14 August 2017
Manila, Philippines

Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation (“Atlas Mining”) registered a higher consolidated net loss of PhP573 million during the first half of 2017 compared to first half 2016. This was mainly due to lower volumes at its wholly-owned subsidiary, Carmen Copper Corporation (“Carmen Copper”), which has been implementing a cash-optimal mine plan since second quarter of 2016.

Carmen Copper milled 6.474 million tonnes of ore and produced copper metal of 36.62 million pounds, a 33% decline from the first half of 2016. Production, however, improved in the second quarter by 9% with 19.07 million pounds copper metal produced compared to the first quarter production of 17.55 million pounds.

Metal prices continued to improve throughout the period pushing the average realized copper price to USD2.60/lb, 23% higher than the USD2.12/lb realized in the first half of 2016. Average realized gold price also increased by 1% to USD1,241/oz from USD1,227/oz.

With the company’s continued operating efficiencies and cost containment measures, cash costs were lower by 11% from PhP4.5 billion to Php4.0 billion. Average cost per pound however increased by 38% from USD1.32/lb to USD1.83/lb due to one-off costs related to loan refinancing, higher waste charged to operations, lower by-product credits and lower volume shipped.

An 11% reduction in cash costs mitigated the overall impact of lower revenues on the company’s Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) which dropped by 32% to Php1.1 billion from Php1.7 billion for the same period in 2016.