8th May 2018 08:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - FTSE 100-listed copper miner Antofagasta PLC said on Tuesday it has experienced delays in concentrate shipments due to a blockage in the pipeline between its Los Pelambres processing plant and the Los Vilos port, discovered last month.
The pipeline operation was immediately suspended. No damage was found to the pipeline, nor any leak. The blockage was cleared, allowing for the filtering of concentrate to resume on Saturday. However, stockpiling the port and plant back to normal levels is expected to take three months to complete.
The impact of the blockage on production is expected to be 10,000 tonnes of copper for the six months to the end of June. Sales in the period will be reduced by 15,000 tonnes, the company said.
However, for all of 2018, the impact on production and sales is expected to be less then 5,000 tonnes, and Antofagasta kept its full-year production guidance at 705,000 to 740,000 tonnes.
It added that no significant capital expenditure was required to bring the pipeline back into operation.
Shares in Antofagasta were up 0.4% at 1,000.00 pence on Tuesday.
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