Anglo American's steelmaking coal portfolio consists mainly of an 88% interest in the Moranbah North and Grosvenor joint ventures. The business has been sold to Dhilmar for up to $3.88bn cash.
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Anglo American’s share price shot up 5.2% Thursday after the release of a second quarter report showing strong copper and iron ore production performances that were tracking to plan.
"In copper, Collahuasi and Quellaveco increased production, while the restart of the second plant at Los Bronces continues to provide incremental profitable production,” said CEO Duncan Wanblad.
“In premium iron ore, Kumba and Minas-Rio maintained stable operational performances.”
He said they were beginning to see some inflationary pressures primarily through higher fuel and other mining consumables, as the conflict in the Middle East continues to cause global market volatility. On the JSE, the share price traded at R814,18 midday Thursday,
“Our supply chain is managing these input costs and we have benefited from strong by-product credits in copper. This and strong cost control has driven a reduction in our unit cost guidance for Copper Chile to 210 c/lb (previously about 230 c/lb) and Copper Peru to 65 c/lb (previously some 100 c/lb),” said Wanblad.
The group portfolio optimization gained further momentum. In May an agreement was reached to sell the steelmaking coal business in Australia to Dhilmar for up to $3.88 in cash.
The sale process for De Beers also progressed, while streamlining opportunities were advanced to minimise the impact from challenging diamond markets.
For the sale of the nickel business, work was ongoing on the European Commission's anti-trust approval process.
Meanwhile, Anglo American’s merger process with Teck to form a copper-focused global metals and minerals champion, with the expected completion window of September 2026 to March 2027, remained on track.
“We continue to progress towards completion, with anti-trust approval from China, the final outstanding regulatory milestone. Integration planning is well advanced, focused on ensuring that once the transaction closes, we will be well positioned to realise the material value and synergies we have identified from Anglo Teck," said Wanblad.
Copper production for the quarter was flat at 173,200 tons, primarily due to higher throughput at Los Bronces, offset by processing lower-grade stockpile ore at Collahuasi and the anticipated lower grades at Quellaveco.
Premium iron ore production fell by 3% to 15.4 million tons, primarily due to planned plant maintenance at Kumba and the impact of lower ore grade and mass recovery at Minas-Rio.
Manganese ore production increased by 22% to 908,300 tons, reflecting higher operating levels following the impacts of a tropical cyclone in Australia which affected the comparative period.
Rough diamond production increased by 88% to 7.8 million carats, primarily driven by extended maintenance at Orapa, which affected the comparative quarter and planned higher-grade ore at both Jwaneng and Gahcho Kue.
Overall, Copper unit cost guidance was revised lower to 145 c/lb (previously 172 c/lb).
Premium iron ore production of 15.4 million tons was 3% lower than the comparative period, due to lower production from both Kumba and Minas-Rio.
Kumba production decreased by 4% to 8.8 million tons, primarily driven by a 16% decrease in Kolomela's production to 2.4 million tons, due to a planned plant maintenance shutdown which occurred in line with the scheduled rail maintenance.
This was partly offset by a 1% increase in Sishen's production to 6.5 million tons due to improved plant feedstock and increased plant availability despite challenging conditions with the heaviest rainfall in many decades experienced during the second quarter.
Total sales decreased by 4% to 9.4 million tons due to the 10-day third-party logistics maintenance shutdown in May. Iron ore production guidance for 2026 was unchanged.
Rough diamond production was 88% higher at 7.8 million carats, reflecting extended maintenance shutdown in the comparative period at Orapa in Botswana, and planned mining of higher-grade ore at both Jwaneng in Botswana and Gahcho Kue in Canada.
Planned plant maintenance at Orapa and Jwaneng in the second half is expected to substantially decrease production levels from current rates.
In South Africa, production at Venetia increased to 0.7 million carats, largely as a result of processing higher volumes of underground ore. Venetia's production would be paused in the second half of the year.
BUSINESS REPORT