Anglo American delivers full year production guidance

All of Anglo American businesses delivered their full year production guidance following another solid operational performance in the fourth quarter. At its Copper operations, Quellaveco delivered its strongest quarter of the year, and the reshaped Los Bronces mine continues to perform well. Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil produced a record 25 million tonnes for the year.

Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “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. We continue 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. Iron ore guidance is unchanged except for the impact of the tie in of the previously announced UHDMS project at Kumba in 2026. At De Beers, difficult rough diamond trading conditions mean that we have reduced production guidance in 2025 and 2026 to reflect our focus on value, working capital efficiency and cash generation.

“We are making excellent progress with our portfolio simplification. In November we announced agreements to sell our Steelmaking Coal business for up to $4.9 billion in aggregate gross cash proceeds, with the Peabody transaction expected to complete by the third quarter of 2025. We also completed a second bookbuild offering of our Anglo American Platinum (“AAP”) shares, which in combination with the prior placing generated c.$0.9bn. This has increased the free float of AAP by more than 50%, helping to mitigate flowback when we demerge the business, expected by the middle of 2025. The sales process of our Nickel business is well progressed and we continue to prepare the De Beers business for separation.

“Our focus on operational excellence is bringing far greater efficiency, underpinning our solid production performance in 2024. We are simplifying our portfolio at pace to focus on copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients, offering a highly attractive and differentiated investment proposition with a structurally lower cost base. This higher margin and more cash generative Anglo American will offer greater resilience through the cycle and possesses outstanding value-accretive growth optionality in each of our businesses.”

Q4 2024 HIGHLIGHTS

• Copper production increased by 9% quarter-on-quarter, with Quellaveco achieving its strongest quarter of the year. Production is 14% lower compared to the same quarter of 2023, primarily due to the planned shut down of the smaller and more costly Los Bronces plant and anticipated lower grades at Collahuasi.
• Iron ore production increased by 4% largely due to Kumba’s production in the comparative period being reduced to align with third-party logistics constraints. Minas-Rio production was broadly flat year-on-year despite significantly higher rainfall levels in the quarter, and the operation achieved its strongest quarter of the year, reflecting enhanced operational stability. In December, the company also announced the completion of the Serpentina transaction with Vale, providing significant growth and synergy options for Minas-Rio.
• Production from Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) operations decreased by 6%, primarily reflecting expected lower purchase of concentrate (POC) volumes, as a result of lower Kroondal volumes following its transition from 100% POC to a 4E tolling arrangement effective 1 September 2024.
• Steelmaking coal production was 49% lower primarily due to the underground fire at Grosvenor in June 2024, planned lower production from Moranbah due to the longwall move, and the sale of Jellinbah8, as the benefits of production from 1 November 2024 no longer accrued to Anglo American.
• Nickel production decreased by 10% due to planned lower grades. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, production was flat.
• Rough diamond production decreased by 26%, reflecting the proactive production response to the prolonged period of lower demand, higher than normal levels of inventory in the midstream and a continued focus on working capital.