% in Q3

Chilean miner Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) reported on Wednesday a 15% increase in copper production for the three months to the end of September, driven by destocking of inventories at Los Pelambres and an increase in copper grades and recoveries at Centinela.

Copper output hit 179,000 tonnes in the third quarter, up from 155,300 tonnes in the previous and 3.4% higher from the 173,600 tonnes produced a year ago.

A 54% jump in gold production, at times when the precious metal has traded at historic record highs, also helped the company’s quarterly results.

Antofagasta kept its guidance for the year unchanged at 670,000-710,000 tonnes, warning it is likely to be towards the lower end, at a cash cost of US$2.40 per pound of copper.

Construction across Antofagasta’s growth and development projects continued during the quarter, with work at Los Pelambres and Centinela mines focused on initial groundworks and the deployment of personnel and equipment to each site.

Chief executive Iván Arriagada highlighted the recent completion of the first phase of an ongoing expansion at Los Pelambres, the company’s flagship operation.

The project, he said, helped achieve a 31% year-on-year increase in the ore throughput rate during the first nine months of 2024.

“Looking ahead, our portfolio of operations is expected to produce 660-700,000 tonnes of copper in 2025, with an incremental increase in output expected at Centinela Concentrates,” Arriagada said in a statement.

Multi-billion investments

Antofagasta, majority-owned by Chile’s Luksic family, one of the country’s wealthiest, has earmarked over US$7.5 billion in investments in Chile for the next five years. 

One of its key projects is  the US$4.4-billion Nueva Centinela, which will add 144,000 tonnes copper-equivalent a year to its overall production. The expansion project, approved in December, also includes increasing the current molybdenum plant’s capacity and a new development of the Esperanza Sur pit, with the introduction of new autonomous trucks. 

Antofagasta recently opened a US$2 billion desalination plant for Los Pelambres, which became the first mine to operate with desalinated water in an area of the country that has suffered a 15-year drought. 

The company also expects to obtain all permits to start working on the US$1.2 billion extension of its Zaldívar copper mine, which would allow it to continue operations through 2051. 

On top of all these projects, Antofagasta has said it expects to allocate between US$40 million and US$50 million a year in maintenance work at its assets in Peru, the United States and Canada.