Copper output at 321 132 t from January to May was higher than the 276 230 t the southern African country produced during the same period last year.

The central bank said in a fortnight report that copper exports increased marginally to 345 329 t in the first five months of 2010 versus 244 873 t in 2009.

Cobalt production increased to 3 210 t in 2010 from 1 613 last year and exports shot up to 3 198 t to May this year from 1 587 t in 2009, the Bank of Zambia said.

Chibamba Kanyama, an economist at the country’s main think-tank, the Economics Association of Zambia, told Reuters copper output had risen following the opening of new mines like Equinox Minerals’ Lumwana mine and the increase in copper prices

“It was not cost efficient to carry out mining activities in certain parts of the mines when the price of copper was low but with the rise in prices it is now profitable to carry out mining in areas that were considered expensive,” Kanyama said.

Kanyama said Zambia was likely to achieve its target to raise copper production to about one-million tons by 2011, from just below 700 000 t in 2009.

“Copper prices are cyclical and the mining companies are rallying behind the high price to maximize output before the cycle goes down,” Kanyama said.

Kanyama said cobalt output had almost doubled following the re-opening of Zambia’s largest cobalt producer, Chambishi Metals.

Copper mining is Zambia’s economic lifeblood and the mines are a major employer in the country of over 12-million people.

Foreign mining companies in Zambia include London-listed Vedanta Resources, Canada’s First Quantum Minerals, Glencore International of Switzerland and Metorex of South Africa.

Zambia has previously said copper production could hit 1.0 million tonnes by 2011 as new mines come on stream and expansions and upgrades take place at existing mines.

Its copper production declined to 54,518 tonnes in January this year from 62,621 tonnes in the same month last year, the central bank said on Tuesday.

Copper exports in January 2010 increased to 56,676 tonnes versus 55,199 produced in 2009, the Bank of Zambia (BOZ) said.

Economist Oliver Saasa said that despite the output fall Zambia would still produce more than 700,000 tonnes in 2010 as the price outlook appeared positive.

“The decline is insignificant and we still have a very long year to go,” Saasa, professor of economics at the University of Zambia, said.

Saasa said the future of both copper and cobalt mining was favourable as most of the mines had embarked on programmes of reinvestment after the global financial crisis.

“One only hopes that politics will not discourage further investment with the elections coming up next year,” Saasa said.

The drop in output was blamed on mine closures.

“There was no production at Luanshya mine, while production at Mufulira almost collapsed and there were problems at the Nchanga open pit and all this resulted in the low January copper output,” University of Zambia head of mining engineering Mathias Mpande said.

Some of the mines closed due to the global economic downturn.

Mpande said the resumption of operations by Zambia’s largest cobalt producer, Chambishi Metals, led to higher output of cobalt in January 2010 over the same month last year.

Cobalt production in January 2010 shot up to 734 tonnes from 367 tonnes in January last year and exports increased to 731 tonnes from 356 tonnes in 2009, the central bank said.

Cobalt production in 2009 rose to 5,879 tonnes from 4,617 tonnes in 2008, and exports rose to 5,868 tonnes in 2009 from 4,610 tonnes, the Bank of Zambia said.

Copper output in Zambia rose 14 percent to 697,860 tonnes last year.

Frederick Bantubonse, the general manager of the Chamber of Mines of Zambia, said that to boost output quicker, the southern African nation should restore investor confidence, which was eroded by the introduction of higher taxes in 2008.

Copper mining is Zambia’s economic lifeblood and the mines are a major employer in the country of 12 million people.

Foreign mining companies in Zambia include London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, Glencore International of Switzerland and Metorex of South Africa.

China, the world’s top consumer of most base metals and the biggest producer of aluminium, lead, zinc and tin, produced 358,000 tonnes of refined copper in February, up 4.1 percent from 344,000 tonnes in January, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday. The bureau did not release the January data in February and published figures for the two months on Thursday.

