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LONDON: Anglo American said on Friday it expected a 2 million to 3 million tonne fall in production at its Kumba Iron Ore unit in South Africa this year and a drop of up to 2 million tonnes in output of export coal due to a three-week shutdown.
The London-listed miner also lowered output of platinum and diamonds in South Africa, extended a slowdown in construction at its Quellaveco copper project in Peru and paused work in its Woodsmith polyhalite project in Britain.
Governments are stepping up measures to contain the coronavirus including restricting movement in populations and shutting down non-essential businesses such as mining.
Anglo American PLC on Monday said travel restrictions mean its De Beers unit will not be able to host its third sales event of 2020.
The miner said travel curbs will prevent both products, and customers in South Africa, Botswana and India from travelling to the event.
It seems a diamond is forever. Anglo American has detailed which of its operations will continue production during the 21-day lockdown and which will operate with reduced staffing levels. The National Union of Mineworkers says this is a ‘reckless and inhuman’ pursuit of profit.
27 March 2020, 07:40Source - SMW
Mining giant Anglo American warned on production after winding down operations in South Africa and Peru, with the Woodsmith polyhalite project in the UK also expected to halt activity.
'Based on the 21-day lockdown period in South Africa and allowing for a safe ramp-up of operations thereafter, Anglo American would expect a 2020 production volume impact of 2m-to-3m tonnes at Kumba iron opre (based on the c.50% reduction in the workforce) and 1.5m-to-2m tonnes of export thermal coal,' Anglo American said.
Sishen and Kolomela mines, part of the Kumba iron ore project, would continue to operate with a 50% level of workforce, while De Beers' Venetia mine would operate with a 75% reduced workforce, the company said. In Peru, where the company had temporarily withdrawn the majority of employees and contractors from its Quellaveco copper project and significantly reduced construction work, the government extended its initial 15-day national quarantine period by 13 days to 12 April. In the UK, meanwhile, Anglo American said it was in the process of pausing most construction and development activity on its Woodsmith polyhalite project following the government's measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
In line with that approach, numbers active at the Woodsmith site are expected to reduce further in the coming days, and we have taken the decision to pause tunnelling on Drive 1 of the mineral transport system from Wilton. We will keep this under review and adjust as the situation evolves.
Look at the date on the RNS below, it’s one day after the CEO sells
Deals on 05 March 2020
Declared Type Director Pos. Volume / Price Value
09/03/20 SELL Mark Cutifani CEO 204,584 @ 1,942.90p £3,974,863
RNS Number : 2958F
Anglo American PLC
06 March 2020
Anglo American Platinum announces temporary shutdown of the Anglo Converter Plant (ACP) and declares force majeure
The slump in Chinese diamond demand is causing a ripple effect back to cutters, traders and ultimately the mining companies like De Beers. The Anglo American Plc unit had given its buyers special permission to refuse to buy goods destined for China. The coronavirus comes as the diamond industry is still reeling from a disastrous year. Profits collapsed after a glut of both rough and polished stone.
24 March, 2020
Anglo American notes the statement made by the President of the Republic of South Africa on the evening of Monday 23 March in relation to a 21-day nationwide lockdown, to take effect at midnight on Thursday 26 March, in order to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa. Anglo American will review the detailed regulations relating to this action that are being published, including in relation to exemptions for certain business activities, and will issue a further statement in due course.
Asian shares sank on Monday as a rising tide of national lockdowns threatened to overwhelm policymakers' frantic efforts to cushion what is likely to be a deep global recession.
In a taste of the pain to come, E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 dived 5% at the open to be limit down, and were last off 3.8%. EUROSTOXXX 50 futures plummeted 5.9% and FTSE futures 5.1%.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 4.4%, with New Zealand's market shedding a record 10% as the government closed all non-essential businesses.
Producers across South America, where the bulk of the world’s copper is produced, have halted or cut back operations and slowed construction projects due to restrictions caused by coronavirus.
Anglo American earlier this week said it will slow the building of its $5 billion Quellaveco project in Peru and on Thursday the miner said it is scaling down operations at its Los Bronces copper mine in Chile. The company will also reschedule work at mines in countries such as Chile
The De Beers Group spent more on marketing than it received back in profits last year.
In 2019, the diamond giant invested $178 million (£138m) in marketing – the highest it has been in a decade – to help drive consumer demand.
During the year, however, De Beers posted its worst set of earnings since miner, Anglo American, bought it in 2012.
Anglo American Platinum announces the temporary shutdown of the entire Anglo Converter Plant (ACP), part of the chain of processing facilities, and the need to declare force majeure.
The Company’s ACP phase A converter plant, at Waterval smelter in Rustenburg, was damaged following an explosion within the converter on 10 February 2020. Nobody was injured in the incident and work has started to repair phase A, which is expected to be completed by Q2 2021.
Anglo American has decided to slow down operations at its Los Bronces and El Soldado copper mines, as well as the Chagres smelter – all in central Chile – for 12 days to reduce the COVID-19 contagion risk among workers, while state copper miner Codelco will reduce all operations to comply with the government’s state of catastrophe declaration