Thu, 15 Feb 2018 11:00:41 +0000
By NATION REPORTER
FIRST Quantum Minerals (FQM) has posted a US$115 million loss for the fourth quarter of last year, despite strong operational results, says its chairman and chief executive officer Philip Pascall.
Mr Pascall said that was despite the mining firm setting a new quarterly record for copper production across the group of 154,319 tonnes.
Mr Pascall explained that the company recorded a net loss due partly to a US$188 million loss realised under the copper sales hedge programme for which no tax credit was available.
In a statement to the Daily Nation, Mr Pascall said FQM’s subsidiary Sentinel Mine in Kalumbila recorded its highest performance to date, despite the onset of the wet season.
The group’s Kansanshi mine and smelter in Solwezi both turned in solid results thanks to maintaining low unit costs of copper production.
“Last year was another successful one for First Quantum. Our achievements were realised through the continued dedication and efforts of our entire workforce and partners,” said Mr Pascall.
He said that the company made significant progress on its copper growth objective and that Sentinel’s ramp-up over the year accounted for a good part of that progress, as did the continued strong performances at the Kansanshi complex and Las Cruces in Spain. “While our smaller operations are managing the challenges of being in the latter part of their lives, they do make good contributions both in production and providing unique training and experience for our valuable workforce. He said that last year marked the sixth consecutive time that FQM increased copper production, adding that the achievement was commendable of especially in light of the tough conditions faced by the industry over the past few years,
“This year is an important one for us with the start of the critical phased commissioning of our largest project to date – Cobre Panama. We believe the project will enter operations at a time when the fundamentals for copper will be at their strongest. This has informed our decision to bring forward an expansion of and increase our ownership interest,” he said.
Mr Pascall said that the period showed significant growth for the company, which was also committed to deleveraging the balance sheet and providing some return to its shareholders who had been supportive to FQM vision and strategy.
The mining firm, which is Zambia’s largest taxpayer, has to date paid taxes amounting to more than US$3.5 billion.
Dividends paid to ZCCM-IH were in excess of US$200 million, and an investment in corporate social responsibility stood at US$100 million, meaning a total investment in Zambia was in excess of US$5 billion, delivering tangible social improvement to thousands of Zambians.
