Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) has announced its Production Report for the first quarter ended 31 March 2026.
Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American, said: “We’ve delivered a strong start to the year across both Copper and Premium Iron Ore, tracking well to our mine plans. In Copper, the reopening of the second plant at Los Bronces has provided incremental profitable production, Collahuasi continues to progress towards higher grade ore later this year and Quellaveco’s recoveries improved, helping to partially offset the expected lower grades through the first half. In Premium Iron Ore, Kumba and Minas-Rio once again delivered stable operational performances. While the conflict in the Middle East is creating considerable volatility in the broader market, our resilient supply chain is currently supporting business continuity, and we are actively managing the situation to address potential adverse effects, including cost inflation.
“We are continuing to execute our portfolio optimisation. We have resumed normal operations at Moranbah North and the sale process for Steelmaking Coal is progressing well, with expectations for a sale to be agreed in the second quarter of 2026. We are progressing the sale process for De Beers and continue to assess further cost and capital preservation measures to minimise the impact from challenging diamond markets. In Nickel, we are working through the European Commission’s anti-trust approval process.
“Our merger with Teck, to form a copper-focused global critical minerals champion, is on track for an expected September 2026 to March 2027 close. We were pleased to receive regulatory approval from South Korea in the quarter, with anti-trust approval from China now the final outstanding regulatory milestone, alongside other customary closing conditions. Although we both continue to operate separately until closing, the integration planning is progressing well, ensuring that once the transaction closes, we will be well positioned to begin delivering the exceptional value and expected synergies that we have identified.”
Q1 2026 overview
| Production | Q1 2026 | Q1 2025 | % vs. Q1 2025 |
| Simplified portfolio | |||
| Copper (kt)(1) | 170 | 169 | 1% |
| Premium iron ore (Mt)(2) | 15.2 | 15.4 | (2)% |
| Manganese ore (kt)(3) | 759 | 348 | 118% |
| Exiting businesses | |||
| Diamonds (Mct)(4) | 7.1 | 6.1 | 17% |
| Steelmaking coal (Mt) | 1.5 | 2.2 | (31)% |
| Nickel (kt) | 9.1 | 9.8 | (7)% |
• Copper production increased by 1% to 170,400 tonnes, primarily due to higher production at Los Bronces and Collahuasi as a result of higher throughput, partially offset by anticipated lower grades at Quellaveco.
• Premium iron ore production was 15.2 million tonnes, with slightly lower production from Kumba and Minas-Rio, resulting in a 2% decrease.
• Manganese ore production increased by 118% to 759,100 tonnes, reflecting increased production levels following the temporary suspension caused by a tropical cyclone in Australia in March 2024.
• Rough diamond production increased by 17% to 7.1 million carats, primarily driven by planned ore release from Gahcho Kué and higher volumes from Venetia underground.
• Steelmaking coal production decreased by 31% to 1.5 million tonnes, primarily due to lower production from Moranbah North following the incident in March 2025 and significant weather impacts at Dawson.
• Nickel production decreased by 7% to 9,100 tonnes, reflecting maintenance at Barro Alto and Codemin.
• Production and unit cost guidance for our continuing businesses remains unchanged for 2026.
(1) Contained metal basis.
(2) Wet basis.
(3) Anglo American’s 40% attributable share of saleable production.
(4) Production is on a 100% basis, except for the Gahcho Kué joint operation which is on an attributable 51% basis.
