British mining giant Anglo American ups copper equivalent production 2% in third quarter

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(Kitco News) - Anglo American (AAL.L,AAM.SW) announced Thursday that its copper equivalent production is up 2% in Q32021 compared to Q3 2020, with the company's operating levels generallymaintained at approximately 95% of normal capacity.

According to the company'sstatement, the increase in production is led by planned higher rough diamondproduction at De Beers, increased production from its Minas-Rio iron oreoperation in Brazil, reflecting the planned pipeline maintenance in Q3 2020,and improved plant performance at the company's Kumba iron ore operations inSouth Africa.

Rough diamond productionincreased by 28%, principally from the Jwaneng and Venetia mines, reflectingplanned higher production in response to the ongoing consumer demand recoveryled by the key US and China markets.

Copper production decreasedby 6% due to planned maintenance at Collahuasi, while total year to date productionacross all copper operations increased marginally by 1% despite ongoing wateravailability constraints caused by record drought conditions in Chile.

The company's platinum group metalsoperations delivered a 39% increase in refined output, reflecting stable performancefrom the ACP Phase A unit.

Iron ore production increasedby 15%, driven primarily by a 22% uplift from Minas-Rio, reflecting the plannedmaintenance period in Q3 2020 for routine internal scanning of the pipeline.Kumba production also performed strongly, increasing by 11% due to improvedplant performance.

Primary nickel productionincreased by 2% over the period and by-product nickel from our PGMs businessincreased by 20% to 6,000 tonnes.

Importantly, the company saidthat it is broadly on track to deliver its full year production guidance acrossall products, while taking the opportunity to tighten up
the guidance for diamonds,copper and iron ore within its current range as the company approaches the endof the year.

Anglo American is a leadingglobal mining company which producing diamonds (through De Beers), copper,platinum group metals, the steelmaking ingredients of iron ore andmetallurgical coal, and nickel.

By Vladimir Basov

For Kitco News

Follow kitconewsnow vbasov@kitco.comwww.kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

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