Creamer Media Login

First Quantum posts surprise profit on higher copper sales, output

14th February 2020

Font size: - +

Canada's First Quantum Minerals posted a surprise profit on Thursday, helped by higher sales and production, driven by a ramp-up of its Cobre Panama copper mine.

First Quantum's total copper production rose 29% to 204 270 t, while sales jumped 31.8%.

The company has been actively developing its Cobre Panama project, which started commercial production last September, with its final mill becoming operational in mid-December. Cobre is among Panama's largest copper mines.

First Quantum last month strengthened its defence against a hostile takeover after China's Jiangxi Copper became the miner's largest shareholder with an 18% stake. The move followed talks between the companies for a potential sale of a minority interest in First Quantum's Zambian assets.

The miner, which is scouting for strategic partners to develop new copper projects, has said it may team-up with Rio Tinto, to develop its Peru copper mine. First Quantum owns the Haquira deposit in the South American country, while Rio owns the La Granja porphyry copper project.

First Quantum's average copper price realization fell 7.4% to $2.62/lb in the fourth quarter, as the metal's demand fell, especially from top consumer China due to a prolonged Sino-US trade war.

Excluding items, the company earned 5c a share, while analysts had estimated a loss of 2c a share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

Click Here

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

➕

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

➕

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION

➕