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Antofagasta PLC on Wednesday cautioned that full-year copper production is expected to be at the bottom end of its guidance following a leak in the concentrate pipeline at the Los Pelambres mine in Chile.
Earlier this month, the FTSE-100 listed copper miner said a leak was detected at the end of May at Los Pelambres. The leak was in the underground pipeline transporting concentrate from the concentrator plant to the port at Los Vilos.
On Wednesday, Antofagasta said that restrictions to access the leak have been partially eased, and repairs to the pipeline have begun. However, some restrictions remain, thus prolonging the time required to repair the pipeline.
‘Given the outstanding repair work and the testing required for a safe restart, which includes working with the relevant local regulator, it is expected that the operation of the pipeline will be resumed by the end of June,’ the company said.
During the pipeline shutdown, the processing plant has been operating at a lower rate. Full-year copper production is expected to be at the bottom end of its original 660,000 tonnes to 690,000 tonnes guidance range, Antofagasta said.
Total expenditure for the repairs ‘is not expected to be material’, the company said.
Shares in Antofagasta were up 0.1% to 1,394.50 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
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