Peruvian poly-metallic miner Milpo increased production of zinc, lead, copper and silver in the first quarter after bringing online expansions at two of its mines in Peru, the miner said Monday.
A unit of Brazil's Votorantim Metais, Milpo boosted zinc output by 1% to 121,126 mt in the quarter, while lead production rose 38% to 16,443 mt, copper increased 24% to 35,380 mt and silver jumped 31% to 1.65 million oz, it said in a filing to the Lima Stock Exchange.
Milpo treated 2.18 million mt of concentrates in the quarter, 10% higher than in the year-ago quarter, after carrying out expansions at its El Porvenir and Cerro Lindo poly-metallic mines to add 5,600 mt/d processing capacity.
Milpo sold zinc at $2,029/mt in the quarter, little changed from last year, while copper and silver prices fell 11% and 32% to $7,038/mt and $20.50/oz, respectively. Lead prices dropped 8% to $2,105/mt.
Copper prices in the first quarter saw a negative impact from a stronger dollar as a result of the imminent culmination of the Feds monetary stimulus, Milpo said. The metals markets remain volatile, without showing a clear medium-term tendency.
Milpo doubled its first-quarter profit to $27.3 million from $13.2 million a year earlier as sales rose 9% to $188.6 million in the quarter. The company, which closed its high-cost Chapi and Ivan copper mines last year, cut capex spending by 14% to $15.4 million in the quarter, it said.
Cash costs were little changed at $36.40/mt, while Milpo posted a $2.8 million hedging gain.
Milpo produced 270,234 mt Zn, 40,245 mt Pb, 42,165 mt Cu and 224,278 kg Ag last year. Peru is the world's third-largest copper and zinc producer and is second-ranked in silver.
