UK-based mining giant Anglo American has said that the iron ore production guidance at its Brazilian asset Minas Rio for 2019 has increased from 19-21 million mt to 20-22 million mt. Its targets for iron ore output in Africa and for coking coal output have remained the same.
In the third quarter, Anglo American produced 6.1 million mt of iron ore at Minas Rio, 3.5 percent higher than in the previous quarter, driven by higher grade ore from the Step 3 mine area and productivity initiatives, the company said in its report. Minas Rio started operation last December and has a capacity of 26.5 million mt per year. However, exports of pellet feed from the mine dropped 13 percent to 5.73 million mt in the third quarter compared to the second quarter.
Production guidance for its Kumba iron ore mining subsidiary in South Africa is unchanged at 42-43 million mt.
The operational performance of the coking coal business of Anglo American also improved. Production of coking coal for export increased by 22 percent year on year to 6.6 million mt in the third quarter. The full year guidance has stayed unchanged at 22-24 million mt.