27 Jul 2021 | 18:51 UTC

Cerro Verde boosts Q2 copper production 16% on higher ore throughput

Highlights

Q2 copper output rises to 206.3 million lb

Mine treats 49% more ore to compensate for lower grades

Freeport McMoRan boosted second-quarter copper production at its Peruvian unit by 16% year on year, compared with last year's coronavirus lockdown, as its Cerro Verde mine ramped up operations.

Copper production rose to 206.3 million lb in the quarter from 177.7 million lb a year earlier as the mine treated 49% more ore to compensate for lower copper ore grades and recovery rates, the Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde unit said July 27 in a corporate filing to securities regulator SMV.

The mine's 360,000 mt/d concentrator was operating at 95% of pre-pandemic levels, according to Freeport. The mine was shut from mid-March to mid-May 2020 by a nationwide lockdown.

Cerro Verde, which recently signed a four-year labor agreement with 57% of its workers, won't return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022, CEO Richard Adkerson said July 22. Labor talks still are ongoing with the other employees.

Copper sales rose 7% to 189.1 million lb from 176.5 million lb a year earlier, the company said. Capital spending totaled $58.4 million through the first half of the year, compared with $106 million in H1 of last year, as part of a cost-cutting plan.

Asia accounted for 77.7% of sales in the quarter, followed by Europe (8.5%), North America (8.2%), and South America (5.6%), it said.

The company completed a $4.6 billion expansion project in 2016 to increase concentrator capacity to 360,000 mt/d of ore from 120,000 mt/d, providing additional annual production of about 600 million lb of copper and 15 million lb of molybdenum.

Cerro Verde posted a Q2 profit of $240.3 million, up from profit of $68.7 million a year earlier. Sales nearly doubled to $948 million from $519.5 million a year ago as copper prices jumped to $4.73/lb from $2.94/lb a year ago.


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