Anglo American reports slump in iron-ore output in Q3

18th Oct 2013 07:04

- Iron ore output falls 24 per cent- Other production broadly higher across the groupDiversified mining group Anglo American saw a sharp fall in iron-ore production in the third quarter, though output from its other smaller divisions was broadly higher year-on-year.The company said that production from its Kumba Iron Ore unit declined 24% to 9.5m tonnes in the three months to September 30th due mainly to weaker production at the Sishen mine in South Africa after ongoing pit constraints and regulatory safety stoppages. The company said it intends to address these problems and a longer-term operational strategy by the end of the year. Manganese ore output also fell by 8% to 788,000 tonnes during the third quarter.The iron ore and manganese division is Anglo's largest as operations accounted for around half of group underlying profits in the first half.In contrast, the next biggest division, copper, increased production by 32% during the period to 207,300 tonnes, helped by a strong performance from Los Bronces and Collahuasi in Chile.The production of diamonds, also a big money maker for Anglo, jumped by 21% to 7.7m carats as the Jwaneng mine in Botswana recovered following a slope failure last year.The company also reported increases in output of metallurgical coal, nickel, niobium and phosphates during the quarter. Meanwhile, export thermal coal production fell 1% and platinum was flat year-on-year.BC