Anglo American 3Q Group Production Up 1%

By Oliver Griffin

Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) said Tuesday that total group production on a copper-equivalent basis rose 1% during the third quarter as copper production offset lower volumes at De Beers and infrastructure complaints at Kumba.

The diversified mining company said copper production rose 17% to 171,800 tons in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from 147,000 tons in the year-earlier period. The company's platinum business, Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS.JO), reported a 3% increase in total platinum-group metal production, which rose to 1.3 million ounces.

The company said including a stoppage at its Minas Rio mine, total production on a copper-equivalent basis fell 3% compared with the third-quarter of 2017.

Elsewhere the company reported production falls at De Beers--its majority-owned diamond mining business--and at its Kumba iron-ore business.

Anglo American said rough-diamond production at De Beers fell 5% to 8.7 million carats as a result of planned volume reductions in South Africa and Botswana. Iron-ore production at Kumba fell 9% to 10.5 million ounces, the company said.

Anglo American Platinum raised its full-year production guidance to a range of 5.1 million-5.2 million platinum-group metal ounces. Platinum production guidance was raised to between 2.45 million and 2.50 million ounces, while palladium production guidance was tightened to 1.55 million-1.60 million ounces, the company said.

At De Beers, Anglo American maintained its full-year guidance at a range of 34 million-36 million carats but added production is expected at the top end of the scale.

Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]; @OliGGriffin

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2018 02:39 ET (06:39 GMT)

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