Anglo American up 5 pct after production gains

anglo american up

Copper production increased by 24% to a record 214,400 tonnes, driven by continued strong performance at Los Bronces, and higher grades at Collahuasi.

Anglo American (ON:AAL) reported increases in iron ore, copper, coal and platinum production in its fourth quarter report for the year ending December 2013.

The integrated miner was up 5.81% to GBX1,421.50 as of 4:30 GMT.

Iron ore production at Kumba recovered 25% to 11.3 million tonnnes following a strike in Q4 2012.

Some longwall productivity improvements lifted metallurgical coal production by 3% to 4.7 million tonnes.

Thermal coal production leapt 24% to 3.3 Mt at the company’s Colombia mine as production continued to ramp up. In South Africa thermal coal exports were down 1% due to wet weather and other factors.

Copper production increased by 24% to a record 214,400 tonnes due to continued strong performance at Los Bronces and higher grades at Collahuasi.

Platinum equivalent refined production increased by 25% to 520,300 ounces as a result of an increase in production from Mogalakwena, and the normalisation of production at Rustenburg (Bathopele, Siphumelele and Thembelani), Amandelbult (Dishaba and Tumela) and Union mines that were impacted by the illegal industrial action in 2012

The company also recorded production gains in nickel, niobium and phosphates.

Exploration and evaluation expenditure for Q4 2013 totalled $166 million, a decrease of 19%. Total expenditure in 2013 totalled $533 million, a decrease of 27%.