6th Feb 2025 08:56
(Alliance News) - Anglo American PLC said on Thursday its annual production across its diverse operations was in line with its guidance.
The London-based miner reported that copper production was down 14% for the fourth quarter of 2024 to 198,000 tonnes from 230,000 tonnes a year earlier, while output dropped 6.4% to 773,000 tonnes in 2024 from 826,000 tonnes in 2023.
Anglo-Americans estimated annual copper production to be between 730,000 tonnes and 790,000 tonnes.
Anglo American Chief Executive Officer Duncan Wanblad said its Quellaveco copper mine in Peru delivered its strongest quarter of the year, and the "reshaped" Los Bronces mine in Chile continued to perform well.
"Our forward production guidance is unchanged in copper with growth in 2026 driven by higher grades in Chile, with this production level then maintained in 2027," Wanblad said.
He said the miner continued to set up the copper business for growth in subsequent years, with the resumption of the smaller plant at Los Bronces and through debottlenecking at Collahuasi in Chile.
For the fourth quarter, iron ore production rose 3.6% to 14.3 million tonnes from 13.8 million tonnes, with output for the whole year growing 1.5% to 60.8 million tonnes from 59.9 million tonnes.
Anglo American guided for 2024 iron ore production of between 58 million tonnes and 62 million tonnes.
Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil produced a record 25 million tonnes for the year, Wanblad said.
In a separate filing, Kumba Iron Ore Ltd on Thursday said its iron ore production rose 8.1% to 7.8 million tonnes year-on-year for the fourth quarter from 7.2 million tonnes. Still, output for 2024 was flat at 35.7 million tonnes.
Kumba is subsidiary in which Anglo American owns 70% stake.
For 2024, Kumba's production was within guidance of between 35 million tonnes and 37 million tonnes, Kumba Chief Executive Officer Mpumi Zikalala said.
Lower iron ore prices continued to reflect subdued steel demand, coupled with an increase in iron ore supply, Zikalala said.
In platinum group metals, Anglo American said fourth-quarter production was 876,000 ounces from 932,000 ounces, while output was down 6.6% at 3.5 million ounces from 3.8 million ounces.
This PGM production is from Anglo American Platinum Ltd, Anglo America's subsidiary.
"We continue to progress towards a responsible and orderly separation from Anglo American which we are aiming to complete by mid-2025," Anglo American Platinum Chief Executive Officer Craig Miller said in a separate filing on Thursday.
Anglo American wants to demerge Anglo American Platinum.
Annual PGM production guidance ranged between 3.3 million ounces and 3.7 million ounces for 2024.
Anglo American said its steelmaking coal production for the fourth quarter halved to 2.4 million tonnes from 4.8 million tonnes, while output was 14.5 million tonnes in 2024, down 9.3% from 16.0 million tonnes in 2023.
Diamond output was 5.8 million carats, down 27% from 7.9 million carats. For 2024, output was 24.7 million carats, down 23% from 31.9 million carats.
Nickel fell 9.9% to 10,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter from 11,100 tonnes, while output was down 1.5% to 39,400 tonnes in 2024 from 40,000 tonnes in 2023.
Manganese ore production for the last quarter of 2024 declined 13% to 742,000 from 848,000 tonnes, and output for 2024 slumped 38% to 2.3 million tonnes from 3.7 million tonnes.
Anglo America's Wanblad said the company is making "excellent" progress with its portfolio simplification. It intends to keep copper, iron ore and crop nutrients, and get rid of platinum, coal and diamond assets.
Shares in Anglo American shares were up 4.6% to 2,436.00 pence on Thursday morning in London. In Johannebsurg, they rose 4.1% to ZAR562.64.
On the JSE, Kumba rose 0.2 to ZAR367.46, while Anglo American Platinum declined 2.7% to ZAR666.91.
By Artwell Dlamini, Alliance News reporter
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