JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – On the back of an “undeniably difficult 2015” resulting in a 10.6% year-on-year drop in total copper production, Chilean miner Antofagasta hopes to boost its 2016 copper production by between 12.6% and 17.4%.

The miner said in a statement on Wednesday that it hoped to benefit from a full year of production at Zaldívar mine – a 50% joint venture with Barrick Gold, which it bought into last year – as well as growth at its Antucoya and Centinela operations.

Antofagasta last year commissioned the Antucoya copper mine, which is expected to reach its full capacity of 85 000 t/y in mid-2016.

“With this focus on our operations, we expect the group’s total copper production for 2016 to be in the range of 710 000 t and 740 000 t at a net cash cost of $1.35/lb,” stated Antofagasta CEO Diego Hernández in the firm’s fourth-quarter report, reiterating that the company was focused on operational excellence and improving productivity across all mines to maintain a tight control on costs.

Commenting on the year that was, Hernández noted that, owing to the continued deterioration of the macro environment, coupled with falling commodity prices and several operational setbacks the company’s copper production dropped from 704 800 t in 2014 to 630 300 t in 2015.

“Although we achieved significant savings during the year and benefited from the weaker Chilean peso and falling energy and diesel prices, this was outweighed by our lower production,” said Hernández.

Meanwhile, Antofagasta said gold production for 2016 is expected to increase by 14% to 29%, to range between 245 000 oz and 275 000 oz, while molybdenum production is expected to be between 8 000 t and 9 000 t, 11% to 21% lower than in 2015.

The group’s cash cost before by-product credits is expected to fall by 9% in 2016 to $1.65/lb following further planned cost savings and the expected continued weakness of the Chilean peso.