According to Mining News Pro - Strong grades at its Centinela mine helped copper production in the three months to March. It climbed 4.6% to 194,000 tonnes, compared with the previous quarter, and 2.9% on the same period a year ago.

Costs fell to $1.10 per pound, around 27 cents per pound lower because of a weaker Chilean peso, higher production and tighter cost control.

The company, however, is cutting spending for the year to less than $1.3 billion compared to an original plan of $1.5 billion, even though it has suspended an expansion at its Los Pelambres mine for four months and deferred other development projects.

Antofagasta also said it expected full-year copper output to be at the lower end of its range of 725,000-755,000 tonnes, assuming that operations will continue to run at or close to capacity and no coronavirus shutdowns would be required.  

“Copper production, costs and capital expenditure guidance for 2020 is highly dependent on how the health emergency evolves over the coming months,” it said in the statement.

Prices for the bellwether metal fell to by 7.3% to $2.1495 a pound ($4,740 a tonne) on Tuesday, a three-week low. Last month, copper briefly traded below $2, levels last seen during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.