Antofagasta misses targets in the first quarter

4th May 2011 10:23

While mining giant Antofagasta saw a year-on-year improvement in copper production in the first quarter, the amount came short of targets, causing shares to take a tumble on Wednesday.Group copper production for the first three months of the year came in at 129,800 tonnes, 10.3% higher than the first quarter of 2010. However, the amount missed forecasts of 158,800 tonnes, reflecting delays at the Esperanza mine and the impact of lower-than-budgeted grades its Los Pelambres.Esperanza, its copper-gold mine located in the Antofagasta region of northern Chile, made its first shipment of copper concentrate in January, following the start of commissioning of the plant in November 2010. However, payable copper produced at this mine reached just 7,400 tonnes, well below initial targets of 23,400 tonnes. Payable gold production also disappointed, coming in at 15,000 ounces, short of expectations of 31,000 ounces.The group said the shortfall reflected changes in the phasing of the start-up and the longer-than-expected ramp-up of the mine."Final production levels [at Esperanza] for the full year will depend on the precise timing of the completion of the ramp-up and the current expectation is that this should be completed with the full design capacity of 97,000 tonnes per day being achieved during the course of the second quarter of 2011," the group said.Mining at Los Pelambres, in Chile's Coquimbo region, produced 91,200 tonnes of payable copper during the period, down from the 92,300 tonnes produced in the fourth quarter of 2010, due to lower ore grades and lower recoveries. However, production for the remainder of the year at Los Pelambres is expected to be 'in line'.Nevertheless, group gold production surged by over 150% compared with last year, after the first contribution from Esperanza. The group produced 22,100 ounces of gold in the period, up from just 8,800 ounces in the first quarter of 2010.---BC