The company’s net loss increased to $156-million in the three months ended June, from net earnings of $78-million in the prior-year period.

Sales revenues, however, increased by 8% year-on-year, to $1.01-billion, primarily owing to copper and gold sales from Cobre Panama and higher sales from Las Cruces. These were offset by lower realised copper prices and the timing of sales at Sentinel delayed by an outage at a third party smelter.

The second-quarter cash flows from operating activities were slightly lower than in the comparative period of 2019, owing to a $26-million increase in taxes paid.

In terms of its operations, First Quantum produced a total of 169 059 t of copper, including 21 733 t from Cobre Panama, where operations were suspended on April 7, owing to several cases of Covid-19. The company resumed operations at Cobre Panama earlier this month.

The miner’s second-quarter all-in sustaining costs were 8% lower at $1.62/lb, with cash costs 9% lower at $1.20/lb.

In terms of gold production, First Quantum’s output fell 8% year-on-year to 54 651 oz.

Nickel production was 1 979 t, as Ravensthorpe, in Australia, continued to ramp up production. The first shipment of nickel occurred in May with a successive shipment in June. Monthly shipments are expected for the remainder of the year. Ravensthorpe is expected to continue ramping up through the third quarter.

First Quantum report that its Sentinel project, in Zambia, performed “exceptionally” in the second quarter, with its highest production since 2018 of 60 761 t, and record low operations costs. Throughput increased significantly resulting in an 11% increase in copper production, while lower fuel prices and currency depreciation, coupled with increased production, improved costs.