Peru's production of copper, gold, zinc and molybdenum rose in December, while silver, lead and tin output fell, the government said Thursday.
Copper production in December was 211,272 mt, up 13.3% from 186,450 mt in December 2015 as higher output at Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde mine, Antamina, Glencore's Antapaccay, Chinalco's Toromocho and Hudbay Minerals' Constancia deposit combined with the start of China Minmetals' $8.3 billion Las Bambas mine, the Energy & Mines Ministry said in a statement.
Cerro Verde produced 522,134 mt of copper in 2016, followed by Antamina (443,265 mt), Las Bambas (329,368 mt), Southern Copper (312,859 mt), Antapaccay (221,399 mt), Toromocho (168,376 mt) and Constancia (133,439 mt).
Gold production rose nearly 5.4% to 13,017 kg from 12,354 kg a year ago as Hochschild Mining and Tahoe Resources ramped up output at new mines. Zinc rebounded 3% to 120,239 mt from 116,778 mt on gains at Antamina, according to the ministry. Molybdenum production rose 27.8% to 2,249 mt from 1,867 mt.
Silver production slid 11.4% to 360,041 kg from 406,288 kg a year ago, while lead dropped 13.8% to 26,142 mt from 30,338 mt, the ministry said. Tin output at Minsur, the country's sole producer, fell 8.8% to 1,679 mt from 1,841 mt the year prior, the ministry said.
Cadmium output at Votorantim Metais' Cajamarquilla refinery jumped 23.8% to 68 mt from 55 mt, while tungsten output was halted at the Pasto Bueno mine.
Peru produced 2.35 million mt of copper, up 38.4%; 153,006 kg of gold, up 4.2%; 4.37 million kg of silver, up 6.7%; 1.34 million mt of zinc, down 5.9%; 314,174 mt of lead, down 0.4%; 18,789 mt of tin, down 3.7%, 25,757 mt of molybdenum, up 27.8%; and 820 mt of cadmium, up 8.3%, in 2016, according to ministry data.
Minerals account for about 60% of Peru's total exports. Peru is the world's second-largest copper and silver producer, the third-largest producer of zinc and tin and has the fifth-largest output of gold.
