Anglo American delivers stable production in line with expectations

In its Production Report for the third quarter ended 30 September 2024, Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “Our consistent focus on operational excellence continues to deliver stable production in line with our expectations. Our Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil achieved a second successive record quarter while the reshaping of our copper operations continues to progress, with the older of the two Los Bronces plants placed on care and maintenance. Ongoing stability at the PGM processing assets allows us to increase full year refined PGM production guidance to 3.7–3.9 million ounces, and strong operational performance at Nickel increases production guidance to 38,000-39,000 tonnes, lowering the unit cost guidance to c.530 c/lb. All other production and unit cost2 guidance is unchanged.

 Q3 2024 highlights

• Copper production is on track to meet full year guidance, decreasing 13% in the quarter as expected versus the comparative period, due to the planned closure of the smaller and more costly Los Bronces plant, partially offset by higher grades at El Soldado. Production at Quellaveco in Peru is expected to increase in the fourth quarter as grades and recoveries improve.
• In Iron Ore, production was 2% higher as Minas-Rio achieved a record third quarter performance, reflecting enhanced operational stability, partially offset by a planned decrease at Kumba to align with third-party logistics constraints. In October, the Brazilian anti-trust regulator approved the Serpentina transaction with Vale, and this is on track to close in the fourth quarter.
• Steelmaking coal production decreased by 6%, primarily driven by the cessation of mining at Grosvenor following the underground fire in June 2024. Excluding the impacts of Grosvenor, steelmaking coal production increased by 3%, reflecting higher production from the Dawson open cut operation and Moranbah longwall operation.
• Production from our Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) operations decreased 10% versus the comparative period, primarily reflecting the expected lower metal in concentrate production in line with 2024 guidance. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, production was flat.
• Nickel production increased by 6% largely due to operational improvements at Barro Alto.
• Rough diamond production decreased by 25%, reflecting a production response to the prolonged period of lower demand, higher than normal levels of inventory in the midstream and a continued focus on managing working capital.

“Our accelerated portfolio simplification to unlock the inherent value in Anglo American is well under way. The PGMs demerger is on track to complete by the middle of 2025. Our Steelmaking Coal sale process continues to see significant competition for this world-class set of assets, with a final round of bidders in place, and we expect to announce execution of a sale agreement in the coming months. We are also encouraged by recent imagery that shows that the fire damage in the underground area of the Grosvenor mine appears limited, further supporting the sale process.

“As previously announced, we reduced rough diamond production from De Beers in response to market conditions. The diamond market remains challenging as the midstream continues to hold higher than normal levels of inventory and the expectation remains for a protracted recovery. As a result and together with our partners, we will continue to assess the options to reduce production going forward.

“We are making excellent progress with our portfolio simplification to create an exciting and differentiated investment proposition focused on our world-class copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients assets – all future-enabling products. This highly cash generative and much higher margin portfolio will offer greater resilience through cycles with the benefit of significant high quality and well sequenced growth options, including a clear path to increase annual copper production to more than one million tonnes by the early 2030’s.”