January’s copper output was down 17.6 percent from December 2009 and 14.9 percent off the all-time record in November. “Smelters’ repairs and the Lunar New Year holiday caused lower production in January and February,” said Yang Changhua, copper analyst at state-backed research group Antaike.

Smelters’ operations had slowed around the holiday because some workers were away. But February output was lower than Antaike’s estimate of 370,000-380,000 tonnes, Yang said.

“Output in March should resume to 380,000-390,000 tonnes,” Yang added. China produced 1.31 million tonnes of primary aluminium in February versus 1.26 million in January, which was 7.8 percent less than December’s all-time record of 1.37 million tonnes.

Refined zinc output fell 3.5 percent on the month to 363,000 tonnes in February from January’s 376,000 tonnes, which was 18.6 percent off December’s all-time record of 461,700 tonnes. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez) 2010-03-11 05:51:47

That marked the end to four consecutive years of dwindling output as lower grades at aging mines and labor strikes hit output of one of the main revenues-earners of the Chilean state.

The total did not include output from El Abra which is a joint venture between Codelco and a private company.

The state miner [CODEL.UL] produced 1.46 million tonnes of copper during the same period the previous year.

The giant miner produced 21,500 tonnes of molybdenum, a metal used to strengthen steel, in 2009.

* Expects 2010 output similar to prior year

* Forecasts higher output by 2017

SANTIAGO, Feb 22  - Global miner Anglo American (AAL.L) said Monday it expects to nearly double its output to 1.2 million tonnes of copper by 2017.

Anglo’s copper business unit Chief Executive Officer John MacKenzie reiterated the company’s 2010 output would be similar to the previous year when the London-listed company produced 669,800 tonnes.

The miner declined to reinstate its dividend and instead promised to resume payouts later this year. Anglo’s annual profits in 2009 fell less than expected. [ID:nLDE61H1AM]

Anglo American shares fell 0.10 percent to 2455 pence by 1457 GMT.

Benchmark copper for three-month delivery MCU3 on the London Metals Exchange fell more than 1.7 percent to bid at 7,320, shedding some of its impressive gains last week when the metal hit 3-1/2-week highs. [ID:nLDE61L10L]

Anglo’s mining operations in Chile makes up most of its total output of the red metal used in home building and car manufacturing. The company is moving ahead with plans to expand its 238,400 tonnes of copper-per-year Los Bronces mine and Collahuasi, one of the world’s biggest copper mines.

Under the new law, miners must process minerals using their own facilities or by sending minerals to be processed in other companies in Indonesia.

However, lack of domestic processing capacity means the implementation is likely to be slow.

Freeport Indonesia, which operates the huge Grasberg mine in Papua province, sells about 300,000-500,000 tonnes of its copper output a year in Indonesia, or roughly 30 percent of its total production.

‘PT Freeport Indonesia is ready to supply more copper concentrate to domestic copper smelter,’ said Armando Mahler, president and CEO of PT Freeport Indonesia.

Mahler said two Indonesian smelters, PT Nusantara Smelting Corporation and PT Indosmelt, had requested supplies of copper concentrate but talks between them had halted.

Currently, PT Smelting is the only Indonesian smelter to handle copper smelting. Last year, it said it expected its copper cathode production to rise 8 percent to 280,000 tonnes for 2009.

PT Smelting supplies between 40-60 percent of its output to local cable producers and copper rod producers.

* Forecasts higher output by 2014 (Adds executive’s comment, share price and details)

SANTIAGO, Feb 23 – Global miner Anglo American (AAL.L) said Monday it expects its total copper output to reach 1.2 million tonnes by 2014.

Anglo’s copper business unit Chief Executive Officer John MacKenzie reiterated the company’s 2010 output would be similar to the previous year when the London-listed company produced 669,800 tonnes.

