{"id":1127439,"date":"2019-07-18T06:10:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-18T11:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=996968"},"modified":"2019-07-18T06:10:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-18T11:10:08","slug":"anglo-americans-diamond-unit-takes-sparkle-away-from-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1127439","title":{"rendered":"Anglo American\u2019s diamond unit takes sparkle away from  results"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Global miner Anglo American (LON:AAL) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.angloamerican.com\/~\/media\/Files\/A\/Anglo-American-Group\/PLC\/media\/press-release\/releases\/2019pr\/q2-production-report-2019.pdf\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">posted Thursday a 2% increase in overall production<\/a> during the three months to June 30, helped mainly by its giant Minas-Rio iron ore mine in Brazil, but cut diamond guidance for the year as sales remain weak.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Iron ore production rose by 7.1% from a year earlier to 16.4<br \/>\nmillion in the quarter, with the Kumba division in South Africa contributing<br \/>\n10.5 million tonnes and the Brazilian mine adding another 5.9 million tonnes.<\/p>\n<p>Production at Minas-Rio, one of the world&#8217;s largest sources of high-grade iron ore concentrate, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/eight-months-billions-later-anglo-american-restarts-minas-rio\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">suspended for most of last year<\/a> because of a slurry pipeline leak, but Anglo was able to undertake optimization work in the meantime. <\/p>\n<p>Anglo needs to secure a final licence to increase the height<br \/>\nof the water storage dam in order to keep producing iron ore beyond the end of<br \/>\nthe year. \u201cThe conversion of the installation licence to an operating licence<br \/>\nfor this lift is expected by year-end, subject to approval by the Minas Gerais<br \/>\nstate government in Brazil,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>Diamond production at the company\u2019s De Beers unit, the<br \/>\nworld\u2019s biggest miner of precious stones, dropped 14% amid weaker demand and<br \/>\nlower prices. Ongoing work to switch Anglo\u2019s Venetia operation in South Africa to<br \/>\nunderground mining from open pit, also weighed on the division\u2019s second quarter<br \/>\nresults.<\/p>\n<p>Forecast diamond production for the year was pegged at 31 million carats, at the bottom end of a previous estimate range.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/de-beers-decreasing-sales-1024x558.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-996971\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/de-beers-decreasing-sales-1024x558.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/de-beers-decreasing-sales-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/de-beers-decreasing-sales-768x418.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/de-beers-decreasing-sales.jpg 1296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While overall retail sentiment for diamond jewelry in the US remains solid, a more challenging environment in China and higher-than-normal polished diamond inventories in the midstream resulted in a cautious approach from rough-diamond buyers during the fifth cycle of 2019,&#8221; De Beers chief executive officer, Bruce Cleaver, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.debeersgroup.com\/media\/company-news\/2019\/production-report-for-the-second-quarter-of-2019\" >said in a separate statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The world\u2019s number four diversified miner also reported that<br \/>\nmetallurgical coal\u2019s (also called coking coal) output rose by 11%, while<br \/>\nthermal coal, used for power, fell 8%.<\/p>\n<p>Copper continues to support Anglo\u2019s performance. Production of<br \/>\nthe industrial metal in the second quarter of the year, however, climbed by<br \/>\nonly 1% to 159,100 tonnes, thanks mainly to the company\u2019s Los Bronces and<br \/>\nCollahuasi mines in Chile. Platinum production rose 3% to 520,300 ounces and<br \/>\npalladium decreased by 1% to 347,200 ounces, due to a change in mix of<br \/>\nproduction, Anglo said.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Los Bronces, Anglo American runs El Soldado<br \/>\ncopper mine and it has 44% participation in Collahuasi mine, in northern Chile.<\/p>\n<p>Copper deposits are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/bhp-unveils-world-class-copper-find-near-olympic-dam-south-australia\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">among the hottest assets in mining<\/a>\u00a0right now, with the world\u2019s top producers becoming increasingly bullish on the metal. There are expectations that bigger power grids around the world and an electric-vehicle boom will boost demand, while supplies are constrained.<\/p>\n<p>However, industry analysts at CRU say the coming online of major projects \u2014 Anglo\u2019s\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/anglo-close-selling-part-stake-giant-peruvian-copper-project\/\" >Quellaveco<\/a>\u00a0(2022), Teck\u2019s\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/teck-chooses-sumitomo-develop-chilean-copper-project-1-2b-deal\/\" >Quebrada Blanca expansion<\/a>\u00a0(2021) and\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/first-quantum-plans-327m-expansion-giant-copper-mine-panama\/\" >First Quantum\u2019s Cobre Panama<\/a>\u00a0(already in production) will momentarily eliminate the gap between supply and demand. <\/p>\n<p>The research group, in fact, has cut its forecast deficit and now expects the market will be in a small surplus this year and next, but short again by 250,000 tonnes by 2023. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Output from its De Beers unit, the world&rsquo;s biggest diamond miner, dropped 14% amid weaker demand and lower prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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