ATLAS Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. said high copper and gold prices helped it generate a net profit of P3.48 billion in the nine months to September, up 610%.
It said in a disclosure to the exchange and the securities regulator that metal prices remained high in the third quarter, with the price of copper up 60% year on year in the nine-month period at $4.22 per pound and that of gold rising 4% to $1,803 per ounce.
Gross revenue rose 12% to P14.65 billion during the nine months, while cash costs declined 3% to P6.82 billion.
Year on year, copper metal production decreased to 64.09 million pounds from 81.62 million a year earlier, with the grade of copper declining 20% by the end of the nine months to 0.246% from 0.309%.
Wholly-owned unit Carmen Copper Corp. reported higher production and shipments in the third quarter compared to the second quarter after it tapped ore mined in previous periods, which were of a higher quality than currently-mined ore.
On a year-on-year basis, however, Carmen Copper’s output of copper concentrate fell 19% during the nine months, while that of copper metal fell 21%. Output of gold fell 45%.
On the basis of shipments, Carmen Copper delivered 16% less copper concentrate, 19% less copper metal, and 42% less gold during the nine months.
Gold production at Carmen Copper fell 45% year on year to 19,562 ounces as gold grades fell to 5.38 grams per dry metric ton from 8.05.