The miner declined to reinstate its dividend and instead promised to resume payouts later this year. Anglo’s annual profits in 2009 fell less than expected. [ID:nLDE61H1AM]

Anglo American shares fell 0.10 percent to 2455 pence by 1457 GMT.

Benchmark copper for three-month delivery MCU3 on the London Metals Exchange fell more than 1.7 percent to bid at 7,320, shedding some of its impressive gains last week when the metal hit 3-1/2-week highs. [ID:nLDE61L10L]

Anglo’s mining operations in Chile makes up most of its total output of the red metal used in home building and car manufacturing. The company is moving ahead with plans to expand its 238,400 tonnes of copper-per-year Los Bronces mine and Collahuasi, one of the world’s biggest copper mines.

* Peso jumps 1 percent following the data

SANTIAGO, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Chile’s copper export revenues CLCOPX=ECI more than doubled in January to $3.373 billion, the central bank said on Monday, lifted by a recovery in copper prices and boosting the local peso.

The value of Chile’s copper exports totaled $1.598 billion in January 2009.

Last month, the central bank reported copper exports came to $3.174 billion in December. Chile is the world’s top copper producer, mining about a third of global supply.

Chile’s peso CLP=CL rose 1 in early Monday trade to 522.70/523.20 per dollar compared with Friday’s close of 528.00/528.50, on the back of the data, which adds to evidence that the economy is recovering from its first recession in a decade, a recession that was triggered by global financial crisis.

Copper revenues fell last year after a sharp drop in copper prices due to global crisis, which dented the South American country’s revenue intake.

But a steep recovery in prices in recent months has lifted copper export income, traditionally Chile’s main export earner.

The government said last month that output of the red metal rose 0.8 percent from the previous year to 5.4 million tonnes in 2009.

Chile’s copper output rose 3.8 percent in December [CLCOPP=ECI] from the same month the previous year, according to government data. Output data for January are due out Feb. 26.

The central bank said copper exports in 2009 increased to 675,384 from 587,125 tonnes the previous year.

Cobalt production shot up to 5,879 tonnes last year compared with 4,617 tonnes in 2008 and export rose to 5,868 tonnes in 2009 from 4,610 tonnes, the central bank said.

Sales for the quarter more than doubled year-on-year to C$290,57-million, compared with C$139,63-million in the same period of 2008, Inmet reported on Tuesday.

The company expects copper output in 2010 to rise by some 50% as it ramps up production at the new Las Cruces mine, in Spain, while gold sales volumes will be lower because production at the Troilus mine is scheduled to end around mid-year.

Zinc production will be higher than in 2009 because of plans to mine higher-grades at the Pyhasalmi mine, Inmet said.

Shares in the Toronto-based company rose 2,5% on Tuesday morning, to C$54,16 apiece by 9:52 ET.

Avanco says it is highly encouraged with results to date which illustrate the feasibility of a low cost, minimum risk project with a strong economic performance.

The Scoping study on the Rio Verde High Grade Copper Project is nearing completion and illustrates ~5,000tpa of copper sales with ~US$57M total cash flow with ~$1.70 total cash costs for the opening six years under study.

The high grade strategy focuses on the JORC compliant 210,000t at 11.6%Cu resource, with pre-production Capex of ~US$2M.

Plant and infrastructures ~US$9M to be funded from early cash flows, while grade control drilling to increase and upgrade resources to measured and indicated categories to be completed during third quarter of 2010.

The very near term copper production from Rio Verde through exploitation of the high grade Inferred and Indicated JORC compliant resource at the Antas South deposit contains 1210,000t at 11.6%Cu.

The company hopes to increase copper output by seamless development of heap leaching following the commissioning of the high grade flotation plant.

Develop and bring on stream new copper metal production via proximal Rio Verde targets or advanced stage acquisitions.

The maiden JORC Resource Estimate for Antas South is 210,000t at 11.65% Cu, 8 Mt at 0.83% Cu (0.3%Cu cut) and 17.6 Mt at 0.48% Cu (0.1%Cu cut).

