Glencore mines significantly more coal

Swiss commodity giant

Glencore mines significantly more coal

The commodity trader and mining group Glencore mined significantly less copper last year than in the same period last year. In return, the coal output increased.

Copper production fell 12 percent last year to 1.058 million tons, Glencore said in its production report on Wednesday. The company attributes this to a variety of reasons, including geotechnical restrictions at the Katanga mine in Congo and the sale of Australia’s Ernest Henry mine. In addition, there were planned production changes at the Collahuasi mine and reduced production at the Mount Isa mine.

Meanwhile, coal production rose 6 percent to 110 million tons. The plus is due to the acquisition of the remaining two-thirds stake in the Cerrejón mine in January, Glencore wrote. On a like-for-like basis, coal production would have fallen 7 percent due to wet weather and a long blockade by local residents in Colombia.