Antofagasta PLC lowered its full-year cost guidance after record credits from by-products such as gold helped drive down its production expenses in the third quarter.
The Chilean copper miner said Thursday that its net cash costs, an industry metric, fell 4% to $1.07 a pound from the previous quarter.
The company attributed the decline to a record by-product credit of $1.35 a pound, which was boosted by a 12% quarterly increase in gold production and favorable pricing.
"Antofagasta delivered a strong quarter, with Group copper production in line quarter-on-quarter and net cash costs continuing to trend lower," Chief Executive Iván Arriagada said in a statement.
As a result, the company cut its full-year net cash cost guidance to a range of $1.20 to $1.30 a pound, from a previous forecast of $1.45 to $1.65 a pound.
Antofagasta now expects its annual copper production to be at the lower end of its 660,000 to 700,000-tonne guidance range.
It also lowered its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to $3.6 billion from $3.9 billion, primarily due to the depreciation of the Chilean peso.
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Antofagasta PLC reported a 27% drop in second-quarter net cash costs, driven by higher copper output and a surge in the production of valuable by-products.