Flotation recoveries of 75% Cu have been demonstrated with performance expected to be improved through optimisation over the coming months.

In progressing the study Avanco has examined a number of production scenarios including the current proposal of scheduling production from early mining of “out-of pit” direct ship saleable ores. This approach minimises initial capital requirements and enables concurrent construction and commissioning of a flotation beneficiation plant within 24 months self funded from out-of-pit copper revenues.

The study has tested the first 6 years of the project and is based on a mine plan of 300,000t which reflects what the Company anticipates will be identified before mining begins.

Avanco is planning to use the Rio Verde High Grade Copper Project as a “Springboard” to become a very near copper producer in the Carajas.

The above intersections contain +25% copper which is believed to be associated with predominantly chalcosite mineralisation. By adopting a selective mining method, the Company believes that ~20,000t of ore at 25% Copper grade can be mined ‘out-of-pit’ and be direct shipped for sales.

The high grade zone is open along strike and the Company believes that additional high grade zones exist at Antas South and within neighbouring exploration targets. Avanco is aiming to discover additional high grade zones before production commences.

Avanco anticipates completing a program of grade control drilling in third quarter of 2010 to increase and upgrade resources to measured and indicated categories and move the high grade resource into a “ready-to-mine” status.

* Puts 2010 copper estimate at 500,000 tonnes

* Says to produce 18,500 tonnes of molybdenum this year

* Still no restart date for strike-hit Cananea

LIMA, Feb 2 – Southern Copper Corp, one of the world’s largest copper producers, said on Tuesday it sees average copper prices at $3.25 per pound in 2010, as it expects emerging and developed economies to boost demand of the metal.

Copper, which is used in construction, rose 140 percent in 2009 on strong Chinese buying and supply concerns, but fell 8.5 percent in January as rising inventories suggested demand outside China was weak.

U.S. copper futures <HGHO> settled up 0.2 percent on Tuesday at $3.0895 a lb in New York.

“We believe that inventories of copper will start to die off during the year, reversing the last month’s trend,” Southern Copper’s Chief Financial Officer Genaro Guerrero said on a conference call with investors.

He said he expected buying from emerging economies like China to support prices through this year, as well as rising consumption in developed countries like the United States.

Southern Copper <PCU.N> <SPC.LM> also gave guidance for its 2010 production on the call.

It put its copper production estimate for this year at 500,000 tonnes, slightly above the 485,376 tonnes it mined this year, and its molybdenum forecast at 18,500 tonnes, in line with last year’s output.

The company said it expected its zinc sales this year be around 110,000 tonnes and its silver sales to come in near 16 million ounces in 2010.

CANANEA RESTART

Southern Copper, a unit of Grupo Mexico <GMEXICOB.MX>, operates the giant Cananea mine in Mexico, which historically has produced some 20 percent of the company’s copper output and has been hit by a strike for the past two years.

The company made a fresh offer to unionized workers late last month, but the union said miners would not accept it.

When asked when Southern Copper might be able to restart operations at the mine, Guerrero said he had no estimate.

Coal is expected to account for 40 percent of core earnings this year while copper is due to make up 36 percent and zinc 10 percent, according to Morgan Stanley.

Xstrata, the world’s biggest exporter of ‘thermal’ coal used in power plants, said on Monday total coal production in 2009 rose to 95.2 million tonnes compared to 85.5 million tonnes in 2008 following the takeover of Prodeco in Colombia.

The average price of Australian thermal coal, which accounts for the bulk of production, fell to $80.30 per tonne from $95.60 in 2008, a statement said.

Mined copper output was 906,898 tonnes while zinc production rose 20 percent to 1.03 million tonnes.

Xstrata, the world’s largest zinc producer, did not provide an outlook on the coming year.

