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April 21 (Reuters) - Chilean miner Antofagasta said
on Wednesday copper production in the first quarter of 2021 was
down 5.7% at 183,000 tonnes from the same year-ago period, in
light of a surge of COVID-19 infections in the country.
"In March, Chile entered a second wave of COVID-19
infections as the number of cases in Chile accelerated, reaching
record daily cases since the outbreak of the pandemic," it said
in its quarterly production results.
"In addition to the health measures we introduced last year
we have further reduced our on-site workforce," it added.
The London-listed miner left its full-year guidance
unchanged at 730-760,000 tonnes of copper at a net cash cost of
$1.25 per pound and capital expenditure of $1.6 billion.
Its net cash costs rose to $1.16 per pound in the first
quarter from $1.10 a year earlier, it said.
The miner, which expects stronger production in the second
half, said that major maintenance works at its biggest mine, Los
Pelambres, originally planned for the second quarter and which
require a large number of additional workers on-site, is likely
to be rescheduled to later in 2021.
(Reporting by Clara Denina, editing by Louise Heavens)
