Anglo American increased production in the first quarter with strong performance of copper and platinum group metals.

Mark Cutifani said Anglo American, a diversified miner, managed to meet strong customer demand in the first quarter, which just ended on March 31, despite restrictions on some operations caused by Covid-19.

Anglo American's overall production increased by 3 per cent, thanks to strong performance in Chile's copper operations, platinum group metals (PGM) and South African iron ore operations, offset maintenance downtime at the Minas-Rio iron ore plant in Brazil and temporary shutdowns in Australia's Moramba Metallurgical (met) coal operations.

Cutifani points out that production reached 95 per cent of normal operating capacity in the quarter.

With Anglo's recent proposal to spin off its thermal coal business in South Africa, the group's portfolio is increasingly leaning towards supporting future metals and minerals, he added. This move will take the company further in this direction.

"We have also made good progress in ensuring that each operator plays its part in building a low-carbon world, and we now provide 100% renewable power to all operators in Brazil, Chile and Peru."

Anglo's thermal coal production fell 20 per cent year-on-year to 4.9 million tons.

After the underground gas accident in May 2020, the Grosvenor mine continued to stop production, resulting in a 14 per cent drop in coal production to 3.3 million tons. The re-entry process in Grosvenor is under way and inspections are under way to ensure the safety and integrity of the mine before resuming operations in May.

Anglo American revised its full-year coal production target to 14 million to 16 million tons, compared with its previous target of 18 million to 20 million tons.

Copper production increased by 9 per cent to 160000 tons as a result of the strong performance of the Los Bronces and Collahuasi mines.

Diamond production increased by 7 per cent to 7.2 million carats.

Platinum group metals, nickel and manganese ores increased by 7 per cent to 1.02 million ounces, 10100 tons and 905000 tons, respectively.