Zambia’s central bank, the Bank of Zambia (BoZ), said in a fortnightly report copper exports also rose to 612,021 tonnes between January and November 2009 compared with 517,674 tonnes in the corresponding period in 2008.

Cobalt production in the period under review rose to 5,464 tonnes from 4,324 tonnes and exports increased to 5,275 tonnes from 4,259 tonnes, the central bank said.

Negotiations resumed today, the last day of the current contract, according to union official Miguel Lopez. A company spokeswoman, who declined to be named because of company policy, confirmed that the renewed talks failed to produce an agreement.

“We are not going to sign today,” Lopez said by telephone. “We will just have to carry out the strike.”

Chuquicamata is part of state-owned Codelco’s Norte unit, which accounted for almost half of the Santiago-based company’s copper output of 1.55 million metric tons in 2008. Codelco is the largest copper producer. Worldwide production this year is estimated at 18.1 million tons, according to Barclays Capital.

Copper futures rose as much as 1 percent in New York, touching $3.379 a pound, the highest price in almost 16 months.

Maxwell Mwale told Reuters that KCM, a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, had invested $1,5-billion in new projects, including the Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP), which is expected to extend the mine life of KCM by 23 years.

Mwale said KDPM, which involves deepening one of the shafts to 1 460 m, is forecast to produce 180 000 t of copper per year when the mine reaches maximum output in 2011.

“The deep mining project will be commissioned in April next year and after that KCM will start ramping up production until they reach full output sometime in 2011,” Mwale said.

KCM data shows that Konkola mine has been mined down to 950 metres level at its South number one shaft and 590 metres at the North number three shaft. The mining firm now wants to reach an ore body beneath the one currently being produced.

Mwale said apart from investing in KDMP, part of the $1.5 billion had gone into the construction of a smelter, with a capacity of 300 000 t per year, and the concentrator at Nchanga mine in Chingola

KCM operates the Konkola copper mine, the satellite Fitwaola mine and the Nampundwe pyrite mine.

Production from the mine – the world’s fourth largest copper deposit – may drop by up to 70 000 t before repairs to the main shaft are completed and full production resumes, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) said.

Its estimate of losses from the mine is up to 40 percent higher that most analysts’ forecasts, and represents more than a third of total capacity of around 200 000 t/y.

Copper prices are already rising – up by around $1 000/t to $6 900/t since the start of October, and more than doubling so far this year – on concerns that global demand could outpace supply next year.

In its latest quarterly outlook, ABARE cut its forecast for refined copper exports by 15,8 percent for the year to June 30, 2010, and its estimate for refined copper output by 13 percent to 408 000 t.

“If realised, this will be the lowest refined copper production recorded in Australia since 1998-99,” it said.

Australia’s Macquarie Bank predicts a global copper supply deficit is looming this year that will take two years to correct, increasing its 2010/2011 copper price forecasts by two to three percent on Tuesday to $3,25/lb to $3,40/lb ($7 166/t to $7 500/t).

The bureau also revised up iron ore exports by two percent and coking coal exports by 16,2 percent, citing strong demand for raw materials by Asian steelmakers.

Chinese imports of coking and thermal coal and iron ore should remain strong into 2010, underpinning higher production from Australia mines as demand shows signs of picking up in other Australian export markets, according to the bureau.

The iron ore export trade is a high stakes business worth more than $80-billion a year.

It is dominated by Australians Rio Tinto and BHP, along with Brazil’s Vale, on the mining side, and China, the world’s biggest iron ore consumer, on the other.

“China will continue to have a significant influence over the demand for minerals and energy commodities in 2010, but consumption is also forecast to increase gradually in OECD economies,” the bureau said.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-based consumers that drew on their own inventories as the global economic slowdown worsened, reinforcing the sharp weakening of underlying demand for industrial commodities, may soon be returning to the market to replenish stockpiles, according to the bureau.

“The rebuilding of stocks in 2010, if it occurs, will provide additional support for minerals and energy commodity demand,” it said.

