Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. reported a lower net loss of P45 million for the first nine months of the year, a 94 percent improvement from last year’s net loss of P783 million, attributed to higher revenues.
The listed mining firm said revenues grew 18 percent to P13.03 billion from P11.03 billion on the strength of higher production and shipment volumes that tempered the impact of lower copper prices.
Atlas Mining wholly owned subsidiary Carmen Copper Corp. also sustained improvements in its operations as metal production rose 29 percent from 63.14 million pounds in 2018 to 81.54 million pounds in 2019, while gold production went up by 43 percent from 20,088 ounces to 28,704 ounces in 2019.
The company said the increase in copper and gold production resulted from higher milling tonnage at 13.07 million tons from 12.02 million tons, a 9 percent improvement.
Copper grades also improved by 19 percent from 0.272 percent to 0.325 percent and gold grade by 10 percent to 6.19 grams/dmt from 5.65 grams/dmt, it added.
With sustained production, it said copper concentrate shipped in the three quarters rose 30 percent from 113,218 tons to 146,786 tons, while copper metal content increased by 29 percent to 83.45 million pounds and gold content by 38 percent to 26,716 ounces.
However, Atlas Mining noted lower copper prices for the period, with average realized copper price at $2.73/lb in 2019, down 9 percent from $3.00/lb in 2018. On the other hand, average realized gold price was up 7 percent at $1,367/oz in 2019 from the previous $1,278/oz.
