Anglo American reports 5% QoQ dip in iron ore production

 Duncan Wanblad, Chief Executive of Anglo American, said: “Our performance stepped up 16% quarter-on-quarter amid a challenging operating environment, driven by the ongoing ramp-up of our Steelmaking Coal longwall operations and continued strong performance at De Beers. Our new world-class copper mine in Peru, Quellaveco, continues to ramp-up production with shipments to customers now under way. Production in the third quarter was broadly flat compared to the same period in 2021, as higher production from Quellaveco, Steelmaking Coal and De Beers was offset primarily by expected lower copper ore grades in Chile and some operational challenges at our Kumba iron ore business.

“As we move through the final quarter, we are focused on maintaining this operational momentum to deliver our full year guidance. The continued safe ramp-up of our steelmaking coal operations, as well as further performance improvements at our iron ore businesses, are priorities to set the platform for delivery into next year. We do continue to feel the effects of dislocations in the global economy on our business – in energy and across supply chains and labour markets – and are planning accordingly for 2023, confident in the strategic position of our business.

“We continue to make important progress towards our holistic sustainability commitments. With renewable electricity supply secured for all our South America operations, we have now formed our renewable energy partnership with EDF Renewables in South Africa. Our new jointly owned company, Envusa Energy, is developing its first phase of more than 600 MW of wind and solar projects, a major step towards our vision of a 3-5 GW renewable energy ecosystem in the region by 2030. The issuance of our first sustainability-linked bond, a first of its kind from a major diversified mining company, re-affirms our commitment to our targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fresh water abstraction and to support job creation in the communities where we operate.”

Q3 2022 HIGHLIGHTS

• Rough diamond production increased by 4%, principally reflecting the treatment of higher grade ore at Orapa (Botswana) as well as continued strong performance in Namibia.
• Steelmaking coal production increased by 28%, reflecting the ongoing ramp-up of the longwall operations. Continuing to do so in a safe and stable way is our first priority.
• Copper production decreased by 6%, due to planned lower grades at all our operations in Chile, as well as unfavourable ore characteristics at Los Bronces, partly offset by the first production of copper from Quellaveco in Peru.
• Metal in concentrate production from our Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) operations decreased by 6%, due to the impact of Eskom load-shedding (power outages) primarily in September, infrastructure closures at Amandelbult and lower grade at Mogalakwena.
• Iron ore production decreased by 5% primarily due to Kumba, which was impacted by the slow ramp-up after the safety intervention in the second quarter and Eskom load-shedding, primarily in September, while production at Minas-Rio was flat.
• Nickel production decreased by 4%, primarily due to lower grades.