In October, haulage equipment failed inside the main shaft of Olympic Dam, which transports 75 percent of the mine’s copper and uranium-bearing ore to the surface. It is under repair and is not expected to be fully operational until the first quarter of 2010, according to BHP Billiton.

The shutdown of Escondida, which accounts for 8 per cent of the world’s copper output, pushed up the price of the red metal by $180 per tonne to $7,470 on the London Metal Exchange. Chile’s President, Michelle Bachelet, called for talks to resume between the miner and the unions, who are demanding a substantial pay rise and bonuses to reflect the huge profits earned from high copper prices.

In London, the price of nickel gained $300 per tonne as volumes in LME warehouses dwindled further. China’s largest nickel producer expressed concern that the nickel market was being distorted by speculators and urged the LME to improve regulation.

“The LME is no longer a place for fair dealing metals but a paradise of speculation,” said Li Yongjun, chairman of Jinchuan Group, the largest nickel producer in China.

Nickel reached a record high of $29,200 per tonne in the forward market as stocks plummeted to less than a day’s supply. The premium for cash nickel over three-month delivery widened to almost $5,000 per tonne, prompting the LME to introduce emergency rules on Wednesday to allow short sellers to escape the squeeze.

BHP’s tough stance with the Escondida strikers may be supported by the Chilean Government, reckoned some analysts, as Escondida pays its workforce the highest mining wages in Chile, and the state copper company, Codelco, will be anxious to avoid a high settlement with its own workers. “They won’t want to see BHP set a precedent and stoke higher wage claims at Codelco,” said Robin Bhar, metals strategist at UBS.

BHP said that it had shut the mine for safety reasons but Pedro Marin, a spokesman for the strikers, accused BHP of trying to scare the workforce. “This is illegal pressure,” he said.

The producer noted in a statement on Thursday that the investment would be used to transform the open-pit mining operations into a major underground mine, while it would also construct an associated magnetite extraction plant.

The EHM operation was due to be closed in 2012.

“This is the second of five brownfield projects that Xstrata Copper is planning to move into the construction phase over the next nine months across our global operations, following the approval of the Lomas Bayas extension project in October,” Xstrata Copper CE Charlie Sartain noted.

The project would enable EHM to achieve output levels of about 50 000 t/y of copper and 70 000 oz/y of gold in concentrate from 2012 onwards, when processing from open-pit mining would stop.

Construction of the underground mine would start in the first half of 2010, with first production expected by late 2011. It would reach full output by early 2013.

The construction of the magnetite plant would also start in the first half of 2010 and would be commissioned early in 2011.

The investment decision comes after feasibility studies into the proposed project had resulted in a revised ore reserves estimate of 72-million tons at a grade of 1% copper, 0,5 g/t of gold and 22% magnetite, Xstrata Copper stated.

It added that the total tonnage represented a 600% increase over previously published underground reserves.

Ore would be mined mainly from a major hoisting shaft to be sunk to a depth of 1 000 m, producing six-million tons a year of ore at full capacity.

The existing concentrator at EHM would be reconfigured to align with the underground production rate, while a separate extraction circuit would be installed to produce magnetite concentrates, the copper-miner pointed out.

The magnetite processing operation would produce about 1,2-million tons a year of magnetite, which would be exported to Asia.

The project was seen as an important step in sustaining Xstrata Copper’s north Queensland copper operations, which Sartain noted made a significant contribution to the Queensland economy.

It would continue to sustain the future of EHM, while also continuing to supply copper concentrates to Xstrata Copper’s smelter at Mount Isa, which supported the Townsville refining operations.

It would also create 400 permanent jobs from 2013 onwards.

On October 15, Xstrata announced that it would invest $293-million to extend the life of the Lomas Bayas mine in Chile by eight years to 2020 to sustain production capacity at 75 000 t/y of copper cathode.