Antamina, Peru’s second-largest copper mine, expects its 2024 output to be in line with the 435,378 metric tons it produced last year, while it nears the start of work on a delayed project to extend the mine’s lifespan, a top executive said on Friday.
Antamina, controlled by Glencore GLEN.L, BHP BHP.AX, Teck TECKb.TO and Mitsubishi 8058.T, is pushing ahead with the $2 billion “Antamina Replenishment” project to extend the mine’s life to 2036, from 2028 currently, its president Victor Gobitz said.
In 2022, Antamina was Peru’s top copper producer, with an output of 467,905 tons, but has since fallen to number two, according to data from the mines and energy ministry.
Gobitz told Reuters that Antamina has “no plan to increase production levels” despite the near-record high global prices of copper. He said the company does not have the “operational flexibility” to boost output, and production will be “very similar to last year.”
After receiving the environmental permit for the expansion project earlier this year, Gobitz said the government should issue the construction license before the end of 2024 so the expansion works can start in 2025.
Gobitz added that Antamina has not ruled out extending the operation of its mine beyond 2036 “under the same operational footprint and the same environmental footprint, because that simplifies permitting.”
Peru was displaced last year by the Democratic Republic of Congo as the world’s second-largest copper producer, but remains in the No. 2 spot for exports behind neighbor Chile. Gobitz estimated that Peru’s overall production would increase to 3 million tons this year, up from 2.76 million tons of copper last year.