Operational improvements in the third quarter saw Anglo American raising its production guidance for nickel and refined platinum group metals (PGMs) while maintaining guidance for iron ore, copper and diamonds.
Anglo reported iron ore output at 15.7-million tonnes for the three months to end-September, up 2% from the previous comparable period as its Minas-Rio operation in Brazil put in a second consecutive record quarterly performance.
Kumba, the other component of Anglo’s iron ore business, recorded its highest monthly output in the past year. But this was still down 3% year on year, as the group has been reconfiguring its operations to align production with the logistics constraints arising from Transnet.
Amid efforts to restructure its copper operations, Anglo placed the smaller and more costly of its Los Bronces plants on care and maintenance, resulting in a 13% drop in copper output year on year.
However, the group said copper production was on track to meet full-year guidance, with improved grades and recoveries expected to boost production at its Peruvian site.
“Our consistent focus on operational excellence continues to deliver stable production in line with our expectations,” said Anglo CEO Duncan Wanblad.
In its platinum group metals (PGMs) operations, third-quarter production was down 10% year on year, in line with 2024 guidance. Refined PGM production, however, increased 22% as processing assets benefited from having no load curtailment and a more stable municipal water supply.
Thanks to ongoing stability at its PGM processing assets, Anglo raised full-year refined PGM production guidance to between 3.7-million ounces and 3.9-million ounces.
Production guidance for nickel was raised to 38,000-39,000 tonnes, after operational improvements drove a 6% increase in nickel production.
In Anglo’s diamond business, production fell 25% as the group continued to respond to tough market conditions and a prolonged period of low demand. While production guidance for diamonds was unchanged, the group said De Beers is actively assessing options with Anglo’s partners to further cut back on production.
“As previously announced, we reduced rough diamond production from De Beers in response to market conditions,” said Wanblad. “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.”
Reflecting on the third-quarter performance, Wanblad said: “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.”
Anglo’s move to divest of its diamonds, steelmaking coal and PGM businesses by the end of this year will result in a highly cash-generative and higher-margin portfolio, said Wanblad — offering significant benefits in terms of resilience through cycles and growth options.
The move is expected to bolster Anglo’s long-term copper production, “providing a clear path to increase annual copper production to more than 1-million tonnes by the early 2030s”, said Wanblad.
“Our accelerated portfolio simplification to unlock the inherent value in Anglo is well under way. The PGMs demerger is on track to be completed 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 the execution of a sale agreement in the coming months.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.