Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) announced the receipt of regulatory approval relating to the Step 3 licence area of the Minas-Rio operation in Brazil. Access to the Step 3 area provides greater operational flexibility and access to higher grade iron ore to support the increase of production of the operation towards its full design capacity of 26.5 million tonnes per year.
As a result of this important regulatory approval, production guidance for 2019 is increased to 18-20 million tonnes (wet basis), from the previous guidance of 16-19 million tonnes (wet basis). Unit cost guidance for Minas-Rio is lowered to $28-31 per tonne (FOB, wet basis), from the previous guidance of $30-33 per tonne. Updated production guidance for 2020 and 2021 will be provided in due course.
