25 Oct Anglo American lifts iron ore production guidance in Q3 results
Anglo American has released positive third quarter results including an increase in production guidance for its Kumba Iron Ore subsidiary.
The world’s fifth-largest miner has lifted Kumba’s production guidance by an additional 1 million tonnes (Mt) to between 42-44Mt for 2017.
The overall rise is based on strong production performance at the Sishen iron ore mine, South Africa’s largest source of iron ore, on which production guidance has been increased by 1Mt to between 29-30Mt.
Anglo American chief executive Mark Cutifani said: “We have delivered another strong production performance across our business. Grosvenor production has materially stepped up as the new operating procedures have been implemented, while Gahcho Kué and Minas Rio continue to make positive contributions.
“We have further increased production guidance at Kumba Iron Ore as we continue to improve our broader productivity performance. In platinum, we have taken necessary steps to remove unprofitable ounces from production as we focus on value over volume.”
Our Q3 2017 production results = 6% increase in total production on copper equivalent basis compared to Q3 2016 ✅. https://t.co/rzav5i2E95 pic.twitter.com/AYg35lItmt
— Anglo American (@AngloAmerican) October 24, 2017
As Cutifani notes, metallurgical coal production was strong with an 8% increase boosted by the Grosvenor project performance.
The London-listed mining giant reported a 6% increase on total production of copper equivalent in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year.
However, both thermal coal production and the production guidance for platinum dipped as Anglo managed operational challenges throughout the quarter.