Glencore’s main copper asset in Africa located at Democratic Republic of Congo in the Katunga region has picked up its production in the third quarter of the current fiscal. The Switzerland-based miner’s production in the last three months, has gone up by 52,500 tonnes as compared to the previous quarter. Cobalt production increased to 4,800 tonnes, up from 2,600 tonnes in the previous quarter. The mining company will temporarily close Mutanda, its other mine in the DRC- by the year end.
Glencore’s African copper units including Mopani business in Zambia, saw a cut back in production by 5 per cent to 283,000 tonnes. Katanga, which is under Glencore umbrella but listed in Canada, said it would produce 233,000 tonnes of copper this year and 12,000 tonnes of cobalt. Both estimates are a shade lower than expected production as announced by the company in August.
Cobalt is produced alongside copper and is a key material in batteries that power mobile phones and electric vehicles. Katanga is on target to hit average production of 300,0000 tonnes annually by 2022. Glencore also revised its zinc production forecast by 85,000 tonnes partly due to the delayed restart of a mine in Peru in its recent update. Glencore, however, did not provide an update on the performance of its trading arm, which sets the company apart from its peers in the mining world.
