Hudbay’s 2018 production and cost guidance shows a 15 per cent drop in copper production over 2017.
Hudbay released its 2018 guidance on Jan. 17. According to the release, the decrease is due to lower copper grade at Hudbay’s Constancia mine as the mine shifts to production of lower-grade hypogene ore in the main pit, and as the Reed mine closes.
Production of zinc contained in concentrate in 2018 is forecast to decrease by about 13 per cent this year due to lower zinc grades at 777 and Lalor.
In 2017, Hudbay’s Manitoba mines produced 135,156 tonnes of zinc, 37,411 tonnes of copper and 106,918 ounces of precious metals. These numbers fell within the 2017 guidance.
The 2018 guidance for Hudbay’s Manitoba and Peru mines are 122,500 to 147,500 tonnes of copper, 105,000 to 130,000 tonnes of zinc, and 185,000 to 230,000 ounces of precious metals. Production of precious metals contained in concentrate is forecast to increase by about 31 per cent in 2018, due to an unexpected increase in precious metals production from the Lalor mine and the start of mining at the Pampacancha deposit in Peru. Lalor is expected to account for 67 per cent of precious metals production in Hudbay’s Manitoba mines. In 2017, Lalor produced 49 per cent of precious metals production in Hudbay’s Manitoba mines.
Hudbay expects combined unit costs for Manitoba to be higher than the 2017 guidance of $88 to $108 per tonne, due to reduced ore production at 777, the cessation of the capitalization of development costs at Reed Mine, and costs for trucking ore from Lalor to the concentrator in Flin Flon for processing.
Hudbay expects to use the full processing capacity of the Flin Flon zinc plant in 2018, with some zinc concentrate planned for sale to third parties.
